Blue Skies & Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

I'm back (already) from my family beach vacation. I certainly don't want to believe it.

Just thinking about this cake makes me miss vacation and my family even more. My vacation days were filled with fresh fruit from the Morris farm market (their South Carolina peaches were insanely good!), morning runs on the beach with my little sister, bike rides for ice cream, reading on the beach, shopping, and doing whatever I pleased! Ah, breaks from the daily grind never seem to be long enough, do they?

So lets jump to the beginning of vacation with this cake...I found myself in a pickle last Friday: I was leaving for vacation right after work and still had a ton of blueberries and skim milk sitting in my fridge. With about 30 minutes to work with during my lunch break, I threw together this blueberry buttermilk cake to bring with me to share for breakfast one morning. It was quick, easy, and delicious!

Also, once again, this recipe features blueberries and lemon. I'm not sure about you, but I have a hard time saying no to a little lemon zest in berry baked goods. 

This cake wasn't exactly what I planned on it looking like. I wanted it to be more like my strawberry almond cake, with the sugar-coated roasted berries on top, but instead it was more berry-bottomed...luckily I love my fruit on the bottom too :) And the rest of my family thoroughly enjoyed the "blueberry crust".

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as my family did!

Blueberry Buttermilk Cake

Adapted from Smitten Kitchen, which was Adapted from Gourmet, June 2009

Servings: 10 slices (1 9-inch round cake)

3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup equal parts ground flaxseed meal and wheat germ
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup salted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 1/2 tablespoons separated
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
lemon zest from 1 lemon
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk (1/2 cup skim milk, plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice)

1 cup blueberries (I may have used closer to 2 cups)

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a 9-inch round cake pan or pie pan. Combine dry ingredients in one medium bowl (flour, meal/germ, baking soda & powder, salt).

• In a separate bowl, beat together butter and brown/granulated sugar, excluding the 1 1/2 tablespoons. Once butter and sugar is fluffy, add vanilla, lemon zest, and egg and beat well.

• Slowly add dry ingredients, alternating with the buttermilk, and making sure to end with the dry ingredients. Do not over-mix.

• Pour batter into prepared pan and scatter berries onto top of batter, followed by the remaining sugar. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool fully before serving.