Oh blueberries, how I love them. Blueberry muffins. Blueberry pancakes. Blueberry smoothies. Blueberry anything sounds just heavenly to me.
Blueberry Cake. I took a pack of organic, plump, sweet spring blueberries and made this Blueberry Cake. I love this recipe because it doesn't quite fit into a recipe category box. It is a hybrid. Blueberry muffin meets frosted cake meets hearty, grain-filled goodness. This cake is easily a dessert, tea cake, sweet treat breakfast nibble or afternoon snack.
The frosting is a simple virgin coconut oil-based blend. Silky, fluffy, decadent enough to rival any traditional "buttercream" frosting. There are blueberries baked into the cake - melting with their silky blue stain , mingling with oats, flax seeds and chopped nuts. And there are also fresh, raw berries on top. The more blueberries the better!..
Blueberries. Blueberries are amazing little fruits. One cup contains about 80 calories and zero fat. 4g fiber and 24% of your daily vitamin C needs. They are rich in vitamins C and K - and they also contain smaller amounts of various B vitamins and vitamin E. They are rich in manganese and contain some potassium too. Blueberries are quite amazing based on their strong antioxidant capacity. Beyond the rigid nutrition data facts - the power of blueberries is in their color - their phytonutrients.
Fron WHFoods.com: "Virtually all of the (blueberry) phytonutrients function both as antioxidants and as anti-inflammatory compounds in the body, and they are responsible for many of the well-documented health benefits we get from regular consumption of blueberries."
..the short story: eat more blueberries! Here is one delicious way (scroll down for recipe!)..
Smoothie Book Update. All is going well in the land of 365 vegan smoothies. I sometimes wonder what my neighbors must think hearing my Vitamix buzzing around so many times a day. There could really be only two explanations to all this blender noise: either I'm on a really weird blender diet or I'm writing a smoothie book! Smoothie book it is. I'm deep into the taste-testing phase and will be starting on calculating all the nutritional info soon. Which is actually a lot of fun for me. I love breaking down each smoothie and seeing what it offers nutritionally - the numbers can be quite interesting. I'm excited about more photoshooting - but I have to admit that I am dreading the photo editing process. I already have 2500 shots in my "smoothie book" folder - new photos I've been taking the past few weeks - and more to come. But overall - loving this adventure!
My smoothie consultants/officemates..
Blueberry Cake
vegan, makes one 9" round cake
1 ½ cups organic white flour
*sub with other flours if desired
¾ cup sugar, organic (why organic here)
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoon vegan butter, softened
½ teaspoon almond extract (sub with vanilla if desired)
3 tablespoon rolled oats
2 tablespoon flax seeds + ⅔ cup warm water
⅓ cup soy milk, vanilla
¼ cup applesauce, unsweetened
3 tablespoon orange juice + pinch orange zest (fresh squeeze room temperature oranges - or warm OJ to about room temp)
½ teaspoon salt
optional: ½ teaspoon cinnamon
fold -ins:
½ cup blueberries
½ cup chopped walnuts (or almonds)
topping: blueberries +pinch rolled oats + sprinkle of almonds
note: I used about 10 ounces blueberries total - buy 2 6oz packs and eat any leftovers 🙂
Frosting:
⅓ cup vegan butter, softened
⅔ cup virgin coconut oil
3 cups powdered sugar
pinch salt
note: if you only use coconut oil this frosting is STILL super yummy. You could also add in or sub in some vegan cream cheese if you'd like.
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, oats and optional cinnamon to a large mixing bowl. Toss a bit.
3. In a small dish, combine the water and flax seeds. Stir briskly and let sit for about 2-4 minutes.
4. Add the water/flax mixture, orange juice, applesauce, vegan butter, salt, extract and soy milk. Tip: try to make sure these ingredients are either room temperature or slightly warmed. I used room temperature oranges to fresh squeeze - and room temp applesauce. This will help your batter blend more seamlessly - and the vegan butter will stay smooth.
5. Stir your batter by hand until smooth. Fold in the blueberries and chopped nuts.
6. Pour your batter into your cake dish - grease and flour the sides before pouring.
7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes - or until edges begin to brown a bit. Remove from oven to cool.
8. Start your frosting about 20 minutes before you want to frost your cake. Your cake must be cooled when you frost it or the frosting will melt.
9. Add frosting ingredients to mixing bowl and blend with hand beater mixer until fluffy and smooth. Add in a splash of room temperature soy milk or coconut milk if needed to thin out the blend. Place frosting in fridge for just about five minutes before frosting. Any longer and the frosting will get too firm.
10. Frost cake and add blueberries on top. Serve with softened frosting. Store in fridge - but allow frosting to soften a bit before re-serving from fridge.
