To make the perfect Blueberry Cake I investigated what it took to make the perfect Blueberry muffin. The best Blueberry Muffin’s are made in America, and they themselves have looked at what it takes to make the ‘perfect’ one. They found too many whole Blueberries added into the batter and they will sink to the bottom in baking, not enough added in and the muffin lacks a Blueberry taste. So the perfect muffin uses a Blueberry compote to swirl into the batter before baking, as well as whole blueberries.
Now why am I baking a cake and not a muffin? Well the British bake the best cakes, and the Americans bake the best muffins, and I wanted to see if a little ‘magpie’ understanding of their techniques would transfer into a modern Blueberry Cake with British sensibilities. But if you want to make this recipe and then bake the cake batter in muffin tins you will have the ‘perfect’ blueberry muffin.
I adapted the recipe in two ways from the ‘perfect’ American version, first there is less sugar, a less sweet batter relies more upon the blueberries and does not smother the taste, secondly I slightly increased the butter content, both in the compote and in the cake batter, this allows us to use use plain yoghurt instead of buttermilk, giving a far better finish in the mouth after eating.
Baking Notes on this Blueberry Cake: Making an enormous blueberry muffin has both positives and negatives.
The negatives. Baking times have to increase significantly to make sure the cake is fully cooked in the center; unlike smaller muffins, where the heat can penetrate, we have to cook the center without drying out the top and bottom of the cake too much, which is why you need to check the cake after 40 minutes and at ten minute intervals thereafter to see if it is fully cooked.
The positives. By baking a cake you can control portion sizes easier, by adjusting the thickness of the slices of the cake. It also looks fantastic, each slice has whole blueberries and a blueberry swirl throughout it, something you would miss seeing if eating a muffin. Apart from the ends of the cake, with the thin cake ‘crust’, the entire cake is soft and moist all the way through.
Tasting notes: It obviously tastes more like a modern muffin than a traditional cake, but I liked that about it; the texture is also a lot heavier than a cake, but it is also a lot softer, with a lovely little bit of sweet gooiness to it. The addition of the blueberry compote swirled in is a stroke of magic, and I must give the Americans credit for that understanding, it really does add the blueberry taste into every bite. All in all this might be the ‘perfect’ Blueberry Cake …
Blueberry Cake Recipe
Recipe Ingredients:
For The Simple Lemon-Sugar Topping
- 35g sugar
- 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
For The Muffins
- 250g blueberries, picked over clean
- 200g sugar (plus 1 tbsp)
- 400g plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 2 large eggs
- 120g unsalted butter (plus 10g) – melted
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp of water
- 100ml milk
- 100ml plain natural yoghurt
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
Ingredients For Blueberry Cake
Recipe Method:
Grease a large loaf tin with butter and set aside. For the simple lemon-sugar topping just stir together the 35g of sugar with fine grated lemon zest in small bowl and set aside.
For the blueberry compote: In small saucepan, over medium heat, add half the blueberries, 10g of butter, 1 tbsp of sugar and 1 tbsp of water. Cook gently, mashing the berries with the back of a wooden spoon several times, and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened, (after about 5 minutes). Then transfer the compote to a small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.
Dry ingredients: sieve the flour into a large mixing bowl, and sprinkle in the baking powder, and sea salt.
Wet ingredients: Melt the butter, then whisk the sugar and eggs together in a medium sized mixing bowl, until thick and creamy. Then slowly whisk in the melted butter and oil until combined and then whisk in the milk, plain yoghurt and vanilla extract until everything is fully mixed and light.
Combine the ingredients: Fold in the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, and then add the remaining whole blueberries. With gentle folding, rather than mixing, the Cake Batter might still be lumpy, with few spots of dry flour, but do not be tempted to overmix.
Making The Blueberry Compote - Mixing The Wet & Dry Ingredients
Preheat the oven to 190C
Pour the cake batter into the prepared loaf tin and gently swirl in the cooled blueberry compote into the batter using a chopstick or skewer in a figure of eight motion. Sprinkle the lemon sugar evenly over the top.
Ready To Swirl In The Compote And Sprinkle Over The Lemon Sugar
Put the loaf tin into the oven and Bake until the cake top is golden and firm, for 50 to 60 minutes, at 190C. Start testing the cake after 40 minutes with a skewer, push it into the center of the cake to see if it comes out hot and mainly clean. In this type of cake the center may be ‘sticky’ in places, adhering to the skewer, so test in several areas, what we do not want is ‘raw’ batter. When done remove from the oven and cool the Blueberry Cake in its tin for 30 minutes, then carefully run a cooks spatula around the cake edge and tip the cake out of the loaf tin and transfer to wire rack or plate to completely cool before slicing and serving.
Blueberry Cake
