You know how some days you just can't cook? Yesterday was like that.
A friend dropped by for dinner, and I thought I'd make a quick pasta sauce with the many tomatoes I had on hand. That worked out well. But when I went to the cupboard I discovered we had no long pasta. We always have something, but.... Ended up eating the sauce on macaroni, which was fine, but not nearly as satisfying as twirling spaghetti.
We had plenty of greens, so a big salad was easy. But what about dessert? I opened the freezer, found some blueberries, and decided to make a quick blueberry cake to use up the last of the buttermilk (another staple I almost always have on hand). This is a lovely little cake that works well at the end of dinner- and makes an equally delicious breakfast. I happily buttered the bundt tin, tossed the berries in flour, and began constructing the cake.
As I poured the batter into the tin I noticed it seemed rather thick. But I paid that no mind and put the cake into the oven. Five minutes later, as I was cleaning up, I suddenly understood what was wrong with the batter: the three eggs were still sitting, uncracked, on the counter. What to do?
I pulled the cake from the oven, scraped the warm batter into a bowl and added the eggs, stirring them in one by one. It was a desperation move....but surely worth a try. Then, not even bothering to re-butter the pan, I poured the batter back in and stuck the cake back in the oven. And waited to see what would emerge.
To my utter amazement, the cake turned out beautifully. Still, if you're going to make this recipe, I'd recommend doing it in the conventional manner.
Blueberry Buttermilk Bundt
12 tablespoons softened butter (1 1/2 sticks)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups buttermilk
grated rind of one lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups frozen blueberries
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
Toss the blueberries with a tablespoon or two of the flour.
Cream the butter and sugar in a stand mixer. Add the eggs, one by one; do not forget this step. Add the grated lemon peel and vanilla.
Mix the remaining dry ingredients and add to the butter mixture, alternating with the buttermilk. Mix in the blueberries.
Bake for about an hour, until a tester comes out clean. Set on a rack for 15 minutes, then turn out of the pan and cool completely.