Vickie's Blueberry Upside Down Cake

This recipe is from the blog The Moveable Feast. Vickie is a personal chef, a teacher, a spinner & knitter. I always enjoy reading her blog. She kindly agreed that I could share her Blueberry Upside Down Cake with you.

"The recipe came from one of my old faithful books Farm Journal's Country Cookbook. I have had this book for years and years. The recipes in the book are pretty simple and I do think that sometimes that less is more and simple is right. There is a reason for KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid). Cake mix makes this a quickie dessert"


-Blueberry Upside-Down Cake Serves 9
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups fresh or frozen unsweetened blueberries, thawed
2 tsp grated lemon peel (divided in half)
1 (8 1/2 oz) pkg. yellow cake mix
1/2 cup heavy cream (whipped)

Melt butter in 8" square baking pan. Sprinkle sugar evenly over butter.
Mix blueberries and 1 tsp lemon peel; sprinkle over sugar. Prepare yellow cake mix according to package directions, stirring in 1 tsp of lemon peel at end of mixing. Spread batter over berries. Bake in moderate oven (375) for 30 minutes or until cake tests done. Let stand 10 minutes. Turn out on platter. Serve warm. Top with whipped cream at the table if you wish.

Editor's note - your standard box cake mix is anywhere from 16-18 ounces, so if you're going to use all of a "regular" cake mix, I would think that you should double your fruit, butter & sugar AND use two 8" baking pans or a standard 9x13 cake pan.

Blueberry ebelskivers

One of the things that I inherited from my mom was our family's ebelskiver pan. What the heck is an "ebelskiver" you ask? It is a little round pancake made in a pan with "dimples". For the last several years, our friend Nancy has had a wonderful New Year's brunch at her farm, and I have made it a tradition to make ebelskivers - with homemade applesause they are just yummy but Williams and Sonoma have come up with some new ebelskiver recipes, including one using blueberries for the filling. I think this year I'll make the Blueberry ones. Here's their recipe.

Blueberry-Filled Pancakes
Known as ebelskiver in Denmark, these light, fluffy pancakes make a delicious breakfast treat paired with lingonberry or raspberry jam.

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Zest of 1/2 lemon
3 egg yolks plus 5 egg whites
1 1/3 cups buttermilk
3/4 cup ricotta cheese
5 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 pint blueberries
Confectioners’ sugar for dusting

In a batter pitcher or bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, granulated sugar, salt and lemon zest. Set aside.

In another bowl, lightly whisk the egg yolks. Whisk in the buttermilk and ricotta. Whisk the yolk mixture into the flour mixture until well combined; the mixture will be lumpy. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry peaks form. Using a rubber spatula, gently stir the whites into the batter in two additions.

Put 1/2 tsp. butter in each well of a filled-pancake pan. Place over medium heat and heat until the butter begins to bubble. Pour 1 Tbs. batter into each well, place 4 blueberries in the center of the batter and top with 1 Tbs. batter. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and crispy, 3 to 5 minutes. Using 2 wooden skewers turn the pancakes over and cook until golden brown and crispy, about 3 minutes more. Transfer to a plate. Repeat with the remaining batter and blueberries.

Dust the pancakes with confectioner’s sugar and serve warm. Makes about 30.

copywrite 2007 Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Blueberry Pound Cake

Oh, Oh, Oh, I've been SO busy!

I found this recipe on Mom's Best Recipes" and would like to thank Shirley McNevich for giving me her permission to reprint it here on my blueberry blog. I haven't made it yet, but I'm gonna!

Blueberry Pound Cake - (by Shirley McNevich)

1 box Betty Crocker butter flavored cake mix
8oz. Philadelphia cream cheese (softened)
1/2 cup canola oil
3 eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

In a mixer add cream cheese--beat. Add eggs and canola oil--beat. Add cake mix and beat until smooth. Remove bowl from mixer and fold in the blueberries with a spoon. Pour batter into a lightly greased and floured 10" tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 45 min. to 1 hour. Test with a toothpick for doneness. Serve cake with Cool Whip or glaze.

By the way, this is a very lucky family - the recipes that I have read from this blog all looked great - what a wonderful legacy to leave!

Blueberry-Lime Margarita

Reviews of this recipe were quite high. One person said they used 1/2 cup of tequila instead of 3 oz. The other issue seemed to be lack of "blueberry nectar" but apparently blueberry juice was readily available. I wonder what would happen if you used Rose's Lime instead of plain lime juice - I'll bet it would add a little more zing - maybe a little dash of apricot brandy on the top?

Blueberry-Lime Margarita - 2 Servings
Frozen limeade adds zing to this stellar blueberry margarita.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups ice

1 cup frozen blueberries
1 cup blueberry nectar
1/4 cup seltzer
2 tablespoons frozen limeade
1 tablespoon lime juice
3 ounces tequila
1 lime wedge
Coarse salt

DIRECTIONS:

Combine ice, blueberries, blueberry nectar, seltzer, limeade, lime juice and tequila, if using, in a blender and blend until smooth. Rub rim of 2 glasses with lime wedge and dip in salt. Divide the margarita between the prepared glasses and serve.


Presented by: EatingWell.com
Total Time: 10 min
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
1 serving: Calories 125; Carbohydrates 31g; Dietary Fiber 2g; Fat 1g; Potassium 147mg; Sodium 6mg

Photograph from EatingWell.com

Pancakes ala' Williams & Sonoma

About once every couple of weeks I get a "Customer e-mail" from Williams & Sonoma. They never fail to delight me with a very cool kitchen tool that I'd love to have, but either don't have room for (remember, there's all those Pampered Chef things in my kitchen) - or can't afford - face it - W&S is top drawer BUT their customer emails are anything but junk mail - They also have what I call "do-able" recipes - that is something that looks not too fussy that the DH will eat and will also be fun to make. Here's their latest offering - (and actually they called it "Maine" Blueberry Sauce - but bein' as how we're in Washington, and you might be in Minnesota, I left the state off)

Pancakes with [YOUR STATE'S NAME HERE] Blueberry Sauce

This pancake batter combines all-purpose flour with buckwheat flour, a dark flour that has a nutty, slightly sweet flavor and firm texture. A warm sauce made from fresh blueberries adds the perfect finishing touch.

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

1/2 cup whole-ground buckwheat flour, sifted

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

2 1/4 cups buttermilk

4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 to 2 Tbs. vegetable oil

2 cups fresh blueberries

Zest of 1/2 lemon

1 Tbs. cornstarch

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

Preheat an oven to 200°F. In a bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs on medium speed until frothy. Add the all-purpose and buckwheat flours, 3 Tbs. of the sugar, the baking powder, baking soda, salt, buttermilk, butter and vanilla and stir just until smooth. Heat a griddle over medium-high heat. Lightly grease the griddle with oil or spray with nonstick cooking spray. Using a batter dispenser, dispense the batter onto the griddle. Cook until bubbles form on top of the pancakes and the batter is set, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook until golden brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining pancakes.

In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the blueberries, the remaining 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs. sugar, the lemon zest and 1/2 cup water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, stir together the cornstarch, 1 Tbs. water and the lemon juice. Add to the berries and stir until the sauce is thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve the warm blueberry sauce over the pancakes. Serves 4.

Copywrite 2007 Williams-Sonoma Kitchen.

Blueberry Lemon Tea Cake

I found this in an article on blueberry reicpes - I have not made it, but it looked very good, and it is very low in fat. To tell you the truth, I'm unsure what they mean by "1 large and 1 tsp grated lemon zest", maybe 1 tablespoon & one teaspoon? That seems like a lot to me, so I'd just go with the one teaspoon only. This would be an ideal recipe for using up some of the frozen blueberries that you have in your freezer. I'll bet that the lemon glaze on the top really gives it a zing! Let me know if you try it.

Blueberry-Lemon Tea Bread - 16 Servings

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas
1/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp canola oil
2 large egg whites
1 large and 1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 cup blueberries
DIRECTIONS
In a bowl combine 1 1/2 cup mashed ripe bananas , 1/4 cup fat-free buttermilk, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 2 Tbsp canola oil, 2 large egg whites, 1 large and 1 tsp grated lemon zest. Stir flour into mixture then stir in 1 cup blueberries. Pour batter into 9x5x3-inch loaf pan coated with baking spray; bake 1 hour. Cook in pan on wire rack 15 minutes. invert ;invert again. Cool 10 minutes. IN a bowl combine 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar, 2 tsp lemon juice ,and 1/2 grated lemon zest. Spread over top loaf; cool completely.
Presented by: Redbook Magazine
Copywrite 2007, all rights reserved
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
1 serving: Calories 183; Carbohydrates 38g; Fat 2g;

Farmgirl's Blueberry Breakfast Bars

One of my very favorite blogs to read is Farmgirl Fare. Susan has a wonderful way with words and her photographs of her Missouri farm are beautiful. The stories of all her many animals are most entertaining and a great way to start the day.

She is also a very good cook and has a blog about her kitchen garden and a blog that she shares with two other bakers called A Year in Bread. All three blogs have lots of yummy recipes in them. How she manages to find time to do all this and run her farm, I'll never know, but she has graciously given me permission to reprint her Blueberry Breakfast Bar recipe. They are a great way to start the day and even better after dinner with a scoop of French Vanilla Ice Cream.


Farmgirl's Blueberry Breakfast Bars (Makes 12 to 16 large bars)

Bottom Layer:
2 cups old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour (she uses Heartland Mill organic)
3/4 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons (1 stick + 2 Tbsp/5 ounces) butter, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Top Layer:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick/four ounces) butter or natural vegetable oil sticks (she uses Earth Balance, I used real butter)

Middle Layer
3-1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon pure almond extract
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (1/4 tsp. if freshly ground)

For the Bottom Layer:
Heat the oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a 9" x 13" pan. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and vanilla until thoroughly combined. Press this mixture evenly into the bottom of the pan with your fingers. (You can use the bottom of a stainless steel measuring cup to help make the crust flat and even.)

For the Top Layer:
Place the flour, brown sugar, and butter or vegetable oil sticks in a small bowl and use a fork, pastry blender, or your fingers to combine until the mixture resembles large crumbs (some pea-sized clumps are okay). Set aside.

For the Middle Layer:
Place the blueberries in the bowl you mixed the Bottom Layer in and toss them with the almond extract. Pour them evenly over the Bottom Layer in the pan. Combine the sugar and flour and sprinkle it evenly over the blueberries. (Even when wet or frozen, the sugar/flour mixture wouldn't stick to my big fat blueberries when I tried tossing it with them. If yours will, just toss the sugar/flour mixture with the blueberries and then pour the whole mixture over the Bottom Layer in the pan.)

Sprinkle the Top Layer evenly over the blueberry mixture. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, then lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for another 20 to 25 minutes, until the top is golden, and the edges are starting to brown. Let cool in pan on a wire rack. Store in a cool place or refrigerate. Bars may also be frozen.

Susan has also experimented using other fruit instead of all blueberries - these versions make a more "fruity" bar less suited to eating out of hand than the plain ones. To use apple follow the following for the middle layer: 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, 3 generous cups unpeeled chopped apples (about 5 small/19 oz), 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg (1/2 teaspoon if pre-ground)

For a peach version, use two cups of small peach chunks and three cups of blueberries. They will take slightly longer to bake and should be refrigerated to keep from getting too mushy.

Thank you, Susan for letting me share your Blueberry Breakfast bars with my readers!
Recipe and photograph Copyright 2006 FarmgirlFare.com