Blueberry Almond Cake

We're all friends here, right? Since we've all gotten to know each other so well, I'm going to tell you about one of my stranger idiosyncrasies: my disgust with most small, round produce. 

I cannot explain how this started, but I know it goes back quite far. I have a vivid memory of my kindergarten class sitting in a circle on the floor, each person making a wish and then eating a grape (What the heck? I don't understand this ritual at all). I refused to eat that grape. Even if it meant causing a scene, even if it meant not getting a wish. To this day, I am repulsed by grapes, raisins, olives, capers, cherries, cherry tomatoes, blueberries...you get the idea. 

For some reason, I can handle blueberries baked into things, though they still aren't my favorite. Now, you may be wondering what's up with the weird looking pan above. It's called a Rehrucken pan, which means ribs of a deer. Apparently you're supposed to use it to make this sweet looking cake (which is supposed to look like a big hunk o' venison with garlic stuffed between the ribs. I think it looks a hedgehog). But our pan came with a recipe for an awesome and totally adaptable Scandinavian Almond Cake. 

Though I would have preferred mine without, we had blueberries in the house that needed to be used. Wanna make a lemon flavored one? Cut it in half and spread lemon curd inside. Coconut? Please do. 

Also....if anyone has a similar produce phobia, I'd love to hear about it so I don't feel like so much of a freak, haha. 

I didn't like touching those.

Blueberry Almond Cake 

from Pipka's

Ingredients 

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 egg

2/3 cup milk

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup melted butter

1 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 and grease your pan (if you don't have a Rehrucken pan, I think a loaf pan would be okay)

Beat together sugar, egg, milk and almond until smooth. Mix in flour and baking soda. Slowly add melted butter. Gently fold in blueberries (you can dust them with flour to keep the batter from getting blue) Pour batter into pan, and bake for 38-42 minutes until top is golden brown. Cool in the pan for 6-8 minutes, then invert onto cooling rack.

Weirdly Blue-Berry Muffins

Um. I've been making things and not posting. I guess every food blogger does that, right? I made these for Valentine's Day, and didn't take pictures. They were weird. I feel like red velvet is weird in general, but also delicious.

Cooooooool!

 My sister complains rather frequently that I only make weird stuff that she doesn't like. Hey! I...resemble that. But not ALWAYS. 

Much of the time when she accuses me of this, I make her blueberry muffins. I've tried a ton of recipes, and this one is the best I've found. It always works. Since I didn't have any fresh blueberries, I used frozen. Which turned the batter a weird grayish purple. 

Unappealing?

But, they baked blue! Hooray! If you're lazy like I was feeling, you can just sprinkle sugar on the tops. Mm, crunchy. If you're feeling ambitious, make a streusel-y top. I'll show you! 

Blueberry Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg, almond extract and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups close to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.