Blueberry Nests

This is the kind of happy accident that happens when EVERYTHING goes wrong.

I started off last night with every intention of making a blueberry struedel.

For one thing, I didnt have enough blueberries... no big deal, I'll reduce the recipe by half and sub some of the blueberries for strawberry preserves. I also didnt have any almond extract.. also no biggie... I'll change the flavor a little by using cinnamon instead.

Then things got really interesting... I pulled out my phyllo, AFTER I had already made the filling, only to discover that the phyllo was stale. Sh*t. I'd remembered reading somewhere once in a recipe where phyllo was set out to dry, then tossed in butter to make "nests". Okay... dry... stale... whatever. Only that recipe called for a pie pan. Yea, I'm not a baker... so no pie pans here. Hmmm... I do have a muffin pan though! WOOT!



They really ended up beautiful.. as always my photos do 0 justice. I think they would have been just gorgeous with a bit of a vanilla cream sauce drizzled over... maybe a mint leaf for garnish.... so simple and pretty. Of course... we're poor at the moment and we dont have things like vanilla or cream or fresh mint.. the only reason I made stuedel ... err.. was going to make stuedel was because we were both having an insane sweet tooth so, I scrounged together what I had on hand for a fix. ;-) But work with me here people!

So.. ultimately.. here was my accidental recipe. =)

1.5 cups frozen blueberries
.5 cup strawberry preserves
1/3 cup sugar
.5 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter
1/2 pack of stale / dry phyllo

Preheat your oven to 400.
Grease a muffine pan.

Mix together in a saucepan the blueberries, preserves, sugar, lemon juice and cinnamon until hot and gooey, about 5 mins.

Shred the phyllo and toss into melted butter (I did this in batches).
Create little "nests" from the shredded phyllo on the bottom of each muffin well, making sure that the phyllo covers the sides... to make a little bowl for the filling. Fill each nest with the filling. Top each one with a bit more of the buttered phyllo.

Bake until the nests are golden on top.

I love these kinds of accidents. Now I have a purpose for old unused phyllo. =D