Blueberry Bundt Cake

This has been a crazy, busy, wonderful year! From buying a house to getting married and going on a cruise, I have been going a mile a minute since the new year (and it is now August). But now that the craziness is subsiding, I am itching to get back in the kitchen and back to my blogging. So I decided to begin with something new. I have a bundt pan that I received as a gift years ago from an amazing coworker who was shocked that I did not own one. I think I might have used it once or twice, and then it went in a cabinet and was forgotten about. So…I pulled it out!

There are a lot of options when it comes to bundt pans, but I was inspired to create a blueberry cake after visiting a supermarket and blueberries were on sale for $1.99 a pint. And I absolutely love anything with blueberries. Done.

Lemon and blueberry go hand in hand, so I knew my cake would include lemon. But I am a HUGE fan of cinnamon in fruity cakes, so I thought including a cinnamon sugar swirl in the center would be perfect. As usual, I tried a few recipes and then tweaked them until I found just the right combination of ingredients to make my very picky pallet happy.  My husband brought the cakes to work, and his coworkers (all cops) got to taste the stages of the experimental process. While they liked the first attempt (my husband gives me the updates), they LOVED the final product!

So here you go…

And if blueberries are on sale, even better!

 

 

Ingredients:

 
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup plus three tablespoons sugar, divided
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups plus two tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream
Juice of one lemon
2 cups fresh blueberries (or frozen blueberries, thawed)
1 tablespoon cinnamon
Cooking spray for greasing
1 cup powdered sugar
Splash of milk
 
 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, beat the butter and one cup of the sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy, about a minute. Add two eggs, one egg yolk, the vegetable oil, and vanilla, and beat until fully combined.

2. In a separate bowl, sift together two cups of the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. Add half of the flour mixture and half of the sour cream into the bowl with the butter mixture and beat on low speed until everything is incorporated. Then add the rest of the flour mixture, the rest of the sour cream, and the juice from half of the lemon (reserve the other half for later). Beat on medium speed for about 30 seconds (the batter should be fluffy and smooth, but not overmixed). Toss the blueberries with the remaining two tablespoons of flour and gently stir into the batter.

4. Combine the remaining three tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon in a separate bowl. Grease a bundt pan with cooking spray and sprinkle with a pinch or two of the cinnamon sugar. Spoon half of the cake batter into the pan and sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon sugar over the batter, dispersing it as evenly as possible. Spoon the rest of the batter over the cinnamon layer. Using a knife, swirl the batter to create cinnamon swirls in the center of the cake (but don’t mix it in completely).

5.  Bake the cake for 45-55 minutes, or until the cake is lightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake. Allow the cake to cool for at least an hour, then loosen the sides from the pan and carefully invert the cake onto a serving plate/platter. Allow to cool completely.

6. Whisk together the powdered sugar, juice from the other half of the lemon, and a teaspoon of milk. If the glaze is too thick (not pourable), add a bit more milk, a teaspoon at a time, until the glaze is pourable (but not too thin). You may not need any more milk, depending on how large the lemon was…use your judgment. Pour the glaze over the cake and allow the glaze to set (about 15 minutes).

*If you don’t want a lemon glaze, omit the lemon juice in the glaze and replace with a splash (a few teaspoons) of milk.

 

Enjoy!