Sunday, July 12, 2009

One Egg Blueberry Cake



The women in my family have been making this blueberry cake for years. We used to make it with the blueberries picked by the pond at the back of my grandparent's property. I remember that my sisters, cousins, and I ate about as many blueberries as we hauled back to grandma's kitchen. This cake has a soft, delicate crumb finished with the sweet crunch of cinnamon and sugar on top. It's a perfect snack or dessert anytime of day, but my personal favorite way to enjoy this cake is alongside my morning coffee.

It's pretty darn easy to throw together as well. Here's the lineup: flour (cake flour is recommended. I was out, so I sifted my flour before measuring), baking powder, salt, butter, sugar, vanilla, 1 egg (hence the name), milk, blueberries, and cinnamon.


Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Then add the egg and vanilla and beat well.



After adding the dry ingredients and milk alternately, fold in the blueberries.



Pour into an 8X8 inch baking pan.



Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture.



Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.



It really is delicious, although this one isn't my prettiest version. The blueberries aren't supposed to serve as the base of this cake. See them all way down there at the bottom, when they should be dispersed evenly throughout the cake? It's the classic dilemma of the sinking blueberries. I know better than this. Here are a some tips to keep your blueberries from sinking to the bottom of your baked goods. 1) Toss the blueberries with flour before adding to the batter. This will help to suspend them in the cake batter. 2)Sprinkle the blueberries on top instead of folding them into the batter. Most stay on top while a few sink to the middle.3)Beat the batter a longer time after the addition of each egg - it fluffs up the batter more and holds the berries up a little better.

I fully intended to toss my blueberries in flour before folding them in. However, I had overnight company and I found myself hurrying to throwing my cake together at 11 pm so that my guests could have this treat for breakfast. I was visiting with my company while baking and I got distracted. Oh well, it's still so tasty that despite the blueberry bottom, the cake was a big hit and by the second day, there wasn't even a crumb in the pan!



One Egg Blueberry Cake

1 1/2 c. cake flour
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. butter
3/4 c. sugar
1/2 t. vanilla
1 egg, well beaten
1/2 c. milk
1 c. blueberries
1/4 sugar + 1/2 t. cinnamon for topping

Sift flour, baking powder, add salt and set aside. In a small bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Beat in 3/4 cup sugar, vanilla, and egg. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in berries. Pour into 8 X 8 inch baking pan and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until cake tests done.

9 comments:

Donna-FFW said...

Love blueberries with cinnamon. This snack cake sounds delicious.

chow and chatter said...

what a wonderful cake and great story of picking the blueberries

Heather S-G said...

Looks good to me...I kinda like the blueberries at the bottom ;)

Coleens Recipes said...

It wouldn't bother me if the blueberries were on the bottom. I always enjoy snack cakes (8x8 or smaller) since there's just the 2 of us at home.

Katy ~ said...

Oooh, this cake sounds so good. I love the cinnamon-sugar top. Will definitely give this one a try. Snack cake is always welcomed here.

Chicago Mom said...

My daughter LOVES blueberries and cake; thanks for the perfect recipe for us!

Rachel said...

This does sound like it would be perfect with a morning cup of coffee! I don't think my kids have had blueberries yet...this may be the perfect recipe to use to introduce them to a new fruit :)

Reeni said...

This looks so moist and delicious even with the blueberries at the bottom. It made a nice blueberry 'crust' - and a perfect breakfast treat!

Anonymous said...

Okak here is the scoop on this recipe. I take care of a 99 year old women and on Sundays I try to make an old fashion Sunday dinner. That includes a made from scratch dessert. Today I found this recipe and tried it. She loved it as well did I. And I am not wild about blueberries. It was easy to put together, moist and could see it being served with coffee and or ice cream.

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