The Pickin' Blues

This weekend we went camping with some friends which was great and when we got home, I went blueberry picking at my favorite local patch.

Picking in the damp early morning before the dew burned off at Moody's blueberry farm in Michigan is a childhood memory for pretty much all of us that grew up in the Mt. Pleasant area.  Sadly, they are no longer there along with the highly over-autographed weighing barn where you signed your John Hancock in sharpie - right on the wall! Scandalous! It was fun to find your name from the last year and see who else you knew scribbled up there.

Batter Up!
Blueberry and tart cherry

My family makes a recipe in the summer called Bublanina, which I guess translates roughly in Czech as "blueberry cake." Monday is my birthday, so I decided to make this one for myself and take one to work. Use your favorite yellow cake recipe, or in a pinch a box mix. I think scratch cake is just as easy.  I used my Betty Crocker book circa 1987 for Yellow Cake. Use good eggs. The darker the yolk, the better the batter will be.

2 C all purpose flour
1 1/2 C sugar
1/2 C butter, softened
1 C milk
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla (I used my homemade batch vanilla)
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350 and lube up some round pans with baking spray. This is important, as the cake will stick otherwise when you try to flip it out. Add everything to your mixer, beat on high for 3 minutes after everything is incorporated nicely. Divide into your pans and bake for about 30-35 minutes. The cherry needed five extra before the knife came out clean.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar and have a nice glass of cold milk with your slice.

Fini!