This is a cake that I made for us last week. I am trying to job my memory as to where I got it from. I am pretty sure it was Bunny's Oven. (which is an excellent food blog by to follow by the way and she's a really nice person!)
The fact that it was built just for two people is what really appealed to me . . . that and the fact that it was Blueberry. I adore blueberries!
You can use fresh or frozen berries for it. I always happen to have fresh in the refrigerator so that is what I used.
When I first moved over here to the UK, blueberries were not something that was readily available. If you could find them, they were really expensive. Its interesting the things you miss when you cant get them anymore. or are difficult to find.
Blueberries were something that grew wild in our back yard in Nictaux, NS, and I remember my parents having a favorite blueberry patch that we would go to pick them when I was a child. It was on a dirt road off the main just past a small village called Paradise. Blueberries grew in abundance there.
Long about the middle of August, they would pack us up into the car and off we would go to pick berries. Ice cream buckets full, which my mom would freeze to make blueberry pies with in the Winter. It was back breaking work as wild blueberries grow close to the ground and you need to crouch to pick them.
Bears also love blueberries, and I can remember being quite nervous while we were picking . . . . always a tiny bit afraid that a bear would come out and eat us along with our berries!
There is something really special about the flavor of a wild blueberry . . . all of that natural sweetness has been concentrated into a smaller fruit, and packs a real wow factor. Cultivated berries never quite come up to the flavor of a wild berry but alas . . .
Beggars can't be choosers and I am just happy that they are more readily available now. Most coming from Poland in the warmer months, and incredibly from Peru in the winter months. You can also buy them frozen.
We have our own blueberry bushes here as well, right in our back garden. Each year they produce a little bit more. One year I might even have enough to make a pie! And I won't have to fight the bears for them!
In any case these are very delicious little cakes. Quick and easy to put together, using fresh or frozen berries. We enjoyed them warm with a little quenelle of clotted cream on top.
Yield: 2Author: Marie Rayner
Blueberry Cake For Two
prep time: 10 minscook time: 30 minstotal time: 40 minsThis delicious, simple blueberry cake is packed with blueberries and perfectly sized just for two people. You can easily double and triple the recipe if desired.ingredients:
- 35g plain flour (1/4 cup all purpose)
- 45g castor sugar (1/4 cup fine granulated sugar)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
- 60ml milk (1/4 cup)
- 1 TBS butter, melted
- 150g of fresh blueberries (1 cup)
- 1/4 tsp lemon extract
- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom
- a sprinkle of demerara sugar for the top (turbinado)
- clotted cream or ice cream to serve (optional)
instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter two 285g (10 ounce) ramekins and set on a small oven tray.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, milk , melted butter, lemon extract and ground cardamom. Put 1/4 of the blueberries in the bottom of each ramekin. Divide the batter between them and then top with the remaining berries, dividing them equally. Sprinkle with a bit of demerara sugar.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until risen and golden brown. Serve warm with or without some clotted cream or ice cream. (I like to dust mine with some icing sugar for appearances, but it is not necessary.)
I am thinking it is a good thing that there was only two of these as I would have been hard pressed to stop at one serving, they were that tasty! Now in my favorite recipe rotation for sure! If you like berries and you like cake, you are sure to love these! I am thinking other berries, like raspberries or blackberries would also work well! Bon Appetit and Happy Ground Hog Day! (Will he see his shadow do you think???)
