Early-Morning Blueberry Bake

I had a few blueberries leftover from the pancakes, and since I got up at 2:00 a.m. this morning (uggggggh — book proofing by day, and then "proofing" in "dreams" at night, decided to just forget it and get out of bed at 4-ish and . . . bake a cake at 7 . . . I know . . . and here it is) thought I'd try the Berry and Buttermilk Cake from Apples for Jam. Last night I was just lying up in bed going through the whole thing page by page for about the fourth time picking out about fourteen things I want to try, stat.

In case I haven't mentioned in the past five minutes how much I love this book, allow me to say so again. Love. It. As I was searching around for a link to it for you this morning, I found that Amanda made this same cake last fall with some variations — I wish I'd seen her recipe before I made mine because she added maple syrup and that is a great idea. Like blueberry pancake-cake. Wouldn't it be cool to do like a Julie & Julia thing with Apples for Jam? Just go through it color by color, dish by dish. Wish I had time for that. I don't think I do. Though I have made four or five of the things already — all awesome. Seriously good. The Spaghetti with Ground Beef was amazing. Cinnamon, paprika, and mint in the sauce. I find it difficult to blog about dinner in the winter. It's too dark to take a picture of anything. If you want to know what time the sun rises/sets go here. I will say "not early enough/too early" respectively, though apparently we did gain 2 minutes and 11 seconds over yesterday. . . . Sigh.

By the way, speaking of berries, I found the comments about the Swedish pancakes from the actual Swedish people very interesting! No lingonberries with pancakes, they say! Well, that makes sense to me, of course, because I don't actually like lingonberries, but I have never once ordered these pancakes at a restaurant and had them served without lingonberries or lingonberry jam, even at Al Johnson's or Ann Sather's. So I can only conclude that maybe this is an American version of a Swedish thing? Kind of like how my Italian family looks at spaghetti and meatballs smothered in red sauce and says, "That's not Italian." Like that? Just curious.

'Kay. Naptime.

I wish.

I'd take this out five minutes earlier next time. The toothpick was a bit too clean for me.

Comments

[Dave]

Mmmm, can you bring some of that over, it looks amazing, and perfect for the strawberry black tea with cream and sugar I'm drinking :)

[amy]

yahoo- I just wrote about that cake a moment ago- I adore that book too!
http://doobleh-vay.blogspot.com/2008/01/i-really-like-cookbook-apples-for-jam.html

[Alice]

I'm sooooo hungry! Can I stop by for tea and cake?

[Liz]

Wow, cake by 7. That's pretty darn impressive. Good luck with the book proofing, sending good thoughts your way.
Liz

[emma]

Hi

I love your blog. My daughters love to sneak peaks at your studio photos. I think you would really like an english chef's book - Jamie Oliver - Jamie at Home. It is all about his garden and how he and his gardener (!) grow their own veg for his family. He writes in a lovely relaxed way and he is very down to earth - in previous books he for example he says serve his glorious fish pie with ketchup! Best wishes Emma

[divabunny]

oh yummmmm! cake by 7??? yikes! i hadnt even made my coffee by 7! oh the guilt....

[Lilli]

Sheesh, too bad about not sleeping long enough. Oh well, at least you were deliciously productive :)

[Elizabeth]

Regarding length of daylight - you lucky devils in Portland are still getting approx. 40 minutes more daylight per day than us in the south of the UK. The cake looks delicious. All I ever do when I can't sleep is lie there fretting about not sleeping!

[One Love Photo]

Blueberry love! What a great treat on this very cold day. I've been nibbling on little blue treats all weekend as well.

[amy*lou]

that looks like it would be fantastic with my cup of coffee! :)

[cheriwan]

Mmmmm. What time is tea (after your nap, of course, I wouldn't want to be rude after all)?
Tee hee.

[Leigh]

there's nothing nicer than when blueberries burst and turn from firm and tart to something quite special. I'm craving an ice-cold glass of milk to go with that cake! a nice treat before my nap. yum!

[SLH]

As one who habitually gets up at 4 a.m. because I simply cannot sleep any longer, it's nice to know there's someone else up at that hour! I used to figure I might have been a dairy farmer in my last life, but now I think I was probably the cow. ;o) At least I have a job in which I can set my own hours, so I'm usually at my desk by 5:30. Being up early makes me feel I know something about the day that other people have missed, and that's way bettter than lying there in bed worrying about the sleep I'm not getting.

[Henna]

Mmm, I love Al Johnson's and you are right, Ligonberries are served every where I have been too!

[Tiffany]

I hate it when my brain does that. Don't you wish you could just say "Ahem. Excuse me. It's time to sleep." and then turn a switch off. I never had insomnia until I started working on my own business - the only down-side I've found so far. Fortunately it has settled down and I only get it once in awhile.
But kudos to you for baking such a lovely cake! I tend to choose the sit-on-the-couch-and-be-grumpy method until I tell myself that my husband has left for work so I should get up and do the same.
Wishing you restful sleep tonight!

[LC]

Another beautiful day brightener...thank you, Alicia. You are such a kind and lovely friend. I read your posts each day and carry them with me. Thanks again! :)

[HeidiAnn]

Mmmm - absolutely everything you bake or make and take pictures of and blog about looks wonderful! This, of course, is no exception!

[cindy k]

oh boy, i stopped at the news stand on my way home to pick up hallmark magazine with you in it. even though i know your story, it still was so emotional to read the article as it has more to say about your accident and how you recovered. i got all teary-eyed on the subway and had to stop reading until i got home - so embarassing. it's a wonderful, inspirational story, and you all look great, including clover with those glorious ears.

we saw the movie the “diving bell and the butterfly” this weekend and i think you would really enjoy it. a couple of the themes in the movie that are similar to yours are perseverance, and the wonderful things that can happen after one pushes through the self-pity stage, which may very well be the most difficult challenge of all.

best ... cindy

[Mal]

Being Swedish, I would say that lingonberry is the traditional with pancakes. When I was little, it was that or just sugar if you didn't like jam.

It might depend where you are from as well, but I at least where I grew up I think the mothers thought that lingonberry jam was less sweet and therefore more suitable for dinner. (You don't eat pancakes for breakfast.)

It doesn't make a difference what you put on them of course, but the lingonberry jam isn't an American version. :)

[Jackie]

Mmmm...my mouth is watering! I noticed your link to "Sew Pretty Homestyle" and was wondering if you had made anything out of it (in your "free" time!) I bought it a few months ago and thought of your blog when I saw it in the store. I'm enjoying it so far. Best of luck with the proofing!

[Eva]

I just saw "My Blueberry Nights" this evening at the cinema with a friend. It's so funny that you have a blueberry theme going on at the same time! ;-)

[S.HOPtalk]

Please stop with these temptations...I have to somehow squeeze into a bathing suit by mid February. (Something I will next time keep in mind before planning a tropical vacation in the middle of winter).

In all seriousness, my family was quite tickled by our swedish pancakes feast Saturday morning-- inspired, of course, by your lovely little post. They were in awe when I busted out the powdered sugar and fresh preserves instead of the usual store bought syrup.

Thank you for your delicious posts of late.

suzanne

[Leigh]

Again, YUMMY! You are seriously making me hungry! For some reason my food never looks as good as yours!

[Shari]

I want to be you in my next life. I read this post about your wonderful baking just after I just posted about my most recent baking disaster ( http://bonnindesigns.blogspot.com )

[brooke]

i just bought "apples for jam" at anthropologie on clearance for $9! just so those of you who want a copy know.