Our August issue had a feature on the food of Nova Scotia. And as you may or may not know, one of Nova Scotia's signature ingredients is wild blueberries. In peak season throughout August, but always available frozen, wild blueberries are as different from their cultivated cousins as local in-season strawberries are from their imported counterparts ( see my post on how local is better here). They're teeny-tiny and deep purple, right through to the centre. And the flavour? Forget about it. Ridiculous. One of my favourite ways to enjoy wild blueberries is in the form of hot-out-of-the-oven scones. I make them by starting with a basic buttermilk scone recipe, but I switch it up by stirring 1 cup of fresh wild blueberries into the flour mixture before adding the liquid. When Alison Kent and I were discussing what should go into the August Nova Scotia feature, one idea that came up was a recipe for tender blueberry scones (very much like what I've described above) with a wild blueberry butter to go on top. Well, we didn't have room for either and the recipes ended up on the cutting room floor, but wow... so delicious. And easy! Wild Blueberry Butter: in a food processor, whirl together 2/3 cup softened butter, 1/3 cup wild blueberries and 1 tbsp icing sugar until smooth and fluffy. Serve over warm scones (or shape into a log, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate for up to a week and slice the cold butter into pats to serve). [caption id="attachment_2143" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Look at that sweet, purple goodness. Now imagine it melting over a hot scone... Exactly."] [/caption] I suppose this would work with just about any berry, but the nice thing about blueberries is that there are no gritty little seeds to interrupt the silky texture. If I were going to use a different berry, I may press the mixture through a fine sieve to remove any bits. Do you have a favourite way to use blueberries?