Blueberry Pudding Cake signifies the start of summer in our house! Freshly picked blueberries that are capped with a slightly sweet batter, baked until golden and bubbly – a little like a cake, a little like a cobbler, and a little like pudding. Serve it warm from the oven either plain (which I prefer) or with fresh whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. This irresistible, home-style dessert is very easy to make and turns out perfectly every time!
Blueberry season in Texas begins late May and runs through the first part of July. Every year when my children were young, we would plan our annual outing to China. Texas to pick blueberries. I would rise early (which I rarely did) to beat the heat, load up the car with sandwiches, homemade pound cake, snacks and drinks and set off for another annual trip to pick fresh blueberries. I looked forward to this trip with eager anticipation every year. The excitement of picking those plump berries from the tree, still warm from the hot Texas sun, and baking a Blueberry Pudding Cake to enjoy that same day was just so thrilling for me! It’s as rewarding as collecting fresh eggs daily from my hens and using them the same day in baking and/or cooking.
The first year, my kids thought it was an adventure running up and down those endless rows and rows of blueberry bushes and picking/eating till your heart’s desire! Every few minutes they would run as fast as their little feet would carry them back to proudly show me how many blueberries they had in their bucket. As they got older, they still made the obligatory trip with me, but they didn’t enjoy the scorching heat, fire ants, watching for snakes, spiders, and bees, swatting Texas-sized mosquitos, and the labor involved in getting a couple of gallons of blueberries! And then there’s the time that my youngest was bitten by the farm dog – the dog who “never bit anyone before.” That same son continued to go with me every summer for many more years to come!
These days I purchase my blueberries from a local farmer’s market. I get a little nostalgic thinking back on all those wonderful summers (and forced outings) picking blueberries as a family and all the scrumptious desserts, pancakes, muffins and bowls of fresh fruit that came for months after the harvest. I hope my children’s’ blueberry picking memories are as fond as mine are. We did have a lot of fun, and we definitely made it an adventure! I never told them that we could drive to the farm and purchase the blueberries already picked…there’s no thrill in that! Here’s the recipe:
Blueberry Pudding Cake
- 2 cups blueberries, rinsed
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 3 Tablespoons sweet, unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup boiling water
Place the blueberries and lemon juice in the bottom of a well-greased one-quart stoneware baker. You can also use an 8 x 5 loaf pan.
Blend the melted butter, 3/4 cup of sugar, milk, flour and baking powder. Spread batter over blueberries. Combine remaining 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch and salt; sprinkle over batter.
Pour 1 cup boiling water over the top.
Set pan on cookie sheet and bake at 350 for one hour.
Serve warm either plain or with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.
