Maine Blueberry Cake is almost as good as being there
When it comes to blueberries, I like mine wild.
When I was a kid, we used to pick them in secret glades and sweet spots known only to locals, their locations inherited from ancestors and more valuable than the family jewels. My dad had a system whereby a bucket on a rope worn around the neck allowed for two-handed picking. Serious business.
We'd pick and sweat and swat mosquitoes for what seemed like hours, then return home to sort out any twigs, beetles or leaves. A batch of blueberry muffins would soon follow but the bulk of the harvest was frozen, ready for midwinter pies, buckles and slumps.
Many of the blueberry fields of my youth have long since succumbed to development or "No Trespassing" signs. These days, fresh, cultivated blueberries are widely available in grocery stores, but although they're much larger fruits, they bring significantly less blueberry flavor. Thankfully, frozen wild berries from Maine are available year round. I choose them over fresh, cultivated ones every time.
These berries spring from Maine's acidic soils — 44,000 acres worth — with comparatively little intervention from man. The crop's economic impact in the Pine Tree State is estimated at $250 million, and last year more than 104 million pounds were harvested and sold for an average 60 cents per pound. No wonder there's a Maine Wild Blueberry Commission and a cultivation research effort funded by growers statewide.
So if you can't find any wild berries to pick yourself, buy a bag of frozen ones and make this Maine Blueberry Cake. I've had this recipe since I lived in Maine in the early '80s, but I have no idea where it came from. It's a light cake, thanks to the beaten egg whites, and it is as delicious for breakfast as it is for dessert.
Enjoy!
Jill Blanchette is the multiplatform production editor at The Day. Share recipes and comments with her at j.blanchette@theday.com.
Maine Blueberry Cake
2 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar, divided
½ cup cold butter, chopped into ½-inch pieces
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1½ cups Maine blueberries (if frozen, then mostly thawed)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Grease and flour and 8- or 9-inch square pan. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Beat egg whites to soft peaks, then beat in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside.
Cream cold butter with ¾ cup of sugar. Beat in vanilla and egg yolks, then beat in the milk.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of this dry mixture over the blueberries and stir or toss gently to coat.
Mix the dry ingredients into the butter mixture. Fold in the beaten egg whites. Then fold in the floured blueberries.
Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. In a small bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons of sugar with the cinnamon and nutmeg, and sprinkle evenly over the batter.
Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake reveals only fully cooked, moist crumbs, no raw batter, 40-45 minutes.
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