Why Blueberries? They are delicious. And mid-august is the perfect time to pick them up at the lowest prices of the season. We loaded up on Pure Michigan Blueberries from our local grocery for $1/lb. Even better if you grow your own or can pick them in the wild.

Blueberry Cake. Jess has made some variation of this blueberry cake for years. It is light and buttery. It's much easier than making blueberry muffins and you can get from mixing to the table in about 90min.

General Recipe. This recipe is an adaptation of one from Smitten Kitchen. This is a go to source for Jess and we enjoy Deb's process and writing style.

Step 1: Ingredients

Blueberries are really the only special ingredient. Most the other's should be apart of any baker's pantry. Jess uses a dried buttermilk + milk. The dried buttermilk has become a staple of our baking and salads.

Dry Ingredients

2c. flour
1tbsp. baking powder
1tsp. salt
2 sticks. butter

Wet Ingredients

2sticks. butter ---can't go wrong with two sticks of butter. could be cut back but it's better with butter
3/4c. brown sugar
1/2c. white sugar
3. eggs
1c. milk + buttermilk powder ---we are using about a container of powdered buttermilk ever 3-6 months

Blueberry Mix

1/2-1c. blueberries ---we used even more than that for this one
1tsp. flour

Blueberry Topping

1/2c. blueberries ---you may have the option to order blueberries direct from amazon... unfortunately the service isn't available in our area
1/4c. granulated sugar
1/2tsp. cinnamon

Baking Pan - 13" x9" Pan ---Jess has had this Wilton pan for 5+ years. she is always careful to butter the pan or use a layer of parchment
Oven Temp - 350deg (175c)

Step 2: Dry Ingredients

Combine dry ingredients first in a mixing bowl.

---ingredients are listed in order a photos help demonstrate the process

Step 3: Wet Ingredients

In a stand mixer or another mixing bowl combine the wet ingredients. Yes, sugar counts as a wet ingredient... it melts into the wet mixture.

---ingredients are listed in order a photos help demonstrate the process

Step 4: Combine Dry + Wet

Mix the dry ingredients into the wet.

Step 5: Blueberries Mixes

There are two sections for blueberries under the ingredient list. Prep them both in this step.

First Blueberry Mix - gets folded into the batter (next step)
Second Blueberry Mix - gets added on top in the pan (following step)

Step 6: Blueberries in Batter

Fold the first blueberry mix into the batter. It is now ready for the pan.

Step 7: Baking Pan

Add the batter to a 13 x 9 inch baking pan. Easy to vary across different pans but the idea is to have about 1-1/2"-2" of batter for the bake.

Preheat oven to 350.

Step 8: Blueberry Topping

Scatter the second mixture of blueberries. ---note from the photos that Jess simply adds the washed blueberries and then tops with a sugar/cinnamon mixture.

Step 9: Oven Bake + Enjoy!

Bake for about 45-50 minutes. As always it's easiest to check cakes with a toothpick. The toothpick should come out clean from the center. Allow to cool for about a half hour. It rarely gets that long.

We keep it covered on the counter for a few days before moving to the fridge.

Fruit Location. Note that our fruit sank to the bottom. This is because it wasn't coated with much starch (or the dry flour) and the blueberry topping was applied without any. For a better distribution use the flower on the berries for the batter. Also use the the sugar + cinnamon mixture for the topping berries.

Hope you enjoy this recipe while blueberries are priced right! Jeff

---a great source for inspiring recipes are the smitten kitchen books. they are Jess's go to starting point.

Here are a few more recent desserts:

'Italian' Cheesecake - using ricotta cheese and less sugar
Bread Pudding- an adaptation of Paul Prudhomme's classic
Perfect Pie - managing moisture at each step to make a perfect triple berry pie