Blueberry Cake

A simple rustic cake dolloped with gently cooked fresh blueberries that turn thick and jammy in the oven. It's everything you want in a summer sweet — tender, buttery, studded with an entire pound of berries. It’s the kind of cake that disappears quickly every time, easy to make, even easier to love. But here's the thing ... what to call it? There are so-so many old-fashioned blueberry cakes, many with funny names. What should I call mine? Spoiler Alert: I'm going with the not-so-clever but unfussy "Blueberry Cake" for a cake that just might knock your blueberry bucket over socks off.

Approachable, Memorable Homestyle Baking, Little Effort, Big Reward. Real Food, Fresh & Seasonal. Beautiful Color! No Mixer Required, On the Table in An Hour. Extra Welcome When "Supper's a Little Skimpy". A Summer Classic. Budget Friendly. Weeknight Easy, Weekend Special. Easy DIY. Rave Reviews. What're you waiting for?! So Good!!

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COMPLIMENTS!

• "Yes, it was yummy. ... It's a keeper, as most of yours are." ~Carole
• Add yours, leave a comment, below!

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What to Call This Blueberry Dessert?

This easy blueberry cake / blueberry dessert needs a name! I consulted the dictionary of all the summer fruit desserts – aka Serious Eats – and remain thoroughly confounded. But I did learn what my blueberry cake is NOT.

What It's Not

• Blueberry cobbler – with its biscuit topping
• Blueberry crisp – with its crumb topping
• Blueberry betty – with its buttered breadcrumb topping
• Blueberry buckle – where the berries sink to the bottom
• Blueberry boy bait – so good! with its cake-y texture
• Blueberry coffeecake – I love Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake, also more cake-y
• Blueberry slump or blueberry pandowdy – with biscuit or dumpling toppings
• Blueberry kuchen – a yeast cake with a crumb topping
• Blueberry grunt – stewed fruit with a biscuit or dumpling topping
• Blueberry pudding cake – with blueberries mysteriously ending up underneath

But Forget the Name. Just Make This Cake.

So what in blueberry heaven is this summery dessert? this simple blueberry cake embedded with jammy blueberries? I have no idea.

Except, naturally, DELICIOUS.

My recommendation is that you just put one in the oven and send someone for ice cream – right now's not too soon because blueberry season is fleeting and the summer shouldn't close without making a Blueberry Cake at least once.

And dare I say? This northern soul who was raised on hand-picked wild blueberries clearly needs to find more blueberries?! Because isn't that some long list of rustic, unpretentious blueberry desserts?!

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Recipe Overview: Blueberry Cake

• Some cakes are showy. Some cakes are irresistible. This rustic Blueberry Cake? It's both. Gently simmer the berries on the stove until they begin to thicken, then spread dollops across the cake batter and move it into the oven, they'll turn almost jammy in the oven. Like your favorite worn-in baking pan or that old wooden spoon, this is a recipe to turn to again and again.

• When to Serve = This is definitely a dessert but no one would refuse a few leftover spoonfuls for breakfast.
• Diet Needs & Choices = The is a nut-free and vegetarian cake but would be easy to convert to vegan with egg, milk and butter substitutes.
• Distinctive Ingredients = Blueberries (an Entire Pound!) + Lemon + Almond Extract
• Short Ingredient List = all the above + sugar + cornstarch + 1 large egg + whole milk + butter + vanilla + flour + baking powder
• Kitchen Tools = A saucepan for starting the berries + a bowl and whisk for mixing + a baking pan
• Hands-On Time = Allow about 20 minutes active time, then 25 - 30 minutes in the oven.
• Total Time = Allow about one hour, start-to-finish.
• Tasting with our Eyes = This cake is a stunner!
• Texture = The cake's crumb is rustic but tender, the blueberries thick but jammy.
• Taste = The cake is sweet, the berries are a bit sweet too but retain their lovely tartness.
• Techniques = The cake turns out prettier if the berries are dolloped onto the batter, leaving batter exposed.
• Time Friendly = This is a time-friendly recipe, just one hour start to finish.
• Shop Your Pantry = This is a pantry-friendly recipe, you may already have all the ingredients on hand!
• Staying Cost Conscious = This is a budget-friendly recipe, there are no fancy ingredients to seek out or buy special.
• Makes = a single cake that serves about eight.
• So good! I hope you love it!


• If you want something that's equally full of berries but less sweet, try my Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake.
• Not quite what you're looking for? Check out my other cake recipes.

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You'll Like My Blueberry Cake If ...

• you appreciate simple cakes made with pantry ingredients
• you don't have access to or don't want to drag out the mixer
• you need a make-ahead dessert
• you've got an abundance of blueberries
• supper's going to be a little skimpy

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BLUEBERRY CAKE

Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 1 hour
Makes 1 cake, serving 8
(see ALANNA's TIPS for pan-size ideas)

BLUEBERRY JAM-ISH
• 1/3 (66g) cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice (zest the lemon first for the cake batter)
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 3 cups (454g, about 1-1/2 pint baskets) fresh blueberries

CAKE
• Baking spray, for the pan
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup (225g) whole milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, 114g) salted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• Zest of a lemon

• 1 cup (125g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup (100g) sugar
• 1-3/4 teaspoons baking powder

FOR SERVING
• Vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream, optional but pretty heavenly

PREP Heat the oven to 375F/190C. Spray a baking pan with spray.

BLUEBERRY JAM-ISH In a medium saucepan, stir together all the ingredients except the blueberries, then gently stir in the blueberries. Bring to a boil on medium high heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and let the berries simmer for about two minutes; a few berries may pop but what you're looking for is something jam-"ish" with a slight thickening and softening, not as thick as jam but moving that direction. Remove from the heat, it'll thicken a little more as it cools a bit.

CAKE While the jam cooks, in a large bowl, whisk the egg and milk, then whisk in the melted butter, vanilla, almond extract and lemon zest. In a smaller bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and baking powder. With a wooden spoon, stir the flour mixture into the egg mixture.

BAKE Scrape the cake batter into the pan and level. With a spoon, dollop the Blueberry Jam-ish over the batter, the cake turns out prettier if you leave some batter exposed. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until a thin knife inserted in the center comes out clean of cake batter. Let cool slightly.

TO SERVE Serve the cake warm or at room temperature. Ice cream or whipped cream are optional. What are you crazy? Say yes to ice cream! Or whipped cream!

MAKE-AHEAD TIPS We love Blueberry Cake warm out of the oven. But if you cover and refrigerate the leftover cake, it'll still be moist and wonderful even a couple of days later. Does it even improve, slightly? Maybe! You can gently rewarm the cake or just serve it cold.

VARIATIONS I think this would be wonderful (and very colorful!) made with a mix of rhubarb and blueberries. Or strawberries! Or peaches! Or apricots! Or any fruit that gets thick and jammy when gently cooked.

ALANNA's CAKE SIZING TIPS For sheer prettiness, I bake my Blueberry Cake in a fluted deep-dish ceramic pie pan, it's the area/volume equivalent of a 9x9 cake pan. For an 11x17 baking dish, double the recipe. For a 9x13, increase all the ingredients by half except the egg; for 1-1/2 eggs, you could whisk two eggs and use 3/4 of the whisked amount. Or better yet, you could follow the guidance of the queen of recipe sizing, my sweet friend Christina from the sweet food blog, Dessert for Two. With Christina's recipe for Strawberry Cake for Two, she shares her secret when facing that pesky "how to halve an egg" conundrum. Her secret? She doesn't halve an egg. Instead, she adds an extra egg yolk to cookie dough and an extra egg white to cake batter. Sweet, yes? I'm a geek for stuff like this! (Boo hoo, Christina is soon leaving St. Louis, albeit for a very good reason, to live closer to family while raising her own family. She's not gone yet but is already missed!)

FOR MORE INFO If you "skipped straight to the recipe," please scroll back to the top of this page for ingredient information, ingredient substitutions, tips and more. Confused about salt, these days? No wonder, it is confusing. Check my FAQs for an explanation. If you print this recipe, you'll want to check the recipe online for even more tips and extra information about ingredient substitutions, best results and more. See https://www.kitchenparade.com/2017/07/blueberry-cake.html .

NUTRITION INFORMATION Per Serving (assumes 8 servings): 293 Calories; 12g Tot Fat; 8g Sat Fat; 58mg Cholesterol; 204mg Sodium; 43g Carb; 2g Fiber; 28g Sugar; 3g Protein. WEIGHT WATCHERS Old Points 6 & PointsPlus 8 & SmartPoints 14 & Freestyle 12 & myWW green 12 & blue 12 & purple 12 & future WW points CALORIE COUNTERS 100-calorie serving = 1/3 of a serving (1g protein). FYI, follow the link to the inspiring recipe below for information on how other cooks have lightened up the recipe.

Adapted from what Gourmet magazine in 2005 called Blueberry Pudding Cake. I first made this cake way back in 2005 but last year rediscovered the recipe with my sticky-pad notes while pouring through boxes of old Gourmet (sniff-sniff) magazines in the basement. Yes, boxes as in plural, as in multiple boxes, none of which I seem capable of giving up.

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More Blueberry Heaven

• THE RECIPE Melon Ball & Blueberry Salad Pure summer in a bowl!
• ANOTHER TAKE Pickled Beet Salad with Fresh Blueberries & Mint So fresh & summery.

• THE RECIPE Fresh Blueberry Cookies A fun summer cookie, bursting with blueberries. (PIN This)
• ANOTHER TAKE Mom's Blueberry Coffeecake A family favorite, for good reasons.

• THE RECIPE Blueberry Sour Cream Pie Berries puffed in light, sweet cream.
• ANOTHER TAKE Blueberry Cheesecake Pie Cheesecake topped with homemade blueberry pie filling. No bake!

• THE COLLECTION Blueberry Recipes, Kitchen Parade's sweet & savory blueberry recipes, from salsas to sauces, smoothies to salads, cookies to cakes, pancakes to pies and so much more.
• SO ORGANIZED! By Ingredient, Kitchen Parade recipes listed ingredient by ingredient, so much easier than search.

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(helping home cooks save money on groceries)

~ blueberry recipes ~

~ All Recipes, By Ingredient ~
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Kitchen Parade is written by second-generation food columnist Alanna Kellogg and features fresh, seasonal dishes for every-day healthful eating and occasional indulgences. Quick Suppers are Kitchen Parade favorites and feature recipes easy on the budget, the clock, the waistline and the dishwasher. Do you have a favorite recipe that other Kitchen Parade readers might like? Just send me a quick e-mail, you'll find my current address in the FAQs. How to print a Kitchen Parade recipe. Never miss a recipe! If you like this recipe, sign up for a free e-mail subscription. If you like Kitchen Parade, for more scratch cooking recipes using whole, healthful ingredients, you're sure to like my food blog about vegetable recipes, too, A Veggie Venture. If you make this recipe, I'd love to know your results! Just leave a comment below.

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