Blueberry Boy-Bait

     Blueberries have never really thrilled me. I tolerate them, yes, but they are not generally at the top of my mind when I want to bake (or eat) anything fruit-based. I found the recipe for this cake a while back, got bored, and decided to bake it one night on a whim. For one thing, it’s called Blueberry Boy-Bait, and I think right there it just screams, “bake me!” The cake itself is fantastic, like a wonderfully moist coffee cake, and the blueberries baked into the top add a tasty punch of sweet to the cake. I have made this recipe twice so far and both times it has been devoured within two days. If I had any boys to bake this cake for, they’d surely be in trouble.



Blueberry Boy-Bait
Adapted from Christopher Kimball’s The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook, as posted on Barefoot Kitchen Witch
Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 ¼ cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 ¼ sticks) cold butter
½ tsp cinnamon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries, washed, drained, and blotted with paper towels (or frozen blueberries that have been thoroughly thawed and drained)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan with butter and then flour it lightly. Sift together the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into pieces, then work into the flour mixture using your fingertips or a pastry blender (If you have a food processor, place the flour and sugar in bowl and pulse to mix. Add the butter, which should be cold and cut into pieces, and pulse 7 or 8 times until the flour takes on the texture of coarse meal). Reserve ½ cup of this mixture to use as a topping, and add ½ tsp cinnamon, if desired.
2. Add the baking powder, the salt, the egg yolks (reserve the whites), and the milk to the flour mixture still in the bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 3 minutes (this can also be done by hand with a wooden spoon.)
3. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they hold 2-inch peaks. Fold gently into the batter, and spread batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top of the batter (make sure they are dry), and then sprinkle with reserved ½ cup crumb mixture.
4. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until the center of the cake bounces back when pressed with the flat side of a fork. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving.