Authors offer huckleberry favorites

I was just starting to dream about my own huckleberry pursuits this summer, when Alex and Stephanie Hester’s new book landed on my desk.

Their “Huckleberry Cookbook” just made me start to wish those little berries would ripen faster.

The Montana authors compiled all of their favorites into the gift-sized cookbook. They’ve spend many hours picking berries themselves and preparing the dishes in the book, according to the news release.

Here are two recipes from the book:

Huckleberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars

“Separately, shortbread and cheesecake are rich. Together, they form an intoxicating indulgence. Add huckleberries to that combination and you have something absolutely heavenly,” the Hesters wrote.

For the Shortbread Crust:

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Cream Cheese Topping:

16 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup huckleberry preserves

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine butter, flour, brown sugar and salt. Process until mixture begins to take shape, forming small lumps. Gently press mixture onto the bottom of a 13-by-9-by-2 inch baking pan until evenly covered. Bake on center rack for 20 minutes or until golden. While baking, prepare cream cheese topping.

In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth (about 1 minute). Beat in eggs one at a time. Add sugar and vanilla. Remove 1/3 of the cream cheese mixture and add huckleberry preserves. Pour the plain cream cheese mixture onto the cooled crust. Spoon dollops of huckleberry cream cheese mixture onto the plain cream cheese mixture. Use a knife to swirl the plain and huckleberry mixtures together. Bake on center rack at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool completely in pan and cut into bars. Refrigerate to store.

Yield: 24 bars

Approximate nutrition per serving: 210 calories, 13 grams fat (8 grams saturated, 54 percent fat calories), 3 grams protein, 22 grams carbohydrate, 54 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 113 milligrams sodium.

Huckleberry Jam

From “Huckleberry Cookbook” by Alex and Stephanie Hester. “This freezer jam is quick and easy to prepare and delicious on fresh bread.”

4 1/2 cups huckleberries

5 cups sugar

6 ounces liquid fruit pectin

2 tablespoons lemon juice

In a large bowl combine crushed berries and sugar. Mix thoroughly. Let stand for 10 minutes. Add liquid pectin and lemon juice. Stir continuously for 3 minutes. Pour jam into freezer containers leaving 1/2-inch gap at top for expansion. Place in refrigerator and let stand until jam sets, about 3 hours. Serve or transfer to freezer. Fresh jam can be refrigerated up to 3 weeks.

Yield: 7 cups (3 1/2 pints)

Approximate nutrition per serving: 71 calories, less than 1 gram fat, less than 1 gram protein, 18 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 1 milligram sodium.