Update: This giveaway is closed.
If you’ve been following this blog for awhile, then you know I love to bake. I might be all about panini and quick lunches, but when it comes to baking, I commit to the process wholeheartedly – and for good reason. Whenever I bake my mind goes back in time, all the way to my childhood. Growing up, I would watch my mom and aunt scramble to find baking basics such as flour and sugar, improvise with the limited supplies they had, and finally work hard day and night to make baked good for their loved ones. With almost no baking ingredients on hand, these women somehow always managed to make cookies and cakes that had outstanding flavors. They were amazing! 🙂
Those days are long gone, and now I am lucky enough to have plenty of baking supplies to recreate my mom and my aunt’s recipes. The cake in the pic above comes straight from my mom’s recipe book. We usually make it with pitted sour cherries, but you can use other fruits when sour cherries are hard to find or not in season. For this post I decided to use blueberries – their fresh fruit flavor and natural color are simply unbeatable, in my opinion. Moist, buttery and delightfully light, this blueberry cake benefits from the addition of Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract.
I have enjoyed reviewing Nielsen-Massey Vanillas products and incorporating them into my family’s recipes for over a year now (check out my previous reviews & giveaways here, here, here and here). Nielsen-Massey Vanillas contacted me again recently and offered to send me their Holiday Flavors Bundle free of charge to review. Featuring Nielsen-Massey’s Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla, Pure Almond and Pure Peppermint Extracts, this bundle of baking essentials – the perfect gift for your foodie friend 😉 – is available in 2oz and 4oz bottles exclusively on Amazon.
Incorporating Nielsen-Massey Vanillas products is a sure way to elevate your baking, and I was curious to see how their Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract would fare in this tried-and-tested recipe. How, if at all, could this delicious cake be ever improved upon? As usual, Nielsen-Massey’s high quality products surpassed my expectations, and the aromatic hints of vanilla permeating my kitchen translated into a taste experience which added finesse and complexity to the otherwise familiar flavor of this cake.
This recipe could not be easier! Place the flour, baking powder and salt in bowl #1, and mix until combined. Place 5 egg whites in bowl #2, and beat to stiff peaks.
Melt the butter in the microwave (approx. 1 minute)…
…and then place it in bowl #3 with the sugar.
Mix until homogeneous, then add 5 egg yolks one by one, mixing more after each addition.
Add the flour and beaten egg whites in stages, starting with the egg whites and finishing with the flour. Simply put, you add half of the beaten egg whites…
…then half of the flour…
…and then again half of the beaten egg whites, and half of the flour. Add the Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract, and mix until just combined.
Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 9inx9in baking pan.
Wash and dry the blueberries with a paper towel, then place them in a bowl with about 2 tbsp flour. Lightly coat the blueberries with flour, adding a little bit more flour if necessary. This is done to prevent the berries from “sinking” to the bottom of the pan.
Distribute the blueberries on top of the batter uniformly.
Bake the cake for approximately 45 minutes or until golden-brown. You can check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. The cake is done if the toothpick comes out clean and dry.
Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down completely.
Cut the cake into squares and serve with whipped cream on top or extra blueberries on the side – or both!
For more exciting festive recipes that use Nielsen-Massey’s Holiday Flavors Bundle, go on social media and search for the #NielsenMasseyInspires hashtag. You can also head over to my Instagram account and enter my giveaway for a chance to win a Nielsen-Massey Vanillas Holiday Flavors Bundle. Good luck! 🙂
Delicious blueberry cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup flour + extra for the blueberries and the baking pan
- 15 tbsp unsalted butter + extra for the baking pan
- 5 eggs, yolks and whites separated
- 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 3/4 cup blueberries
- 1 tbsp Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Place the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl, and mix until combined. Place the egg whites in a separate bowl, and beat to stiff peaks.
- Melt the butter in a bowl in the microwave (approx. 1 minute). Add the sugar, and mix until homogeneous. Add the egg yolks one by one, mixing after each addition.
- Add the flour and beaten egg whites in stages, starting with the egg whites and finishing with the flour (for example, you can add half of the egg whites, then half of the flour, then the other half egg whites, and half of the flour). Add the Nielsen-Massey Madagascar Bourbon Pure Vanilla Extract. Mix until just combined.
- Pour the batter into a buttered and floured 9inx9in baking pan. Wash and dry the blueberries with a paper towel, then place them in a bowl with about 2 tbsp flour. Lightly coat the blueberries with flour, adding more flour if necessary. Distribute the blueberries on top of the batter uniformly.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes or until golden-brown. You can check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the cake. The cake is done if the toothpick comes out clean and dry.
- Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down completely. Cut into squares and serve with whipped cream on top or extra blueberries on the side - or both!
- Enjoy!
*Disclaimer: While I received a complimentary product to facilitate this review, all opinions expressed here are my own.
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