Blueberry Brunch Cake

When I moved to Florida, I went through a gigantic purging of stuff. Almost all our furniture, lots of clothing, most of my books, including cookbooks, and loads of recipes were given away. But I kept an old recipe for blueberry brunch cake, even though I cannot remember ever trying it!

Until today.

Of course I didn't follow the recipe. I believe recipes are basically suggestions. They give me ideas. But I always take off from that starting point and launch my final product in a somewhat different direction.

In this case, I started with a low fat recipe from a 1995 Cooking Light magazine; the butter was already reduced and an egg white replaced one of the whole eggs. I'm not really interested in keeping things low fat anymore, so I tweaked. I used 2 whole eggs, a small amount of butter along with some cream cheese, and both almond flour plus whole wheat in place of regular, unbleached flour. I also substituted honey for the white sugar. I am always trying to boost the nutrition in any recipe, upping protein, healthy fats, and fiber whenever possible.

Blueberries are in season, inexpensive, and so healthy! Why not whip up a simple blueberry cake?

Ingredients:

3 TB unsalted butter
4 TB cream cheese (low fat is fine)
1/3 cup honey
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
Zest of one lemon
Juice of one lemon
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray an 8x8 square baking pan with oil.

In a large mixing bowl, combine softened cream cheese and butter. (You can soften both in the microwave for about 30 seconds.) Beat well. Add honey and beat some more. Add eggs. Combine everything until smooth. Add the rest of the ingredients in the order given, stirring gently after each addition. Try not to break the blueberries.

Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake at 350F for about 35-40 minutes. Test for doneness in the center of the cake. Top of cake should be lightly browned. Let cake cool in pan for at least 20 minutes for serving. Delicious warm or cool. Serve for breakfast, brunch, or dessert!