Blueberry Blunder!

Blueberry Cake - Cake. Pg. 254 - Lila E.D. Kinley (Mrs. J.J.)

Mmmm…blueberries. When it comes to blueberry desserts, it’s hard to imagine anything comparing to the sensational, one of a kind, blueberry buckle (see recipe here). Jan loves her buckle, and when Jan finds something she likes, she tends to stick with it. She knows what she likes and likes what she knows (pssst…she only thinks she knows what she likes). Blueberry season means taking advantage of any and all DO blueberry recipes (even blueberry pudding - not the custard kind, but the other one)….but for that we’re procrastinating and will come at a later date – maybe next season. It took a bit of convincing to get Jan to think outside of her blueberry box…but alas, we bring you blueberry cake!

A seemingly simple cake - a handful of ingredients. Same old same old…right? WRONG! 2 cups of sugar should have made us question this petite gateau. Then – combine the fact that it has double the amount of sugar of any normal cake recipe; with sour milk…we were ready to throw in the towel. But then we thought to ourselves…No! You can’t quit. Weird and wacky as the ingredient volumes are, it will not get the better of us. We trudged onward.

We saw it through, but oh what a blueberry blunder. This cake’s got issues...first off it was as heavy as a brick, and sweet enough to send any adult into a sugar coma and any kid climbing the walls and ceiling. All the blueberries settled to the bottom of the cake, and it turned out extremely dense with little rise. Probably more suitable for a doorstop, we dressed it up with a little simple vanilla glaze and voila! – It looked good enough to eat…and we did, we have no shame – if it’s sweet and has frosting, chances are we’ll eat it.


It did inspire us however to seek out alternative recipes, a quest to find the perfect blueberry cake! Peter and Jan checked with their people, and their people’s people, and so on. After reviewing all the family recipe archives – we decided upon Jan’s great aunt Gladdys’s recipe. Pulled from the secret recipe files of Jan’s Nanny, it was similar to some of Peter’s family recipes.

And that was our placebo second throwdown. And oooooh, it was delicious. Winner winner chicken dinner we say. Light and fluffy, topped with a sweet crunchy streusel topping – blueberry cake perfection! More is more we say - we topped this one with a little lemon glaze – blueberry plus lemon = yummiliscious.

Gladdy’s Blueberry Cake:

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
2/3 cups sour milk (we just used regular milk)
Zest of 1 lemon (optional)

Directions:

Crème 1 cup sugar and ½ cup butter together, add 2 beaten eggs. Sift together 2 cups flour, 3 tsp baking powder, ¼ tsp salt. Add the dry to the sugar/butter/egg mixture – alternating with wet, per normal batter rules of the universe. Add zest of one lemon (optional). Add 1-2 cups berries to batter…{we prefer wild…but cultivvated would be fine}.

Topping: ½ cup brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon – topping gets added over batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 50 mins…or until baked through. Recommended square pyrex or Bundt pan (greased and floured).

Cake Fit for a Queen!

Queen Elizabeth Cake – Cake, Pg. 255 – Bessie S. Iversen (Mrs. L. I.)



It’s Victoria Day! A Canadian holiday originally observed in celebration of Queen Victoria’s birthday (leader of the British Commonwealth), is now observed in celebration of the current reigning sovereign’s official birthday (currently Queen Elizabeth II). What better occasion to whip up this Dutch Oven treat – Queen Elizabeth Cake. There seems to be a bit of mystery around the origins of this cake – some believe it was a recipe created and prepared by Queen Elizabeth I (the Queen Mother) to support fund raising efforts for the Church of England. Others believe it is a Canadian developed recipe, named in honor of Queen Elizabeth I and sold to raise money for the war efforts during World War II. Whatever the case, one thing is for certain; this is some seriously scrummy cake!

Made with dates and an ooey gooey caramel sauce it’s reminiscent of sticky toffee cake. Preparation is quick and simple – however we do have a few suggestions regarding the preparation, see below.

Queen Elizabeth Cake

Ingredients (Cake):

¼ butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg (well beaten)
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups flour (sifted)
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 cup chopped dates (soaked in 1 cup boiling water)

Ingredients (Sauce):

5 tbsp brown sugar
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream
½ cup coconut

Directions:

Cream butter and sugar, add egg and remaining ingredients. Bake in angel cake pan for 45 minutes at 375°F.

Sauce – combine ingredients and boil for 3 minutes and pour over cake while warm.







Dutch Oven Tips and Tricks:

The directions for this cake are a little dodgy and may create some challenges for the novice cake baker. The original directions indicate that after creaming the butter, sugar and egg that the remaining ingredients should be added in order – bullocks! We did this during our first run (all while knowing that one of the principle methods of combining ingredients is to alternate dry, wet). No surprise, we ended up with a lumpy cake batter. We also ended up draining our dates the first time round (which in fact are to be left in the 1 cup of water). There is no other liquid in this recipe, so the water is definitely needed to create the right consistency.

Here’s how the ingredients should be combined to create a smooth and light cake batter. Soak dates and 1 cup of boiling water. Cream butter and sugar, add egg and vanilla, mix well. Sift flour, salt, soda, and baking powder. Alternate adding dry ingredients with date mixture, starting and ending with dry. Add cake batter to a greased and floured baking pan. We found that the cake was done in 40 minutes. Alternately this cake can be prepared in 9x12 inch cake pan.

Oh yeah – and of course we doubled the caramel sauce. What’s life without extra sauce?

So settle in with cuppa, put on your Sunday best, stick a fascinator to the side of your head and toast to her majesty with a little piece of cake fit for a Queen!