A little upside down

I found myself craving cooked blueberries, but not in a pie or pancakes. I decided on cake, but, as we know, blueberries tend to sink to the bottom of cakes. So, if they were going to end up at the bottom anyway, why not make it purposeful?

Being my first baking attempt in Holland, I realized the differences between Dutch ingredients and what I am accustomed to was going to force me to adapt—the key to all good cookery. The sugar here is granular, while the butter has a higher fat content. Flours are completely different due to moisture, soil, and milling. I purchased Patentbloem, which I think is closest to American all-purpose flour. To modify the sugar, I put it, along with the lemon zest, in my mini blender and pulsed it a few times. The process broke up the granules while also infusing the sugar with lemon, resulting in a more pronounced lemon flavor in the cake.

This is an unpretentious yet luscious, lemony cake with a dense moist crumb. The blueberry layer is semi-sweet with a hint of tartness, while the crust closely resembles that of a muffin top. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream and find yourself craving another piece.

Blueberry Upside-Down Cake
Makes one 9-inch layer 

Cake

Zest from 2 lemons
3/4 cup sugar, divided
2-1/2 cups fresh blueberries in a bowl with 1 tablespoon flour mixed in
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup buttermilk
juice from 1-1/2 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Whipping Cream

1/2 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon of lemon sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Butter a 9-inch cake pan, line with parchment, butter the parchment, and dust with flour.

2. Place lemon zest and sugar in a mini blender and pulse until well-blended and the sugar has been slightly ground up. Toss 2 tablespoons of this sugar into the bowl with the blueberries and flour. Evenly distribute the berries, sugar, and flour on the bottom of the cake pan.

3. Set 1 tablespoon of the sugar aside for making the whipped cream.

4. Sift flour, baking powder and soda, and salt into a small bowl. Set aside.

5. In a bowl large enough for the batter and using a mixer or hand-held beater, cream the butter until light, about 2 minutes. Add the white and brown sugar and cream another 5 minutes. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Add 1 egg and beat an additional 3 minutes before adding the second egg. Periodically scrape the sides of the bowl. You cannot over mix at this point; beat batter until it is pale yellow and very light and fluffy. Pour buttermilk, lemon juice, and vanilla extract into a measuring cup. When eggs are cloud-like, alternate adding dry ingredients and wet ingredients in three stages to the eggs, blending and scraping the bowl each time.

6. Pour batter over berries and level. Place in middle of oven and bake until the cake springs back when poked by your finger or a fork inserted in the middle comes out clean, approximately 40 minutes.

7. Cool for 5 minutes, run a knife around the edge of the pan and invert onto a cookie rack. Use your spatula to carefully peel off the parchment, pushing any berries sticking to the parchment back onto the cake.

8. Whip the cream with the lemon sugar and vanilla. Serve the cake warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.

9. Enjoy!

Title Photo: © HLPhoto