Wild Blueberry Cake

I first discovered this from scratch strawberry cake recipe once and have tweaked it a little over the years. I have found that this cake works well with any fruit and am especially fond of using Wyman’s fruits (to date, I’ve used strawberries, triple berry, cherries, and wild blueberries) My personal favorite is wild blueberry cake as the reduction in between layers really packs on additional flavor and eliminates the need to add artificial flavors.

This cake is also where I discovered the “reverse creaming method” (My Cake School is an amazing resource for bakers) – the ingredients are added in a different order than many cakes, but I like the end result the cake is a little firmer, but still very moist.

I’ve provided 2 recipes – for both a small cake (pictured) that will be good for 4-6 people, and large cake that will be good for 6-10 people.

Ingredients:

Large cake:

• 4 large eggs at room temperature
• 4 cups Wyman’s Wild Blueberries
• 1.5 cups for cake, remainder for reduction between layers
• 3 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups cake flour
• 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon + 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 stick softened (not warm/not cold) butter cut into small pieces
• 3 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried mint or basil (optional, to taste)
• Finishing salt

For reduction

• 1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried mint, basil, rosemary, or thyme (optional, to taste)
• Wyman’s wild Maine blueberries (see above)

For frosting:

• 32 ounces creme fraiche
• 3/4 cup confectioners sugar

(2) 8-inch round pans

Small cake:

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs at room temperature
• 2 cups Wyman’s Frozen Wild Blueberries
• 3/4 cups for cake, remainder for in between layers
• 1.5 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1.5 cups cake flour
• 2/3 heaping cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon + 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 stick softened (not warm/not cold) butter cut into small pieces
• Finishing salt

For reduction:

• 1.5 tablespoons chopped fresh or dried mint, basil, rosemary, or thyme (optional, to taste)
• Wyman’s wild Maine blueberries (see above)

For frosting:

• 16 ounces creme fraiche
• 1/3 heaping cup confectioners sugar

(2) 4-inch pans

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour your pans.

First, I make the blueberry reduction, this is going to be 2 steps, the first to add to the cake and the second to add between layers on the cake. Add the blueberries and lemon juice and cook until reduced with some liquid still in pan, about 10-15 minutes. Measure out the blueberries to be used in the cake (1.5 cups for the large cake, and 3/4 cup for the small cake). Make sure these blueberries have the liquid. Put these in the refrigerator to cool, and set the rest aside.

In one bowl combine the eggs, blueberries, vanilla.

In your mixer, combine the dry ingredients – cake flour, granulated sugar, baking power, and salt. Now, slowly add the butter to the mixer. Once mixed in, add the oil. My Cake School describes the end result as “coarse sand” and it is the best description you could give to it.

For reverse creaming method, it’s important to follow the next instructions pretty carefully. The mixer should be on low speed, and you add 1/2 of the wet mixture to the flour mixture, once added, increase the speed of the mixer to medium for 1.5 minutes. Stop the mixer and scrape the sides. Now, in two separate pours, add the wet mixture, this time allowing beating for 20 seconds each.

Now, pour the batter into the three prepared (greased and floured) pans.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes (check with a toothpick) and up to 35 minutes.

While your cake is baking, you can further enhance the reduction with your herbs, letting it cook down a little more until there is very little liquid left – this is a really fun way to make this cake yours! The reduction will be brushed on top of each layer of the cake, and really pack a blueberry punch!

When the cake is done, remove from the oven and let cool. After about 10 minutes, move the cake to wire racks; I usually wait at least a few hours before frosting the cake.

Next – make the frosting! I am not into super sweet desserts. I opt for a creme fraiche frosting. Combine the ingredients in your mixer (with a whisk) until creamy. Refrigerate for an hour before decorating (while your cake is cooling). I’ve also used a buttercream, but the sky’s the limit on this step!

Decorate with wild blueberries, other fruit, lemon zest and when available edible flowers. I always finish it wish a little salt.