Blueberry Snack Cake - a.k.a. Baked Newfoundland Blueberry Duff

Blueberry Snack Cake - a.k.a. Baked Newfoundland Blueberry Duff

I cannot count the hundreds of times I have made this simple, moist, delicious, buttery little snack cake with an abundance of wild Newfoundland blueberries baked right in. A terrific addition to any brown bag lunch, it is indeed more of a blueberry snack cake but we often had it as a duff with Sunday dinner when I was a kid here in Newfoundland. Sometimes we still do.

I often substitute local partridgeberries or bakeapples (lingonberries or cloudberries) to make other delicious versions. I've also used one of my favorites, fresh raspberries, with great success. I love the way fruits like raspberries leave little jammy pockets in the cake. Raisins are another popular substitution for the blueberries but your favorite dried fruit, like apricots or cherries would be delicious too; just be sure to cut them small enough; about the size of large raisins is about right.

This humble little blueberry cake also dresses up nicely as a luscious comfort food dessert when served warm from the oven with warm vanilla custard.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9x9 inch baking pan well.

Cream together until light and fluffy:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar

Add:

• 2 eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Beat well after the addition of each egg.

Sift together:

• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Add dry ingredients alternately with:

• 1 cup milk

Always begin and end with an addition of dry ingredients. As a general rule, add the flour mixture in 3 divisions and the milk in two .

Quickly fold in:

• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries.

Spread batter evenly into the prepared pan.

Bake at 325 degrees F in a 9 inch well greased square pan for about 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. The baking time can vary, especially if you use frozen berries. In that case it may take 10 or even 15 minutes more to bake. The toothpick test is the best way to ensure that this cake is fully  baked.

Blueberry Snack Cake - a.k.a. Baked Newfoundland Blueberry Duff