A cake tin and some blueberries...

My Dad and his wife recently brought me back this Bundt cake tin

from a trip to Bayreuth - the city of Wagner operas and, apparently, some really nice kitchenware shops. Yes, I had to be nerdy enough to have this as my "wish list item no. 1". I've been longing to use it, but haven't had the time for devoting myself to the kitchen and finding the recipe to inaugurate the tin.

The other day I went with my boyfriend shopping, and stumbled upon some beautiful blueberries that I just HAD to buy - so I did. And then they just sat there in the fridge, calling out to me every time I opened the door - "Use me, use me!" Admittedly not that many times, seeing that I haven't been home too much.

Finally, one night we finished early and I jumped eagerly into my kitchen, my, for the moment favorite baking book "Baking by Flavor" in hand and thought: how hard can it be? Blueberries and my tin - there must be something in here... I love the lay-out of the book - each chapter is devoted to a particular ingredient, like butter, buttercrunch, ginger, vanilla - and blueberries! Now, I've already tried a couple of recipes and they are divine - some are kind of labor intensive, but I don't mind that if the results are as these! Really had to get used to the cup-measurements, but I'm getting the hang of it.

There it was: Blueberry Tea Cake, on p. 178. I had all the ingredients. Was it an omen? I thought so. Yummy in my tummy... I did the mixing


the pouring -

the putting it in the oven -

the taking it out of the oven -




the unmoulding -

ET VOILA!



And it was GREAT! There's nothing like ending the day with a piece of home-baked cake - is there?


Blueberry Tea Cake from Lisa Yockelson's Baking by Flavor

(I should probably add that this is not an exact transcript - miss Yockelson is very instructive in her recipes and well... This is merely my take on it. I'll republish as soon as I have the time to give the exact instructions!)

10-inch Bundt pan

3 cups bleached all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
3 tablespoons moist, dried blueberries
½ pound softened, unsalted butter
2 cups vanilla-scented granulated sugar
4 large eggs
2 ½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup thick, cultured sour cream
3 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C. Film the inside of the Bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray or butter.

Sift the 7 first ingredients into a bowl. Toss the blueberries, both fresh and dry, with a tablespoon or so of the sifted mixture.
In the bowl of a free-standing mixer, cream the butter, first for a couple of minutes alone, then add the sugar in three additions, beating for a minute between each addition. Beat in the eggs, one at the time. Blend in the vanilla extract.

On low speed, alternately add the sifted dry ingredients and the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Add the buttermilk and beat on low speed for 1 minute. Stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and smooth over the top to give an equal surface.

Bake for about 50 minutes, or until risen, set and a wooden pick comes out clean. Let the baked cake rest for 5 to 10 minutes on a cooling rack before unmoulding. Let cool, and if you want, dust with confectioners sugar for a dramatic effect!