Blueberry Boy-Bait

I've noticed in the last couple of weeks that fresh fruit, except for bananas & oranges, are pretty pricey. So I've begun to dig into our reserves in the freezer to add fruit to our diets. We've been having smoothies almost every day! It's Sunday and my family will be gathering Around the "Honeymoon" Table for a pork roast dinner this afternoon. I wanted a delicious dessert, that wasn't pie. Blueberry Boy-Bait it is!

This recipe comes from the Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook.This recipe originally came from Renny Powell, a teenager from Chicago, who submitted this recipe in 1954 to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (now known as the Pillsbury Bake-Off Contest) and won second prize in the junior division.

Here's the line up:
2 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
10 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) cold butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, separated
1 cup milk (I used skim)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries washed, drained & blotted dry
(I used frozen high bush blueberries)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 X 13 pan (I used my butter wrappers) and then flour it lightly. Sift together the flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into pieces, then work into the flour mixture using your finger tips or a pastry blender. I started out with a pastry blender but then switched to my fingers and it went much faster. The flour should take on the texture of coarse meal, with a few pea-size pieces of butter still visible, and turn slightly yellow. Reserve 1/2 cup of the mixture to use as a topping.

Add the baking powder, the salt, the egg yolks (reserve the whites), and the milk to the flour mixture still in the bowl. Beat with an electric mixer on low speed for about 3 minutes. (This can also be done by hand with a wooden spoon. Which I did.)

In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites until they hold 2 inch peaks. You can use your electric mixer or as I did with a whisk. Fold gently into the batter. Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle blueberries on top, then sprinkle with the reserved 1/2 cup crumb mixture. This is what it looked like just before I put it in the oven.

Bake for 40 - 50 minutes (I baked mine for 60 minutes) or until the center of the cake bounces back when pressed with the flat side of a fork. Let cool for 30 minutes before serving either as a coffee cake or a dessert.

With a house full of boys you just know we had to try Blueberry Boy-Bait! My 7 yr. old says he gives me 100 points. (?) My husband says it isn't a boring cake because there are 3 different textures. A bit of a crunch on the bottom, soft buttery cake, and moist blueberries on top. He says it's a "keeper". :) A keeper = 5 Spoons!

Blessings,