Blueberry Pound cake

This cake stand is a gem I got from a friend, Reece, a few years ago. His aunt bought it in the early 1920's when she moved to Hollywood, CA.

He inherited it from her and brought it back to TN with him in the 1990's. He knew how much I like to bake and wanted me to have it.

I love that it has survived 100 years and has only been used by his aunt and me. He said he never used it and that is why he decided to get rid of it.

When I bought my first house there was a blueberry bush just off the kitchen that the previous owners had planted. I moved in late fall and I wasn't sure what it was, but knew it was next to the garden and across from a pear tree. So I figured it was something that would give me berries of some sort.

It was an old farmhouse built, in 1855, by a preacher who also had a church across the street. His family lived there for almost 150 years over 3 generations, but there were no kids to leave it to, so it sat empty for about a decade and then someone bought the property. They didn't want the house and offered it up for $1 to whoever could move it. So a young couple with 3 little girls bought it and moved it less than a mile up the road to property that had once been part of the original farm.

I sold that house after 3 years, and after touching every surface in it. Old houses are wonderful, but they are constant work. I don't think there was a day that I lived in that house that didn't involve fixing something. I remodeled the kitchen, stripped wallpaper, put up moldings, replaced lost doorknobs, painted the entire outside of the house, and had to have the roof replaced after lightening hit one of the two original chimneys, tossing old bricks everywhere, putting over a dozen holes in the roof.

One of my favorite ways to use them is to make a batch of blueberry lemon cornbread. I have a recipe for that here in a post from a few years ago, which also gives you a little bit more about the house.

Last week I made what I called a True Blue American Pie for Memorial Day using apples and blueberries, and yesterday I made this Blueberry Pound Cake I had been working on. I am very happy with how it came out. Partly because it did actually come out of the cast iron bundt pan I used but mostly because of how it tastes! For getting it out of the pan, I made Cake Goop, which you can find a recipe on by googling, but I have included it below too.

Blueberry Pound Cake

Ingredients:

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

2 sticks (1 cup) butter, room temperature

2 1/4 cups sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup buttermilk

Almond Crumb Topping (optional):

3 tablespoons butter, cubed and chilled

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup plain flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Lemon Glaze:

Up to 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Prepare the blueberries by washing and letting dry if fresh. Using 1/4 cup of the flour for the cake batter, dust the blueberries and set aside. If using frozen, then dust frozen and set aside. Prepare your baking pan with Cake Goop (recipe below).

In a stand mixer or large mixing bowl, add the sugar and butter and cream until it comes together like a dough. On slow, add in one egg at a time, mixing well in between, then increase the speed again and beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Reduce speed again and add in the vanilla.

Sift together the dry ingredients and add them alternately with the buttermilk, starting and ending with the buttermilk. Scrape down the bowl as needed. When mixed, remove from stand mixer and gently fold in the dusted blueberries. Spoon into your baking pan. If using the crumb topping, smooth out the batter and spoon the topping over evenly.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours or until testing the center for doneness. Let cool. Ice with a lemon glaze made of powdered sugar and lemon juice. Mix until the desired consistency and drizzle over cake.

Serves 10-12

Cake Goop: Using equal parts of plain flour, shortening, and vegetable oil, begin to mix the flour and shortening until it all the flour is incorporated and the shortening is smooth. Slowly mix in some of the vegetable oil and mix until it is smooth again and repeat until all vegetable oil is incorporated. You can store this in a sealed jar at room temperature or in the refrigerator. Liberally brush you baking pans before adding your cake batter. Can be used for anything you would grease and dust a pan for when baking.

• I bought this old Lodge Cast Iron Bundt pan about 15 years ago at an auction for just $3!