Blueberry Tea Cake

I must admit, my baking has been somewhat of a bust as of late. Last week I attempted a “healthy” oatmeal, banana, raisin cookie and it failed miserably. I was missing one of the ingredients and tried to make it work, and well, let’s just say it was intern level at best. I can’t promise I won’t attempt it again just because I’m competitive, but I’ll save you the wasted ingredients until I at least have a successful outcome.

While I typically eat pretty healthy and substitute where I can, I try not to skimp when it comes to baking. I come from the school of thought that if you enjoy the real thing, you are less likely to binge on it. There are a few exceptions of course. And those recipes I typically take straight to the office. No one looks pretty standing over the counter devouring an entire 9×13 pan of rhubarb cake. Not that I’ve ever done that or anything.

Speaking of rhubarb cake. This is typically the time of year I make my grandmother’s recipe. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on any good rhubarb yet so I settled for a blueberry tea cake instead.

My mom always says you can judge a good recipe by the stains on the paper. And she’s right. The tried and true ones are typically creased, gray and aged to perfection. Just like George Clooney. As I was looking through my cookbook for a recipe to help dig myself out of the black hole of baked goods, this little piece of paper fell onto the counter like a sign from the baking gods. It was one my mom gave to me from a Junior League cookbook circa 1990. Inspiration comes in all forms and this time it was staring at me saying, Bake me, Bake me!

And so I did.

Berry Blue Tea Cake

• 2 C sifted flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 C unsalted butter
• 3/4 C sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C milk (I used almond)
• 2 C blueberries

Topping

• 1/4 C sugar
• 2 TBL flour
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 2 TBL butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Grease and flour an 8 inch square pan.

In a small bowl, sift flour, baking powder and salt together. In a large bowl cream butter and sugar together. Add egg and milk. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Fold in floured blueberries. Batter will be thick.

In a small bowl, cut 2 TBL butter into sugar, flour and cinnamon mixture. Just dig in and use your hands. Spread topping over batter. Bake for 30-45 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

Tea cakes are great because like scones, they can be justified at any meal of the day. Have some with your morning coffee. It’s not too sweet. Serve it for Sunday brunch. After all, there’s fresh fruit in it. Scarf down another piece for dessert. You can’t go wrong with a cinnamon-sugar combo.

In today’s Pin-centric world, I’m interested to hear if you still use cookbooks and printed recipes? Where do you get your cooking inspiration from?