Blueberry Angel Dessert

Mid-July. The blueberries on the wild bushes at the south fence are coming in — small and intensely flavored, the kind that nothing in a store resembles. I've been picking a cup or two every morning for a week. They go directly into yogurt or onto oatmeal or, most honestly, directly into my mouth while I'm picking them, which is the correct first treatment of any fruit picked from the source.

Made a blueberry galette this week — the freeform tart, no pan, just the pastry folded up around the fruit and baked on parchment. It's a more honest structure than a formal tart: it shows its own edges, its own improvisation. I put it out for Carol and we ate it warm with nothing extra and she said: this is what July tastes like. I said: yes. Some things you don't need to improve on.

I've been writing a longer piece — not a single post but something more extended, about the first year of cooking alone after Helen died, which I've now had several years of perspective on. The roast chicken post opened something and I've been following it. It's tentative still and I don't know if it will become anything, but the writing is doing what good writing does: it's teaching me what I think by making me say it.

Teddy texted a photo of his prep work for the beef wellington: the mushroom duxelles he made on his own, without my guidance, chopped to the right size and cooked until dry. He said: the drying is the part everyone skips. I said: yes. That's exactly right. He said: I watched five videos. I said: you watched the right ones.

The galette was Carol’s, eaten warm and unrepeatable, the way the best things are. But there were still blueberries coming in from the south fence, more than yogurt and oatmeal could account for, and I wanted something that honored them the same way the galette had — something that let the fruit do the talking without layering too much over it. This blueberry angel dessert is that: light, honest, and built around what the berries already are. Teddy would approve of the restraint.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 0 min | Total Time: 20 min plus chilling | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 carton (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 prepared angel food cake (10 to 12 oz), cut into 1-inch cubes
2 cans (21 oz each) blueberry pie filling

Instructions

Make the cream layer. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and powdered sugar until smooth and well combined. Fold in the whipped topping until evenly incorporated.
Add the cake. Gently fold the angel food cake cubes into the cream cheese mixture until all pieces are lightly coated.
Layer in the pan. Spread the cake and cream mixture evenly into a 9x13-inch baking dish, pressing gently to an even layer.
Top with blueberries. Spoon the blueberry pie filling evenly over the top, spreading to cover the surface completely.
Chill. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving, or overnight, to allow the layers to set.
Serve. Cut into squares and serve cold directly from the dish.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Angel Dessert — What July Tastes Like, No Improvement Needed