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Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake Recipe using Maple Syrup

January 12, 2018 by Melissa Norris 8 Comments

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.

Want to learn more about why you should be using maple syrup in your kitchen? Check out our Homemade Maple Syrup Guide- How to Tap, Make Syrup & Baking Tips using all natural sweetener maple syrup and how to make maple cream and maple sugar!

Adjusting existing recipe to maple syrup

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.

Melt-in-Your-Mouth Easy Blueberry Cake Recipe

(recipe shared from A Sweet Taste, get your copy for free herea FREE e-book, of maple syrup goodness, )

1 and 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg, separated

1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, room temperature

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup milk

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 cup blueberries, lightly floured

Topping:

1/4 cup maple sugar or 1/4 cup mixed brown and white sugar

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit

  1. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together.
  2. Beat egg whites until stiff and set to the side.
  3. 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.
  4. Add the egg yolk to the creamed butter mixture, beating well.
  5. 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.
  6. Fold in egg whites, lemon juice, and the floured blueberries until just combined. Scoop batter into a 10 inch cast iron skillet.
  7. Sprinkle the maple sugar over top of the batter or the mixed brown and white sugar.
  8. Bake for 35 minutes.

Melt in Your Mouth Blueberry Cake Recipe with Maple Syrup

MelissaKNorris
4.50 from 10 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 35 mins
Total Time 45 mins
Servings 10

Ingredients
  

  • 1 and 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg separated
  • 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil room temperature
  • 2/3 cup maple syrup
  • 1/3 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1/2 cup blueberries lightly floured

Topping:

  • 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.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

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.

Filed Under: Breakfast, Dessert, Recipes Tagged With: blueberries, cake, dessert

Pioneering Today-Blueberry Basil Thyme Vinegar Recipe

August 7, 2013 by Melissa Norris 11 Comments

Blueberry Basil Thyme Vinegar www.MelissaKNorris.com Pioneering Today

Our blueberry bushes our producing wonderfully this year. In fact, it's our biggest crop yet. I love to eat blueberries straight from the bush, when they burst with sweet goodness, warmed from the sun, there's nothing better. We freeze them to use in homemade pancakes, waffles, muffins, pies, and cakes all year long.

But I've now discovered even another use for these wonderful power house, anti-oxidant packed berries. Plus, I get to use some of our fresh herbs.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Food Preservation, Homestead-Life, Recipes Tagged With: blueberries, More Canning, Pioneering Today, preserving, sauces, vinegar

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins – Healthy Zucchini Muffins w/ Applesauce

August 22, 2012 by Melissa Norris 38 Comments

Popular blueberry zucchini muffin recipe. These are so good and you can't even tell they have zucchini in them, a healthy twist but so good we eat them for dessert as well as breakfast!

Blueberry zucchini muffins are one of the few ways I can sneak a vegetable into my son's snack or breakfast. They're also an excellent way to take advantage of the summer harvest, but you should totally freeze some of the bounty to make these year round as a good pioneer!

For those of you with zucchini coming out of your ears, here's instructions on how to freeze & preserve your extra zucchini.

One trick to keep picky eaters in the dark (hey, don't judge a homesteading Mamma) is to puree the zucchini up in the blender until all those little flecks of green are undetectable to the picky eater's eye.

Popular blueberry zucchini muffin recipe. These are so good and you can't even tell they have zucchini in them, a healthy twist but so good we eat them for dessert as well as breakfast!

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

Cream together eggs, applesauce, butter, sugar, and vanilla. This homemade vanilla extract makes exceptionally yummy baked goods.

Fold in zucchini. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Stir in blueberries.

Grease muffin tins and loaf pans. Pour into pans. Sprinkle with raw sugar crystals (optional, but it gives a nice texture and extra bit of flavor).

Bake in preheated 350-degree oven. Muffins for 18 to 20 minutes and loaves 40 minutes. Pull out just when set, check center with a toothpick. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes in pan then finish cooling on wire rack.

Because these blueberry zucchini muffins don't have any preservatives in them, they'll keep longer if you store them in the fridge if they're not all devoured within the first two days. They also freeze really well.

Popular blueberry zucchini muffin recipe. These are so good and you can't even tell they have zucchini in them, a healthy twist but so good we eat them for dessert as well as breakfast!

Blueberry Zucchini Muffins

MelissaKNorris
These blueberry zucchini muffins are a healthy version featuring applesauce
4.35 from 20 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 mins
Cook Time 18 mins
Total Time 28 mins
Course Breakfast
Cuisine American
Servings 24

Ingredients
  

  • 3 eggs lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1/2 cup applesauce
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 and 2/3 cups raw sugar
  • 2 cups shredded zucchini
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour spelt, or soft white wheat
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 to 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Instructions
 

  • Cream together eggs, applesauce, butter, sugar, and vanilla. Fold in zucchini. Add flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Stir in blueberries. Grease muffin tins and loaf pans. Pour into pans. Sprinkle with raw sugar crystals.
  • Bake in preheated 350 degree oven. Muffins for 18 to 20 minutes and loaves 40 minutes. Pull out just when set, check center with toothpick. Allow to cool for about 20 minutes in pan then finish cooling on wire rack.

Notes

  • If you have picky eaters, shred the zucchini in a food processor until it's almost pulverized and they won't know it's in there!
  • Don't have applesauce? Use 1/2 cup melted butter in it's place or coconut oil (I think butter tastes better personally)
Keyword blueberry muffins, blueberry zucchini muffins, healthy zucchini muffins with applesauce
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Filed Under: Bread, Dessert, Healthy Snacks, Recipes Tagged With: baking, blueberries, blueberry and zucchini bread, blueberry zucchini bread, seasons, zucchini bread

How to Prune Raspberries

March 7, 2012 by Melissa Norris 18 Comments

It's time to learn how to prune raspberries. Late winter and early spring is when you want to care for your raspberry and blueberry plants to get them ready for their harvest season come summer.

Learn how to prune blueberries for a larger harvest here.

How to Prune Raspberries

You need to determine which kind of raspberries you have. There are two kinds of raspberries, either ever bearing or summer bearing. Ever bearing raspberries produce fruit in the summer and fall, while summer bearing raspberries produce a large amount of berries in the summer. Summer bearing are preferred for those of us who like to preserve our fruits in jams, jellies, and syrups so you have enough to make your recipes.

This tutorial on how to prune your raspberries is for summer bearing raspberries.

I made a quick video to show you how to prune raspberries

You need to remove last year's canes as raspberries only produce on the second year cane. Canes that produced berries last year will not produce anymore and need to be cut away. Canes are the wooden branches or shoots that come up from the base of the plant.

Make sure you wear gloves and long sleeves as they do scratch… I've had the battle wounds to prove it.

Cut at the base of the plant. Remove any branches that produced last year and any broken or puny branches.

Discard of branches in your compost pile, wood chipper, burn pile, or whatever way you see fit.

More Resources for Growing Fruit:

  • How to Prune a Blueberry Bush for a Larger Harvest
  • How to Get Rid of Mummy Berry Disease on Blueberry Bushes
  • How to Prune Apple Trees
  • How to Grow Elderberries
  • Planting Berry Bushes & Fruit Trees
  • When and How to Plant Fruit Trees
  • Planting Berry Bushes & Fruit Trees (How Many to Plant Per Person)
  • How to Treat Fruit Trees Organically: When to Spray for Disease
  • How to Care for Fruit Trees In Fall & Winter
  • Gardening in March (Garden Tasks by Month)

Filed Under: Fruit, Gardening, Raising Your Own Food Tagged With: blueberries, cedar mulch, fruit, raspberries, spring gardening

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