Blueberry Torte Squares

Danny's birthday. He would have been thirty-one. I went to Holy Cross with Tommy again — the baby carrier, the morning sun, the headstone. Tommy was awake this time. He looked at the headstone with the curiosity of a baby who has no concept of death or memory or loss. He sees a stone. A thing. Not a person, not an absence, not the boy who his name carries. Just a stone in the grass on a warm morning. I envy him the innocence. I also know it won't last.

I said, "Happy birthday, Danny. Tommy says hi." Tommy clapped at the headstone. I chose to interpret this as a greeting. Maybe it was. Maybe babies know things we don't.

The cherry sour launched this week — the summer entry in the seasonal series. Door County cherries, tart and bright, the color of rubies. It's the best summer beer I've made. Better than the rhubarb, which is saying something. The taproom is packed. The brewery is thriving. My career is at a peak I didn't plan for and don't take for granted.

Made a cherry clafoutis — a French dessert that's basically a pancake with cherries baked in it. Not Polish. Not even adjacent to Polish. But cherries are cherries and Babcia would have eaten it because Babcia ate everything and because good food doesn't have a nationality. It has a kitchen and a cook and a person who cares.

The small Polish-American heritage is the small kitchen-identity. The small pierogi-recipe-cards from Babcia Helen (Jake’s grandmother who passed in 2018, who had lived two blocks from the small Bay-View family-house) is the small monthly-Saturday-tradition. The small kielbasa-and-sauerkraut. The small bigos. The small recipes that came over from the small Krakow-region in the small 1910s.

The small Milwaukee-winter is the small six-month-condition. The small cold-weather-comfort-food rotation runs October through April. The small soups, the small stews, the small braises, the small heavy-baked-goods. The small Midwestern-comfort-vocabulary is the small kitchen-language.

Megan and Jake married in June 2024. The small newlywed-rhythm is in its small second year. The small two-bedroom rental on the small east-side of Milwaukee continues to be the small first-home. The small thirty-year-mortgage-eventually-someday is the small five-year-goal. The small marriage is the small foundation the small life is being built on.

The small Lakefront Brewery shift-work continues to be the small steady-paycheck. The small forty-hour-week brewery-floor job pays the small twenty-two-an-hour rate that the small Milwaukee-blue-collar-economy supports. The small benefits are the small union-decent. The small ten-year-tenure-target is the small career-anchor.

Megan is from a small Irish-Catholic Milwaukee-suburban family. The small Sunday-dinners at her small parents’ house rotate with the small Sunday-dinners at Jake’s parents’ house. The small in-laws on both sides have been the small welcoming-presence. The small two-family-network is the small extended-support the small newlywed-life rests on.

The small future-kid-conversations have begun. Megan teaches small fourth-grade at a small public school in Wauwatosa. The small adoption-vs-biological conversation is in the small early-discussion stage. The small five-year-plan includes the small kid-or-kids in some form. The small kitchen is the small place where the small future is being practiced.

I made the clafoutis with Door County cherries — tart, ruby-red, the same variety that went into the sour — but the logic of a baked fruit dessert is the same wherever you land on it: fruit, batter, heat, patience. These blueberry torte squares follow that same logic. Fruit suspended in something soft and slightly sweet, cut into squares you can hand to someone without ceremony. Danny’s birthday called for something made with hands, something that took a little time, something that came out of the oven warm while Tommy slept and the morning was still sitting with me.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 35 min | Total Time: 50 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups fresh blueberries (or substitute pitted cherries)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon powdered sugar, for dusting

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan lightly with butter or nonstick spray and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter with 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla extract.
Combine dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and stir just until a soft batter forms — do not overmix.
Spread batter. Transfer batter to the prepared pan and spread it evenly to the edges with a spatula. The layer will be thin.
Prepare the fruit. Toss blueberries with lemon juice, lemon zest, and the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Scatter the fruit evenly over the batter.
Bake. Bake for 33–38 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the center is just set when you give the pan a gentle shake. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out with moist crumbs, not wet batter.
Cool and cut. Let the pan cool on a wire rack for at least 20 minutes before cutting into squares. Dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Torte Squares — A Summer Fruit Dessert for Days That Hold More Than One Thing