Crisp Point Chocolate Blueberry Upside-Down Cake

First, you need to walk the sandy woods of Luce County. Breath in the pines, the dry lichen, and bracken fern. Visit Lake Superior and thank God for creating the Upper Peninsula above the rest of Michigan. Listen to the waves wash stones along the beach. Feel the breeze against your face. Finally, it’s time to complete the most important step: pick the sweetest blueberries you’ve ever tasted. Bring an old plastic pitcher and fill it from bush after bush amidst the solitude of the forest.

wild-blueberriesNext, choose your favorite chocolate cake recipe. I go with the chocolate fudge cake from the Joy of Cooking, as the fudge is richer than cocoa-based cakes.

In a 9×13 cake pan, melt one stick of butter in your preheated oven. Once the butter has melted, spread evenly around the pan and add one cup (packed) of brown sugar. Spread the sugar throughout the pan and use a spatula or your hands if necessary. Take two cups of wild blueberries (though farm-grown will do for you city dwellers) and cover the sugary, butter mixture. Finally, pour your cake batter on top and bake for longer than normal. You can always test the doneness of the cake by poking a toothpick in the center and seeing if it comes up clean.

Once the cake is down, put a pan on top of the cake and gently turn over and remove the cake pan. Serve with homemade whipped cream and relish all your hard work.

Photo credit: Paul VanDerWerf, http://go.shr.lc/1NlJKR5.

Tim Lepczyk

Writer, Technologist, and Librarian.

This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Xiomara

    I have loved this cake ever since your mom intriduced me to it 200 years ago :-). She would use a “lightened up” cake mix (omit the oil, use extra water in the mix); and it was fantastic. I’m sure yours is to die for with that homemade chocolate cake!

    1. Tim Lepczyk

      It’s a wonderful cake. As I’ve cooked more on my own at home and in restaurants, I definitely embraced butter. And, if you’re just going to have a dessert once in a while, why go light?

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