BLUEBERRY POLENTA CAKE

Adapted from: ‘Huckleberry’ by Zoe Nathan

 Yield: 25cm / 10-inch Cake

Can you stop at just one slice?

Can you stop at just one slice?

As you may have already realised, I love all things to do with blueberries. Therefore, when I came across a cake in one of my new cookbooks – ‘Huckleberry’ by Zoe Nathan – I knew that I just had to try it. I have had to rework the receipe as it originally used cornmeal, an ingredient that is not readily available in Australia.

Instead of the cornmeal I used polenta and it adds a great texture to the cake, making it wonderfully chewy with little ‘pops’ of tart blueberry juiciness. The cake is not overly sweet, rather buttery with a great crunch from the raw sugar topping. I think it makes an ideal afternoon teacake as it is also very easy to whip up.

Please don’t use frozen blueberries, however should you not be able to get fresh blueberries try using another type of fresh berry such as raspberries, strawberries, blackberries etc.

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BLUEBERRY BRAN MUFFINS

Adapted From: Huckleberry from Zoe Nathan

Yield: 12 Muffins

Delicious!

Delicious!

I have spoken before about my love of all things blueberry so when I got my latest cookbook haul from Amazon I was immediately drawn to this receipe in ‘Huckleberry’. I have never tried bran in my muffins, partly because that sounded way too healthy for me and partly because it’s not something I keep readily handy in my pantry. However this receipe makes it well worth the effort!

I reduced the honey content and added more maple syrup from the original receipe as I found the honey overwhelmed the taste of the muffin. A few more tinkers with the receipe and here is a lovely muffin, very dense and moist with a great crunchy blueberry topping due to the sprinkled sugar. The texture is wonderful, not cakey at all.

Just remember, when making muffins you want to barely combine the mixture. Do not under any circumstances use a mixmaster or any type of electric appliance when mixing. A bowl and wooden spoon is your friend for any muffin receipe.

NOTE: Due to how dense the batter is the blueberries do not sink into the mixture like other muffin receipe’s. Instead they bake on top of the cupcake and release their juices creating lovely splotches of purple on the cupcake liners.

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BLUEBERRY BUNDT CAKE

Adapted from: Baking for all Occasions by Flo Braker

Yield: 1 Bundt Cake

YUMMY!

YUMMY!

I love blueberries! I used to buy punnets of them and sit there popping blueberry after blueberry into my mouth enjoying the sharp burst of juicy sweetness. Then one day, many years ago I stumbled across a receipe for blueberry muffins and there started my obsession with using the delicious fruit in my baking endeavors.

The cake is really tender and has a lovely buttery flavour, the blueberries sink to the bottom of the pan and create a lovely crown once inverted. If you don’t have any blueberry’s on hand feel free to try the receipe with another type of berry.

Also, if you’re like me and hate waste then this receipe quite nicely uses up the extra egg yolks that you will have if you have made the Nutmeg Cupcakes w/ Rum Buttercream from my previous post.

Try to stop at just one piece

Try to stop at just one piece

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