Blueberry- Brown Sugar Cake – Dorie Greenspan

As I believe I mentioned, when I posted the blueberry pancakes, at My Sweet and Savory,  I had loads of blueberries to use and that is what I am doing – using them for all things, delicious.  I asked hubby what he would like me to do with the blueberries and without hesitation, he almost shouted, “CAKE.”  I was looking through my baking books and found a delicious looking blueberry cake with a crumb topping.  Excitedly, I showed it to him and he said that he was tired of the toppings.  How many men are out there who like their food, plain and simple?  How many women enjoy cooking plain and simple?

 Then, I found Dorie’s cake and although plain it was a brown sugar cake and the eggs were separated and I wanted to know why.  Dorie gets my vote of confidence.  Rarely, am I disappointed in one of her recipes and if I am, I usually changed it to some degree.

In my baking groups, we do not post the recipes but I found this online in a few places.  I would have simply referred you to these sites but I had to include my changes to make it gluten-free.  If you go to Culinate, you will get Dorie’s introduction and some suggestions.

Blueberry-Brown Sugar Plain Cake (free of topping, crumbles, icing, etc)

Ingredients:

1⅓ cups rice flour mixture (for two cups of brown rice flour, I add 2/3 potato starch and 1/3 tapioca flour – take the amount you need.  In this case 1 1/3 cup.

1 1/4 xanthan gum

2 tsp. baking powder

 ⅛ tsp. ground cinnamon (optional)

 1/8 tsp. plus a pinch of salt

 2 large eggs, separated

 1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar  (I used brownulated)

 ½ cup whole milk  (I used Rice Milk)

1 pt. (2 cups) blueberries — fresh, preferably, or frozen (not thawed)

  Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Method:

1.Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Generously butter an 11-by-7-inch baking pan (a Pyrex pan is great) and place it on a baking sheet.

2.Whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon (if you’re using it), and the ⅛ teaspoon salt. (I used cinnamon.)

 3.Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the egg whites with the pinch of salt until they form firm, glossy peaks.  ( I used my hand mixer.)

4.Gently scrape the whites into a clean bowl if using a stand mixer. Fit the mixer with the paddle attachment, if you have one. (There’s no need to clean the mixer bowl.) Put the butter and sugar in the mixer bowl, or in another large bowl if using a hand mixer, and beat on medium speed until creamy.

5. Add the egg yolks and beat 2 minutes more. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the dry ingredients, then all of the milk and then the remainder of the dry ingredients, adding each new batch as soon as the previous batch has been incorporated.

 6.Switch to a large rubber spatula and lighten the batter by stirring in about one quarter of the stiffly beaten egg whites. Fold in the rest of the whites, working as gently as you can. Since the cake batter is heavy, it’s only natural you’ll deflate the whites a little — don’t be concerned. Still working with as light a handle as possible, fold in the blueberries, and scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

 7. Bake the cake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it is golden and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and cool in the pan for about 30 minutes before dusting the top with confectioners’ sugar and serving warm.

 The ice cream is two ingredient ice cream in peach.  No ice cream machine necessary.

 

 

Submitted to Gluten Free Wednesdays – Monthly Round-up of Cakes and Simply Sweet Home

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