Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Hello and welcome! Let’s kick off the week with a sweet summer treat: Blueberry Upside Down Cake. This fruit-topped cake is perfect for summer. Much like our Plum Cake from a couple weeks ago, this fruity dessert mixes summer fruit with moist cake making a wonderful dessert (or breakfast!). While this cake would be perfect for your Fourth of July get together, my inspiration for this cake was something entirely different. Let’s get right to it!

I spent last week in St. Louis visiting my dearest friend. She is undergoing chemotherapy and while she does have an appetite, it’s for things a little different than what she’d normally eat. One thing in particular was fresh blueberries over a sliced up Twinkie. She joked that the Twinkie would probably give her cancer, but it was a sweet, comforting treat. Her sense of humor has not diminished, which I am very thankful for.

When I got home, I thought about that Twinkie and blueberry combination. A Twinkie is a spongecake cylinder filled with sweet cream, and while my baking skills make me nervous about tackling a true spongecake, I thought a simple moist cake would suffice. Then we have fresh blueberries mixed with lemon juice and sugar for the upside down topping, with whipped cream and fresh blueberries for the top.

Fresh Blueberry Upside Down Topping

Mix 2 cups of fresh, washed blueberries with 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and one tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

Pour the dressed blueberries into the greased cake pan. I am using a springform pan, which worked out ok, but a regular cake pan might have been a better idea…if you use a springform pan, be sure to have a sheet pan placed under the pan to catch any lemon juice leaks. And be prepared for that leaked sugary juice to bake and cement the whole pan to the sheet pan underneath. Not a dealbreaker, but be prepared for that.

For the Cake

For the cake, we have flour, baking powder, kosher salt, room temperature butter, brown and white sugar, 2 eggs, vanilla, lemon zest, and whole milk.

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set that aside, then cream together the room temp butter, white sugar and brown sugar in a stand mixer or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy.

To the light and fluffy butter/sugar mixture, add one egg at time, mixing in between each egg to incorporate. Then add the vanilla and the lemon zest, beat until combined. Now, add half of the flour mixture to the wet batter and mix to combine. Add the milk and mix again until combined.

We will finish the rest by hand. Add the remaining flour mixture and use a silicone spatula to mix until all the flour mix is incorporated.

Bake the Cake

Pour the cake batter on top of the blueberries in the cake pan. Smooth and even the batter with a silicone spatula. Pop the cake in the oven and bake the cake for one hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. My cake took 1 hour 5 minutes, all told.

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate and removing the pan. Not very pretty, right? Be prepared for this and don’t be discouraged. Unlike a pineapple upside down cake, where the pineapples and cherries make a pretty design and the cake fills in the spaces; the blueberries have way more coverage, leaving the cake to kinda make its way through in a spotty, patchy way.

Have no fear of presenting a sad-looking cake. We are going to cover the top with whipped cream. While the cake is cooling further, whip up heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. Place the whipped cream in the fridge until the cake is cooled to room temperature.

Use a silicone spatula to smooth as much whipped cream as you want over the top of the cake.

Blueberry Upside Down Cake

Sprinkle a small handful of fresh blueberries on top and then zest some lemon zest over the whole top.

Much prettier, right? If you are making this for the Fourth of July and want to add a festive touch, place some fresh strawberry slices on top too.

This cake turned out moist and was only lightly sweet. The blueberries give little bursts of juicy blueberry flavor and the whipped cream is light and cool – all in all, a very summery, refreshingly light cake. Though not nearly as sweet as a Twinkie, I think my friend would approve! Take care and be well, xo Kelly

Key Equipment

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Blueberry Upside Down Cake

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Dessert – American

By Adapted from Delish – Serves: 8-10

Prep Time: 20 Minutes – Cooking Time: ~1 Hour (plus 1 hour cooling time) – Total Time: 2 Hours, 20 Minutes

Light and moist, Blueberry Upside Down Cake is a perfect summertime cake. Little bursts of juicy blueberry flavor, topped with whipped cream.

Ingredients

• Blueberry Topping
• 2 c. Blueberries
• 1 tbsp. Granulated Sugar
• 2 tbsp. Lemon Juice
• Cake
• Cooking spray
• 1 3/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
• 3/4 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) Unsalted Butter, softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 cup Lightly Packed Brown Sugar
• 2 Large Eggs
• 2 tsp. Lemon Zest
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract, or Vanilla Paste
• 3/4 cup Whole Milk
• Garnish
• 2 cups Cold Heavy Cream
• 1/4 cup Powdered Sugar
• 1/4 cup Fresh Blueberries
• Lemon Zest

Instructions

1

Mix 2 cups of fresh, washed blueberries with 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and one tablespoon of sugar in a small bowl. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray.

2

Pour the dressed blueberries into the greased cake pan. Set Aside.

3

In a small bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the flour, salt and baking powder. Set that aside, then cream together the room temp butter, white sugar and brown sugar in a stand mixer or with hand mixer until light and fluffy.

4

To the light and fluffy butter/sugar mixture, add one egg at time, mixing in between each egg to incorporate. Then add the vanilla and the lemon zest, beat until combined. Now, add half of the flour mixture to the wet batter and mix to combine. Add the milk and mix again until combined.

5

We will finish the rest by hand. Add the remaining flour mixture and use a silicone spatula to mix until all the flour mix is incorporated.

6

Pour the cake batter on top of the blueberries in the cake pan. Smooth and even the batter with a silicone spatula. Pop the cake in the oven and bake the cake for one hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

7

Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes before inverting it onto a serving plate and removing the pan.

8

While the cake is cooling further, whip up some heavy whipping cream with 1/4 cup of powdered sugar. Place the whipped cream in the fridge until the cake is cooled to room temperature.

9

Use a silicone spatula to smooth as much whipped cream as you want over the top of the cake.

10

Sprinkle a small handful of fresh blueberries on top and then zest some lemon zest over the whole top.

Notes

You will have leftover whipped cream, reduce recipe by half to avoid leftovers. (To halve: 1 cup Heavy cream whipped with 2 tbsp. Powdered Sugar)