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This easy blueberry cake recipe comes straight from Grandma’s kitchen. Michelle made a small adaptation from the original version, because this version only uses a natural sweetener, made straight from her homestead.
From scratch cakes baked in cast iron, with a generations old recipe, and blueberries and maple syrup straight from the homestead makes this one must try recipe, don’t ya think?
I’m so thrilled Michelle agreed to deliver this guest post and recipe up for us as well as share her knowledge on how to tap your own syrup (even if you don’t have sugar maples), make your own syrup and maple sugar, and how to adapt recipes to maple syrup due to the many health benefits, grab this recipe and then head on over to the podcast for all the goodies!
I’ve always cherished a good story and delighted in fruit, especially blueberries. So this cake recipe (minus the maple) has been one of my favorites since I unearthed it over a decade ago from a small pile of cookbooks in Grandmom’s modest kitchen in her diminutive vacation cottage, after she had passed away. Her dainty, concise handwriting–true to her calm, enduring New Englander nature–filled a small 3×5 card with directions for deliciousness.
Real Food Connects Generations
That day when I stumbled upon her cursive lettering, describing how to coat the blueberries in flour, mix the dough, and bake the cake in cast iron, I was connected to so much more than a good dessert option. That little recipe card stirred up deep, cherished memories of sitting at her corner kitchen table in front of the window overlooking her many busy bird feeders while she whipped up something in one of her cast iron skillets and talked about things that I wish I could still remember.
Needless to say, Grandmom’s blueberry cake became my favorite dessert. Now, after a few years of being the wife of a sugar-maker, I am a die-hard maple fanatic, so I adore Grandmom’s blueberry cake on a new level, modifying it with all-natural maple syrup.
You’ll need to cut back a some of the liquid in the recipe to account for the sugar content now being syrup, but I’ve already done it for you in this recipe. But maple syrup is natural, has many vitamins and minerals in it, and has less sugar content than honey, making it a fabulous alternative to processed table sugar.
Because I’m a New Englander, I am surrounded by wild blueberries for many glorious weeks every summer. There are few days on the calendar I cherish more than the ones when my daughters and I hike a nearby mountain and spend hours with the morning sun on our back while we collect buckets full of wild blueberries and talk about unimportant topics that are some of the most significant in life. When we return home, we whip up this family delight together, spanning four generations of love for all things delicious, with a fresh blueberry cake recipe.
But even without a mountain hike, wild berries, or freshly-tapped syrup, this cake truly lives up to its name. Feel free to use frozen berries and all-natural maple syrup you buy online or at the store, making this an easy blueberry cake recipe.
Note from Melissa: original recipe calls for shortening, but I don’t use shortening in my kitchen and have found butter and coconut oil make fabulous substitutes.
Want to learn how to tap your trees for sap, turn it into delicious syrup, and bake wonderful foods for your family with a natural sweetener from your own land?
Check out Michelle’s course and/or e-books by clicking here and use coupon code: MKN at checkout for 10% off.
1/4 cup maple sugar or 1/4 cup mixed brown and white sugar
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Beat egg whites until stiff and set to the side.
Using a stand mixer or hand beater, cream butter or coconut oil with maple syrup, aka whip ’em together till real good, for 4 to 5 minutes, until it’s light and airy.
Add the egg yolk to the creamed butter mixture, beating well.
Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients and then the last of the milk.
Fold in egg whites, lemon juice, and the floured blueberries until just combined. Scoop batter into a 10 inch cast iron skillet.
Sprinkle the maple sugar over top of the batter or the mixed brown and white sugar.
1/4 cup maple sugar or 1/4 cup mixed brown and white sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit
Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.
Beat egg whites until stiff and set to the side.
Using a stand mixer or hand beater, cream butter or coconut oil with maple syrup, aka whip ’em together till real good, for 4 to 5 minutes, until it’s light and airy.
Add the egg yolk to the creamed butter mixture, beating well.
Mix in half of the dry ingredients, then half of the milk, followed by the rest of the dry ingredients and then the last of the milk.
Fold in egg whites, lemon juice, and the floured blueberries until just combined. Scoop batter into a 10 inch cast iron skillet.
Sprinkle the maple sugar over top of the batter or the mixed brown and white sugar.
Bake for 35 minutes.
Are you going to be trying Grandma’s blueberry cake recipe?
Michelle writes about her New England homesteading experiences, and her many failures that have made her somewhat of an expert at making backyard maple syrup, from her 200-year-old farmhouse that sits on 14 rocky, tree-filled acres, Her family makes an effort to live life a little more simply by growing some of their own food, raising a few farm animals, and making their own all-natural maple sugar.
Tap into her numerous free resources and find out more about Michelle’s books and video courses at SoulyRested.com.
Melissa K. Norris inspires people's faith and pioneer roots with her books, podcast, and blog. Melissa lives with her husband and two children in their own little house in the big woods in the foothills of the North Cascade Mountains. When she's not wrangling chickens and cattle, you can find her stuffing Mason jars with homegrown food and playing with flour and sugar in the kitchen.
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