Grandmother’s Blueberry Tea Cake Recipe
Here it is in all its glory — tender, moist and loaded with blueberries. Topped with a buttery cinnamon-orange zest glaze. Enjoy.
I almost did not share this one because it's personal, and oh so good, but I had to. Let it never be said that I am not a sharing person. There are (9) ingredients that come together quickly with such a perfect result! It's good for breakfast, tea, coffee, dessert, etc. Bring it to a party, the people will love it.
INGREDIENTS:
Dry ingredients:
- 2 c. flour
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 tsp. baking powder
Wet ingredients:
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/4 cup melted butter
- 1 egg
Fruit:
- 2 cups blueberries, preferably organic (if you go out and pick some small, low-bush berries you are my hero)
Topping:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- orange zest (optional)
Grandmother’s recipe box and her hand written recipe for this cake. There are tons of treasures in that little box, including Apple Crisp for 100 . They were party people. No Finn dance was complete without one of her massive dishes, sweet or savory.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Everything you need for a delicious and delicate blueberry cake. Comes together in 15 minutes if you take your time.
Of course, Grandmother Oksanen provided no instruction on how to combine these things, so I do a classic dry ingredient/wet ingredient thing. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl, the wet in another. Rinse and dry your fruit. I saw an orange rolling around in my fruit drawer and added some orange zest to the batter. Grandmother is either happy with me or yelling at me right now. She was tough and suffered no fools.
The wet and dry ingredients are assembled and the springform pan is prepped with melted butter. Once the batter comes together, spread evenly in the pan with a rubber spatula.
Once the wet and dry are mixed (I did it with a wooden spoon for about one minute), add the fruit and gently fold. This is a stiff batter, it will not pour into the pan. I'm using a springform pan which I brushed with some of the melted butter so that the cake won't stick. A rubber spatula will get it out of that bowl and into the pan in a snap.
After 45 minutes in the oven, the cake gains a bit of volume and a lovely light brown top. Once it cools, the topping is next.
After 20 minutes or so, I add the topping, and since it is 100 degrees out, the butter in the topping melts, so we now have a glaze. I am going with it. A little more orange zest on the top and voila! It is done.
I would use cherries or strawberries, even mixed berries with this recipe. I've added oatmeal and even chopped nuts to the topping, but today, I wanted to stay true to the "tea cake" theme. I think I got there. You've got to try this cake! Thanks for the recipe, Grandmother, and thanks y'all for following Ann!