Blueberry Ginger Crumble Teacake and Summer Wildflowers at Ashintully Gardens

We first visited Ashintully Gardens during the throes of the pandemic in July 2020 and since then have returned many times. During the pandemic when we could not perform in public with others, I found a creative outlet where I would take my native American flute and recorders and play short improvisations in places of great natural beauty.

Here is the original blog that I wrote:

July 13, 2020

The gardens are the 30 year creation of the composer and musician John McLennan. He created a garden that combines several natural features:a rushing stream, native trees, a rounded knoll and gently rising meadows. He arranged this with formal gardens that include the Fountain Pond, Pine Park, Rams Head Terrace, Bowling Green, Regency Bridge and Trellis Triptych.

A short steep trail through the woods leads to the ruins of a Georgian Style Mansion. In 1903, Robb and Grace de Peyster Tytus discovered the Tryingham Valley on their honeymoon. They fell in love with the area and soon after purchased 1,000 acres of land that they named Ashintully (Gaelic for “on the brow of the hill”.)

DePeyster Tytus was an Egyptologist who worked at Luxor, where he helped to uncover the palace of King Amenhotep III, grandfather of King Tutankhamen. He and his wife built the large Georgian style mansion over looking the valley in 1910 that at the time cost over one million dollars! The main facade of the house had four Doric style columns that gleamed in the sun and in the moonlight. The building came to be known as the Marble Palace. The main facade held a two-story library and music room that was the heart of the house. Measuring 78 feet long by 28 feet wide and 32 feet high, it was built to match the dimensions of Amenhotep III’s great hall and was said to hold 12,000 volumes on its shelves. A fire in 1952, destroyed the house, but the front terrace, foundation and columns still stand today. There are some that say the house and family were cursed-https://www.berkshireeagle.com/stories/the-cottager-ashintully-a-mansion-cursed-by-egypts-pharaoh-kings,551420

From the fields, we came to a steep path that continued through the woods. As we neared the crest of the hill, four columns stood stoically alone on the hilltop and we could see bits of the old foundation.

A ray of sun shone through the woods and a delicate veil of mist lightly covered the stone foundation wall. It felt as if we were on a secret treasure hunt!

In front of us was a majestic view of the Tryingham Valley. I wondered what concerts and other events in the main facade would have been like in 1910. What music was played, were the guests dressed elegantly, were desserts served on fancy china? I wish I could have heard the conversations that people had as they stood on the terrace admiring the beautiful scenery.

This day I had brought along both my alto recorder and Native American flute. I originally thought that the recorder would be appropriate to play on the terrace of the foundation-perhaps an improvisation that was Gaelic in nature. As I started to play the Native flute while looking over the hills, it became clear that the resonant deep timbre of the flute was in harmony with the surroundings. I played a slow melody and as the sound drifted away towards the valley, I felt a profound sense of gratitude and joy to play music in this space.

This summer, I am about to depart to Iceland with my group Hevreh Ensemble to play live concerts! How things have changed!

We returned to Ashintully the other day and the wildflowers in the meadow walking up to the old ruins were beautiful!

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Fresh blueberries have reappeared in the markets and for Fourth of July this year, I decided to revamp my recipe for Strawberry Ginger Crumble Teacake using plump flavorful blueberries. This is a delicious cake that is also healthy! Sweetened lightly with monk fruit and coconut sugar and made with whole wheat pastry flour, it is great for dessert or also for breakfast.

ENJOY!!

Blueberry Ginger Crumble Teacake

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 cup monk fruit sweetener

1/4 cup coconut sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1/3 cup canola oil

3/4 cup soy or almond milk

1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

Crumb Topping:

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour)

1/4 cup toasted pecans

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 1/2 teaspoons ginger powder

1/4 cup coconut sugar

pinch salt

1/4 cup kefir (you can also use plain yogurt)

Make Crumble:

Place oats, flour, coconut sugar, pecans, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until nuts are in small pieces. Add kefir and pulse until mixture forms small clumps- you may need to add a bit more kefir. Add small bits at a time. Set mixture aside.

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees

Line a 5×9 loaf pan with parchment paper with the paper hanging over the sides. Butter the paper lightly.

To make cake batter:

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, monk fruit, coconut sugar and cinnamon.

Add egg, vanilla, canola oil, soy or almond milk and mix together just until the batter is smooth. Add fruit and stir to combine.

Pour batter into the prepared baking dish and then scatter the crumb topping over the top. Bake in the pre heated oven for about 15 minutes and then cover the top loosely with foil so the top will not brown too quickly. Bake for about an hour until a toothpick comes out clean.

Remove from oven. Lift cake out of pan leaving paper on the cake. Let cool completely on a rack before slicing with a serrated bread knife. This is a very soft crumbly cake, the longer you let it cool the easier it is to slice. This is hard to do, so enjoy the first very crumbly pieces if you can’t wait!

AND: Instead of a “Tree of the Week”, here is a clever fellow who stood up on his hind legs and deftly opened the door to Paul’s car and would not leave! We yelled and banged on pots; he left the car and then opened up the passenger door and got back in! The car alarm on my key finally did the trick. He got out slowly, looking annoyed and sauntered slowly down the driveway! Now we lock the car at night!!

HAPPY SUMMER!