Homemade Blueberry Bread Pudding

Indulge yourself in a freshly-baked, oven-warm HUGE piece of this

 perfectly moist and sweet bread pudding exploding with colorful blueberries

It doesn't get much better than this!




Is it cold and rainy outside?? Here is the plan for this weekend. Sleep in, wear your pj's all day and bake a bread pudding you won't easily forget ... Once you manage to get off bed and make yourself a cup of

How to Make an American Flag Cake

I've been wanting to make an American flag cake for the 4th of July and had pinned several possible versions including this one from Food52 and this ice cream cake version from the Food Network.  But the problem with those round layer cakes though is that I only had one round cake pan and no way to transport the finished product.  I wasn't too keen on having to pull out my piping bag to make Ina Garten's (or as Brit + Co called it, Taylor Swift's) version either, so when I came across Smitten Kitchen's version from four years ago, I was truly smitten.  Not only was it a single layer rectangular cake, but all you needed was some powdered sugar to make the "stars" and stripes!

In her post, she includes a recipe for the cake and frosting, but I cheated by making the cake with a box mix and using store bought frosting.  After baking the cake, allow it to cool completely before frosting.  If it's domed on top, you can level it with a serrated knife or just do as I did and "spackle" in the sides with frosting so the top is level.

While the cake is baking, wash and dry the berries.  While the cake is cooling, you can start arranging the berries to make sure you have enough.  I used a piece of paper towel that was the same size as the cake to plot out the berries on.  The blue part takes up about half the short side of the flag and extends about a third of the way across.  There are 13 stripes (one for each of the original colonies; yay AP American History!) but you probably won't be able to fit that many on the cake.  If you can, try to make an odd number of stripes so that the top and bottom stripe will be red.

After frosting the cake, start putting the berries that you want to appear white on the cake, leaving room for the other berries.

Dust these with powdered sugar, then arrange the rest of the berries into the spaces left for them. 

In reality, it took a lot longer to make than I thought.  The first batch of raspberries I bought were overripe and broke apart when I was washing them, so I had to go back to the store to buy another pint.  Then I made the mistake of not completely drying the raspberries before decorating the cake, so the powdered sugar started to melt before I could even take any pictures.  But if you learn from my mistakes, it's actually not that hard to make and totally worth it!  Not only is it super impressive to bring to a party, the fresh fruit on top of the cake is really, really delicious!

Fun fact:  if you can someone figure out how to make the starburst design, you can also use this template to make the Taiwanese (or more accurately, the R.O.C.) flag!

Next:  My Mom's Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry
Previously:  Maine Blueberry Gateau
Last Year:  Pasta con le Sarde
Two Years Ago:  Papaya Milk and Papaya Milk Popsicles
Three Years Ago:  Bubble Tea Popsicles
Six Years Ago:  Coconut Lime Sorbet

Maine Blueberry Gateau

I first had this cake at my friend Evie's Epiphany Party last year, and it was truly an epiphany.  I never knew homemade cake could taste so good--so buttery and moist and bursting with blueberries!  I e-mailed Evie immediately after the party to ask for her friend's recipe, and it turns out it's from a bed & breakfast in Maine.

The first time I made this cake I made it in a pie pan (because I didn't have a 9" pan) and used frozen wild blueberries.  It was quite tasty but not as pretty so I dusted it with powdered sugar as instructed in the original recipe.  When I made it this time I used a 10" springform pan and fresh blueberries, and it looked nice enough to forgo the powdered sugar dusting.

Don't worry if you think the cake batter to fruit ratio is off.  You will be spooning a lot of blueberries on top of the batter, but while the cake bakes in the oven the blueberries sink while the cake rises so it's perfect by the end.

Maine Blueberry Gateau (lightly adapted from the Benjamin F. Packard House via The Washington Post)
serves 6

1 cup and 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 pint fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained (may substitute frozen wild blueberries)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
Confectioners' sugar, for garnish (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Lightly grease a 9- or 10-inch springform pan and dust with flour.

In a small bowl, combine 1 cup of the flour with the baking powder and salt and set aside.

Using an electric mixer on medium-high to high speed, cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time and continue beating until well blended. Reduce the speed to low and gradually add the flour mixture. Beat until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

In a medium bowl, combine the blueberries with the remaining teaspoon of flour and the lemon juice. Spoon the berry mixture over the batter.

Bake for 50-55 min, or until a cake tester or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Slide a thin knife around the edges of the cake to release it from the pan before you release and remove the springform.

Dust the cake with confectioners' sugar before serving, if you want.

Next:  How to Make an American Flag Cake
Previously:  Tortilla Española (Spanish Potato Omelet)
Last Year:  Garlic Naan
Two Years Ago:  Speculoos (Cookie Butter) Ice Cream and Mini Stroopwafel Ice Cream Sandwiches 
Three Years Ago:  Homemade Cronuts
Six Years Ago:  Elote (Mexican Grilled Corn)
Seven Years Ago:  Bulgogi Dumplings

Healthy Bluberry Muffins

These muffins tastes so good and won't make you feel guilty for eating more than one.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup Stevia

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup canola oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 cups tundra blueberries

 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease 12 muffin cups, or line with paper liners. Whisk together the flour, Stevia, salt, and baking powder in a large bowl.
2. Whisk canola oil, egg, milk, and applesauce together in a separate bowl until smooth, and stir the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture until moistened. Lightly stir in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them 2/3 full (ice cream scoop works well).
3. Bake muffins in the preheated oven until they rise and the tops are golden brown, about 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin should come out clean.