Blueberry cake can be defined as any cake that contains blueberries. There is a great deal of variety among various blueberry cakes. Most often, blueberry cake is a combination of simple white or yellow cakes with a healthy addition of blueberries. These cakes are somewhat different than blueberry muffins, which usually are not quite as sweet. However you can use blueberry muffin recipes, place them in a cake pan and sprinkle the top with streusel for a delicious coffee cake.
Coffee cakes with blueberries can be considerably more elaborate than muffin recipes and may contain additional ingredients like sour cream or spices. There are so many recipes for coffee cakes — there are endless new things to try and plenty of suggestions. Recipes for blueberry cake that is more traditionally for dessert as opposed to coffee hour are also varied. Though they may be made up of relatively simple cake bases, there are diverse suggestions for different types of toppings, icings and even cake shapes.
The simplest blueberry cake may be served without any type of icing. One common accompaniment is lemon icing or frosting. Alternately, some people sprinkle cakes with a little bit of powdered sugar. There are even recipes recommending chocolate or white chocolate icing. Frostings made with cream cheese can compliment blueberry flavor well too.
Blueberry cakes can be made in simple round cake pans and they’re usually one layer. This doesn’t mean the cake recipe can’t be doubled for a two-layer cake. Alternately, larger recipes can be made in rectangular pans, or some people prefer blueberry cake in bread pans or bundt cake pans. One pretty variant is to use heart shaped pans for blueberry cakes which can unusually be found at craft and cake decorating stores.
No matter the type of blueberry cake, there are some good tips for working with blueberries. When mixing blueberries into the batter, it is often turned blue, which may or may not be the desired outcome. To avoid changing the color of the batter, blueberries should be coated with flour. This will help keep the juices from leaking into the batter. It also helps evenly distribute blueberries throughout the cake, as otherwise they tend to sink to the bottom. Remember to carefully fold the blueberries into the batter to avoid crushing them.
Pay attention to recipes that require only frozen or fresh berries. If the recipe specifically advises against using frozen berries, for instance, look for an alternate recipe if that’s what is on hand. Frozen berries may need to be defrosted before using them in order to make sure the cake cooks evenly.