I don't often get the time to bring out the lovely cookbooks I received as wedding gifts and try new recipes. I am happy to have just finished studying for and taking the bar exam and am excited to start an internship on Capitol Hill next week. In celebration of my last true days of relaxation, I wanted to make a desert that celebrated the end of the summer season. I went with a recipe for blueberry cake from one of my favorite recipe books: "The Hummingbird Bakery Cookbook", which was given to me by a dear friend for our engagement party. If you are a frequent reader of this blog, you can guess that along the way I made some "baking blunders", but all in all, this recipe turned out looking respectable and tasting sweet.
I will warn you that this recipe is chock full of butter and sugar. I am usually one to make lighter recipes that are packed with fruits and whole grains, but once in a while, It's alright to treat yo' self!
Ingredients:
- 3 sticks of unsalted butter (Yes, you read that right: 3!) at room temp.
- 1 & 3/4 cups of sugar
- 6 eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
- 3 & 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons and 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- 1 cup of sour cream
- 3 tablespoons of whole milk
- 1 pint of fresh blueberries (and some extra for decoration)
- 2 quantities of cream cheese frosting (recipe below)
- A 10 inch ring mold, greased and dusted with flour. (I didn't have a 10 inch ring mold, so I used a good old fashioned bundt pan, and it turned out just fine).
Preparation Tip:
- Baking has the potential to be a frazzling experience, especially if you find yourself still fumbling for ingredients while simultaneously stirring your batter. I like to portion out all of my ingredients ahead of time to avoid the last minute search for vanilla extract. Portioning also allows time for the butter to warm to room temperature.
Directions:*
- Preheat your oven to 325 degrees.
- Add the sugar and butter in your electric mixer. Make sure to use the paddle attachment. Mix until light and fluffy.
- Add in the eggs one at a time. Be mindful to scrape excess ingredients off the side of the bowl.
- Add the vanilla, flour and baking powder until the ingredients are mixed well
- Add the sour cream and milk. Mix so that the ingredients are well combined and the batter appears light and fluffy.
- Stir in blueberries and mix by hand.
- Transfer the batter into your greased and floured bundt pan. Smooth over the mix with a rubber spatula, and bake for 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown.
- Let the cake cool in the mold for a bit, and then turn it out onto a wire rack. Allow it to cool completely.
- When your cake is completely cooled, transfer it to a serving plate (I transferred it to my badass cake stand) and frost it! Decorate with blueberries, and if you are feeling extra sweet (I wasn't)...add a light dusting of confectioner's sugar.
Baking Blunders (Beware!)
As I said earlier, baking is bound to be accompanied by blunders when I'm in the kitchen. Amazingly, I only made two this go around, which is a vast improvement from my last baking post!
Baking Blunder #1: You sunk my bundt cake!
As you can see from the picture, the inside ring of my bundt cake became sunken in only minutes after being taken out of the oven. After searching around, Food Network gave me some answers. The simplest explanation was that my cake just wasn't done yet. The shape of the cake when I took it out of the oven should have tipped me off. Cakes rise around the edges first, so if the middle has not risen enough yet, don't take it out. It's bound to sink. I also should have inserted a skewer into the middle of the cake. After the cake sunk, I did just that, and the skewer came out with a bit of batter still clinging to it. I also found some interesting facts on oven temperature to consider here.
My fix? I threw it back in the oven for a little over 10 minutes at a slightly higher temperature. It baked through, and while it didn't look as gorgeous as I had hoped, it was fully in tact and would still be delicious.
Baking Blunder #2: Who Needs Grease and Flour?
I forgot to grease and flour my bundt pan. Given my recent hand surgery, I needed to bring in some extra muscle to remedy this particular baking blunder. My husband eventually coaxed the cake out of its shell, but it sustained some crumbling edges. My fix? Icing! The best part of an iced cake is restorative power of icing. I was able to cover up the crumbles with ease, and nobody knew the difference (unless they are reading this, of course).
As promised, the cream cheese icing recipe is below. It's super easy and quite delectable:
Ingredients:
- 2 and 1/3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter, at room temp.
- 4 oz cream cheese
Directions:
- Mix the sugar and butter together in your electric mixer using a paddle attachment. Use a medium slow speed until the ingredients are well mixed.
- Throw in the entire block of cream cheese and beat until completely mixed.
- Turn up the speed to medium-high and beat until the frosting is light and fluffy. Do this for at least 5 minutes. Don't over beat, or you'll end up with frosting soup.
How'd it Go?
Our blueberry bundt cake was a huge hit and almost all that tasted it couldn't help but go back for seconds! I kept it to just one piece last night, but couldn't help but pair a small piece with some coffee this morning for a delicious and relaxing Sunday breakfast in bed. Cheers until next time!
*These directions were not taken directly from any cookbook. So as to avoid any copyright issues, I've fashioned the directions myself. (This is what happens when lawyers bake cakes and blog about them!).