When we lived in Maine, our backyard was trees, fiddlehead ferns, wildflowers and blueberries. It was an awesome backyard. This lady named Hazel worked for my dad at the newspaper. She identified some of the wildflowers. She introduced us to the various things you could do with rosehips and the fact that you can eat those ferns in the spring when the ferns were all curled up and looked like — you guessed it — fiddleheads.
We didn’t need to be told what to do with the blueberries. Everyone knows what to do with blueberries: blueberry muffins, blueberries in cream, blueberries on cereal, blueberries in a sauce, blueberries on pancakes, blueberry waffles, blueberry preserves, blueberry jam….
But the best dessert ever made with blueberries was this fabulous cake we were served at Noonan’s in Cape Porpoise, Maine. After stuffing ourselves silly on Maine lobster dipped in melted butter, our server brought out an unassuming piece of cake. The presentation was nothing to write home about — white cake with blueberries and a dusting of powdered sugar. No icing. Just one layer. White cake that exploded with the taste of blueberries.
That was the best blueberry cake ever.
I don’t want to try and recreate that cake. That taste memory deserves to remain pristine. I do want to combine two of my favorite comfort foods though — blueberries and pound cake.
Blueberry Pound Cake
2 sticks butter, room temperature
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup blueberry preserves
6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon lemon extract
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
3 cups flour
violet food coloring, if so desired
2 cups fresh blueberries
Preheat oven to 325*F. Grease and flour a bundt pan or 2 loaf pans.
Combine butter, sugar and blueberry preserves. The batter will be a pretty shade of purple-blue. Add eggs one at a time and beat well after each addition. Add lemon and vanilla extracts.
Sift together the salt, baking powder and flour. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients alternating with milk. Start and end with dry ingredients.
At this point, the batter will be a not really appetizing shade of greyish-blue. I opted to make it a more fun color by adding a bit of violet food coloring. Purple is so much more fun than dismal grey.
Fold in the fresh blueberries. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. When cake is done, cool on counter for 10 minutes and then invert onto cake plate.
Dust powdered sugar on top if you wish. I’m thinking of serving it with a dollop of freshly whipped cream and a few strawberries.