One Pound of Blueberries. And You Can Too.

At the start, I should get two things off my chest:

1. I like blueberries, but I don't like them like them.
2. The blueberries I had spent a two week vacation on the bottom shelf of my refrigerator.
   

I know, it's a despicable fate for the one pound of fresh, organic blueberries I couldn't bear to leave the farmer's market without. I will confess my sins to the nearest organic farmer and accept my punishment bravely. But here is my point: my one pound of blueberries was quickly going bad -- not Hell's-Angel bad or anything, but they were, let's say, California-rolling-stop bad -- and I needed to use them.

Ah! I feel better now, all my caveats having been established. So let's begin, shall we?

Blueberries! Summer! Easy one-layer cakes!

I admit I'm a bit of a novice here, having no experience of baking blueberries outside of muffins and quickbreads. So I relied on the very scientific method of googling the words "blueberry" and "cake" to get me started. When I found something that looked appropriately rich, I stopped.

And it was rich. Not in the sweet way, but in the good balance of fats way. Like a super-dreamy muffin or quickbread. It even obliged by getting just the slightest bit crusty around the edge, like every good muffin top should. There were some pretty big oohs and aahs flung about the table when I served this for dessert. I even heard a superlative "melt in your mouth."

Oh, and "lemony" -- did I mention that yet? Lemons! Because while I may not be an inspiring blueberry evangelist, I am firmly, persuasively in the camp of lemons. And it seemed a shame to bake a blueberry cake without upping the lemoniness. Also, the citrus masked my less-than-fresh berries nicely.

Instead of powdered sugar, I opted for a healthy dollop of whipped cream on top. A whipped cream that is actually equal parts sour cream, and possibly my absolute favorite whipped creamy topping. Ever. It is lemony and luscious. And very close to standing on its own -- no pesky cake layer required. Even my sweets-averse nephew agrees.

Have I sufficiently whet your appetite? Are you ready to bake?

Good. Because the recipe follows.

Oh, and for those of you who may not have a pound of blueberries getting old in your refrigerator, I'd recommend frozen. You'll never notice the difference. Really.

-- Or fresh blackberries! I bet some blackberries in here would be like heaven.

For the cake (adapted from Simply Recipes):
1 cup and 1 teaspoon all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 1 lemon
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
2 cups blueberries
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-inch cake pan (and use parchment on the bottom too, if you're more comfortable with that).

Combine 1 cup flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest in a bowl. Set aside.

This creaming of butter step is my all-time favorite part of baking.

Cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Add eggs one at a time, mixing in each until blended. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the mix, blending until smooth. Pour batter into pan.

(Now, once you reach this point, you will think that I am crazy. You will think that I have forgotten to tell you to add milk or sour cream or lemon juice or some other wet ingredient that will make this batter lighter. And I know you will think this because this is where I started to become skeptical and mistrust the authority of the recipe myself. But have faith.)

In a separate bowl (or reusing the dry ingredient bowl), combine the blueberries (either the official 2 cups, or the renegade as many as you can) with 1 teaspoon of flour and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. The extra flour is supposed to keep the berries from falling to the bottom of the cake while baking. My batter was so dense it probably didn't need the precaution. Be as brave and cavalier as you dare. Oh -- and if one whole tablespoon of lemon juice seems extraordinary to you, feel free to use as little as you like. The original recipe calls for only 1 teaspoon in the mix.

Gently spoon the blueberries over the top of your cake batter. Bake 1 hour.

For the whipped cream (adapted from Bon Appetit, via epicurious):
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup sour cream
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest (or the less precise zest from 1 lemon, which is always how it works in my kitchen)

Combine all ingredients in a chilled bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Dollop generously on absolutely everything you can think of, and devour in heaping, Nigella-esque mouthfuls.