So I knew someday I would write this entry in my blog. I
didn't put it off, because I
didn't want to share the recipe. But I knew how hard it would be to share all that I wanted to share. This recipe is a family recipe. It was found and passed a long but a very special Aunt of mine. My Aunt Dianne. If you
don't know, she was my Mom's Sister. She passed away very unexpectedly and it is a loss I
don't think my family has ever recovered from. I searched and searched for a certain picture I wanted to post but I
couldn't find it so I borrowed this one from when she was young.
My Aunt was an AWESOME AUNT and a
phenomenal cook. Anytime anyone asks who I want to have dinner with alive or dead I always say, I wish I could cook a Thanksgiving Meal with my Aunt Dianne. I
don't think in my lifetime I ever shared a Thanksgiving Dinner with that side of my family, but I bet she could hit it out of the park and make you pass out it would be so good. She used to let me come and visit my cousins every summer in Florida. While there she introduced me to so many new things. I had my 1st Taco Bell, my 1st home made pizza, grits (although I
don't think I had them since) Cinnamon Toast, English Muffin Bread and things I only wished I could remember.
My Aunt never got to see me grown-up. I think the last time she saw me was when I was 16 years old. She never got to teach me any of her other secret recipes, although there is this one, English Muffin Bread and I have her pizza recipe stashed away. She never got to see how much I love to cook. It makes me happy to feed my family and I am sure that is why she loved it too. She loved her family...a lot. We all miss her very much and I think about her all the time and wonder if she would think I was a good cook. I never could beat her at scrabble (in all fairness I was like 11 yrs old....and I cheated) but I wonder if I could make her something and have her ask me for the recipe.
So I sit here writing about my Aunt, while eating the legendary cake she brought into all our lives. Its a classic, and I am sharing it with you. While it didn't rise as much as my mom's always does (these non-stick pans are no good!) the flavor is unmatched.
And Holy CRAP!! I baked something. Some of you have noticed there are ZERO dessert recipes posted so far. I used to bake all the time but since if I see cake, I eat cake, I only do it for special occasions or when I can share it, so I don't eat it ALL. I also have a problem with all my non-stick pans. Nothing seems to bake right in them. Although at least with my newest pan the bottom didn't burn. At least we seem to be making progress. One day I will have to steal all my mom's old school metal pans that I learned to bake and cook in. Then I can properly make and bake some yummy creations. For now this one stands alone, its my own little tribute to someone I miss very much.
Blueberry Boy Bait
13X9 in pan
Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
Bake for 40-50 min. Until; toothpick comes out clean
2 Cups of Flour
1 ½ cups sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2/3 cup margarine (1 stick and 2 tbsp.)
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 cup blueberries
¼ cup sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
mix flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and margarine, milk and eggs beat on low speed to mix and then 3 min. on High Speed.
Pour into pan, sprinkle blueberries on top
Then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar mixture and bake
you have to serve it with ice cream or redi-whip. Has to be done!
Oh and Boy Bait means what you think . I never realized it until recently because I thought it was another word for a fruity cake, a boybait one word. Never knew, and good thing or I might have put this cake to evil use in my younger days :)
What a nice post - now, I'm crying!
ReplyDeleteMom definitely loved you too, Juli, and she did know how much you loved to cook. Long before I thought to ask her to write down recipes, she was mailing you her perfectly typed (with a typewriter, not a computer) concoctions. I think it tickled her that you were a teenager who loved to bake. When did you get your mixer? I feel like she knew about that, but maybe I'm wrong.
I also did not get, until I was an adult, what "boy bait" really meant. As a child, I always ran the words together, and thought of it as being similar to the word, "boysenberry." When I finally got it, I laughed at the retro name, and still think it's as sweet as the cake itself.
And what isn't there to love about blueberry cake, its crusty top sprinkled with baked sugar? This was a treat we looked forward to in the summer, so people reading Juli's blog should hurry out to the local farmer's stand or grocery store and pick up some fresh blueberries and make this cake - before summer is gone again!
As an aside, I always preferred vanilla ice cream with this cake, to whipped cream ... particularly if the cake was still hot.
Lauren
This looks SO good! And what a great tribute to your aunt. I'm sure she's very proud of you!
ReplyDeleteShe would have loved your blog. :)
ReplyDeleteNice picture! And a very sweet post... I love boy bait!!
ReplyDeletePS- are your non-stick pans dark-colored? I feel like I read somewhere that if you're using dark non-stick pans, you either don't need to bake as long or you need to turn the temp down. I don't remember which.
btw, you should check out our blog. Your cousin is also supposed to post there too *ahem*, but as of yet it's just been me. it's zeebahzazieandthezoo[dot]blogspot(dot)com.
xo
Yep, I changed pans after I read that in Foot Network Magazine. I think I made an error with using sea salt...I have been trying to figure it out all day and that seems the likely culpret. They didnt have sea salt in the 70's.
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the great feedback!
This post inspired me to make BBB this weekend. That was actually my first time making it, and I followed it to a T. It came out 100% perfect! I have a 9x13 cake pan, but it was buried in the back of a cabinet and I just did not have the strength to pull it out, so I ended up using my 9x13 Pyrex pan, and it was fine. I got a very enthusiastic response from David after he tried it too. He's picky when it comes to desserts (nothing too chocolatey, nothing with nuts, etc.), but he does love cinnamony desserts (crisps and cobblers and stuff like that). So this was right up his alley and he gobbled half of it up. I had to give some to the neighbors so he wouldn't eat the whole thing. :)
ReplyDeleteMom did know that you liked to cook. I remember that she particulary enjoyed a layered taco dip (mmm, do you still make it?) that you had made once while we were visiting up there. She liked it enough that she wrote it down and immediately made it in Delaware when we visited that side of the family afterwards. I will say that her Thanksgivings were sensational to put it mildly. Everyone in our house particularly looked forward to the snowy mashed potatoes--that garlicky and sour creamy goodness that I only make on special occasions even today. Her Christmas dinners were also out of this world. Mom is who introduced us all to Yorkshire Pudding. I've still never attempted that because I'm saving it for a Christmas, that one day I'll host, where I'll make roast beef and yorkshire pudding.
YUM!!!! Just finished eating my wonderful piece of Boy Bait with ice cream. LOVED IT. I can't beleive how easy it was to make. I may have done something wrong though. My blueberries sunk to the bottome and from the photo, it looks like yours were in the middle of the cake. My husband loves it. I am sure he will request this from me often.
ReplyDelete