Linderhof


Gardening, Cooking and Decorating on the Prairie of Kansas


Welcome to Linderhof, our 1920's home on the prairie, where there's usually something in the oven, flowers in the garden for tabletops and herbs in the garden for cooking. Where, when company comes, the teapot is always on and there are cookies and cakes to share in the larder.

Friday, July 24, 2009

Lemon Blueberry Cake

For dessert, I made this lemon blueberry cake. From one of my favorite and much used cookbooks, Country Weekend Entertaining by Anna Pump. A favorite of a dear friend, Carolyn (who grows lovely blueberries on her farm) but one never made by me.
It was not hard to make and extremely good, as all Anna Pump's recipes are. A great summer dessert with the tart lemon and fresh blueberries. Anna suggested it as a breakfast cake or an afternoon tea cake served with a frosty glass of lemonade garnished with a sprig of mint.
It made a great luncheon dessert cake. Served on my bird plates -- since the centerpiece and tablecloth both boasted birds.
I didn't freeze the blueberries in advance (no room in the freezer) and they did all sink to the bottom.

But it was a still a great tasting cake . . . and all that was left was crumbs.

Please join Michael at Designs by Gollum to see what else is being served this Foodie Friday.

LEMON BLUEBERRY CAKE
(From Country Weekend Entertaining by Anna Pump)

2 1/4 cups fresh blueberries
16 T. (2 sticks) softened butter
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
3 eggs
3 cups flour
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 t. baking soda

Glaze:
2 cups confectioners sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350. Butter a 10 inch tube pan.

Spread the blueberries in 1 layer on a sheet pan and freeze for 1 hour. This will keep the berries from sinking to the bottom of the cake.

In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter, sugar and lemon zest at high speed until light in color. Add the lemon juice, eggs and 1 cup of the flour. Mix at medium speed until the batter is smooth and well blended. Add the sour cream, another cup of flour and baking soda. Mix at low speed until no traces of flour remain.

Combine the frozen blueberries with the remaining cup of flour. Fold this mixture into the batter, which should feel very thick.

Spoon the dough into the prepared tube pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in the pan.

To make the glaze, mix together the confectioners sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Drizzle over the cake. Let the cake cool completely before removing it from its pan.





14 comments:

susan said...

It looks and sounds wonderful! No problem about the blueberries--I'll just eat from the bottom up :)

Bumble Bee Cottage said...

Hi Martha, your cake looks delicious. The blueberries look ‘arty’ in the bottom half of the cakes so don’t worry about that. I love to see what people from other countries cook. In the recipes from American blogs I have read blueberries seem to be very popular. I think Australian need to get on the blueberry bandwagon a bit more and start to use them more frequently in their cooking. I have copied your recipe onto my computer and will bake this cake when my Mum comes to visit in a few weeks. I’ll post about it to let you know how it goes. Thanks for sharing something so tasty. PS. The bird plates look great

Joyce said...

Martha,
Smart minds think alike since we both made lemon blueberry cakes this week:) Your recipe is one I will try and sounds lighter in texture then mine. I think mine has less calories but it sure does not matter when I end up eating half the cake myself:) Thanks for sharing and I will give your recipe a try.
Joyce

Poppedijne said...

Combining two of my favorite fruits I am obliged to save this yummie recepie. Thanks for sharing it sounds delish.

Mary Bergfeld said...

It looks terrific, Martha. I need to break out of my rut and try some new recipes. This looks like a great place to start.

Southerncook said...

Your cake looks DIVINE and now I am craving one of those cakes made fresh as you mentioned with blueberries from our farm. Martha, I do freeze my berries and always mix the flour with the blueberries as suggested in the recipe but they still sink to the bottom. One day I am going to figure that out but in the meantime, it tastes just as good. BTW, I loved your tablesetting also.

Carolyn

Lori E said...

These recipes come to me when I actually have the ingredients on hand then I know I am supposed to make them.
Perfect.

Martha said...

Carolyn -- I did mix the flour with the blueberries -- good to know that freezing wouldn't have made that much difference.

Lori (All That Splatters) said...

Looks delicious, Martha. I've got lots of blueberries in the fridge & the freezer. I'll have to allocate some for this cake!

Sherry said...

It does look good! Even if the blueberries are on the bottom.

I have shown your blog to several people...my SIL because of your blue and white plates...she's a collector too. And to the library's Friends group...for the presentations.

If you're up for a new cookbook, the Friends group has their 1 year blog anniversary giveaway...and is giving away a cookbook.

www.friendsofthedaingerfieldpubliclibrary.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

We love blueberries at our house; I think I will be giving this a try very soon. In fact, I just finished my Saturday morning treat - two blueberry cake donuts:) Beginning August 5, I will be hosting Crock Pot Wednesday at diningwithdebbie.blogspot.com. I hope you will join in the fun and share in the prizes to be given away:)

Nancy Yoakum said...

Holy Smokes does that look delicious! I haven't even made anything out of her cookbook yet....look what I've been missing. You've also reminded me to head down to the Blueberry Patch in Bucyrus!

Smiles, Nancy

Charlene said...

This cake looks moist and delcious--I've been wanting to plant some blueberry bushes along our back fence, this makes a perfect incentive to do so!

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

Those plates are stunning, and once again, my mouth is watering over that cake! laurie