Blueberry pudding cake is one of those desserts where you swear the first time you make it that the recipe is wrong. You may look at the pan after you pour in all that boiling water and say to yourself, “There’s no way this is going to work.” I thought exactly the same thing, but it does work. During the long stay in the oven, the boiling water combines with the thick batter, creating a kind of crunchy cake topping that floats on top of the juicy blueberry filling. It’s rustic and homey, almost like a cobbler, and tastes best served warm with some vanilla bean ice cream or gelato.
Michael’s mom made this for us last summer, and we all liked it so much we couldn’t wait to make it when blueberry season came around again. The preparation is very easy and it only takes a few minutes to put this luscious dessert together, then the oven does all the real work.
[Updated August 9, 2011.]
BLUEBERRY PUDDING CAKE
Adapted from Ann Meyers (from an old magazine).
Serves 8.
Equipment
8-inch square baking pan, greased
2 medium mixing bowls
Ingredients
2 cups (282 g) blueberries, fresh or thawed from frozen
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1 cup (120 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cups (263 g) granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (120 ml) lowfat milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup (240 ml) boiling water
Preparation
1. Preheat the oven to 350° F/175° C.
2. In one of the bowls, toss the blueberries with the cinnamon and lemon juice. Pour into the prepared baking pan.
3. In the other bowl, whisk together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, and baking powder. Stir in the milk and melted butter. The batter will be very thick. Spoon over the blueberries.
4. In the same bowl, stir together the remaining sugar and cornstarch and sprinkle over the batter. Slowly pour the boiling water all over the pan. The water will rise up and pool, but it will combine with the batter as it cooks.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until the cake tests done and is golden and a little crunchy on top. Serve warm with ice cream.
More Blueberry Recipes
More Blueberry Recipes From Around the Blogs
Farmgirl Fare – Apple Blueberry Crumble Bars
Morsels & Musings – Sweet Blueberry Focaccia
Karina’s Kitchen – Summer Blueberry Crisp
Sunday Nite Dinner – Blueberry Kuchen
Kathy - Panini Happy says
June 21, 2010 at 11:01 pmThis is just the kind of summer dessert I love best – simple, uses fresh summer fruit and goes great with ice cream. 🙂
Rosa says
June 22, 2010 at 2:18 amA delicious dessert! Irresistible.
Cheers,
Rosa
SharleneT says
June 22, 2010 at 7:15 amJust in time for my neighbor’s blueberry patch to offer up this year’s goodies. What a great solar recipe! Especially for demonstrations. Thank you for sharing. yummy!
Twitter: SolarChief
Natalie (The Sweets Life) says
June 22, 2010 at 10:27 amI’ve seen chocolate versions of this, but never blueberry. This looks awesome!
Cindy Haskin-Popp says
June 22, 2010 at 6:33 pmRecipe is printed out. This looks fabulous. Thanks for posting it!
Diana's Cocina says
June 23, 2010 at 8:28 pmIt’s been a while since I’ve had a pudding cake. This one looks delicious!
deborah says
June 26, 2010 at 8:42 pmHas anyone tried this using Splenda?
Andrea says
June 26, 2010 at 8:57 pmHi Deborah. I don’t cook with the Splenda baking mix, so I’m not exactly sure how it would turn out.
Elle says
June 26, 2010 at 11:50 pmAndrea, this looks like such a wonderful seasonal dessert! I’ve made chocolate and lemon pudding cakes but never with blueberries. I can see this recipe with the blueberries replaces by blackberries, too. Bravo!
Andrea says
June 27, 2010 at 6:20 amThanks Elle. We’ve also tested it with cherries and peaches with good results. 🙂
Heather I. says
June 29, 2010 at 9:27 pmOooh, pudding cake! What a great combo, this is making my mouth water. I would also consider your cherry idea, yums!
Jen says
August 11, 2010 at 7:48 pmThis looks delicious!! Just wondering, how much sugar should be divided? 1 cup for the flour mixture and 1/2 cup with the 1 Tbsp cornstarch? Your recipe doesn’t state this
Andrea says
August 11, 2010 at 8:16 pmHi Jen. Thanks for catching that error, I corrected the recipe.