Week 6: Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake

As much as I'd love to say we survived another week of everyone happy and healthy like last week's blog, our household got slammed with the infamous Norovirus starting Tuesday.  I got the call that Sean needed to be picked up after having vomited twice at daycare.  It was only 10:00am at that point. 

And so it all began.

Tuesday was Sean.  Wednesday was Evan.  Thursday was Sean again.  Friday was Evan again.  Somehow Scott and I remained untouched by this nasty bug.  Thank God for Bubble Guppies, lots of movies, and Pedialyte. 

On a positive note, Friday was another snow day!!  The kids were well enough, despite getting over the virus, to bundle up and head outside to enjoy the fresh snow for a half hour.  Neither one had a fever, so we were getting out the house.  It was a beautiful day.  Sunny and mild, all considering we just got 4 inches of snow.  Evan finally got some use out of his snow suit daycare claimed he needed.  Life was good.

Later in the day, I made a huge pot of my favorite Chili, a recipe from Pinterest of course.  We spent the afternoon watching The Lion King and just trying to keep everyone content.

Saturday, Scott coached in the morning and early afternoon.  When he got home, my parents came over with a carry-out from PF Changs since everyone seemed to be on the mend.  No vomiting, back to eating like normal, and even up for a Valentine's photo shoot take 2.

Scott and my dad got right to business brewing some of Scott's homemade beer that he got as a kit from Christmas.  It was some kind of Chocolate flavored beer so the house smelled absolutely wonderful as it was on the stove for a few hours.  Can you imagine my dad and Scott hovering over a stove for several hours?  Nope?  Me neither.  Well, here's some proof.

My parents helped put the boys to bed and offered to stick around for a few hours so we could go out and grab a couple of drinks with some friends who came out to our area at Hermann's in Old Downtown.  Love these opportunities to escape for a bit, while still getting to wake up to my babies in the morning!

So, I woke up ready for an exciting day packed with Elmo Live and equipped with a great recipe for a Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast Cake.  Yum!

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon
7/8 cup* + 1 tablespoon sugar**
1 egg, room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk***
* 7/8 cup = 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
** This 1 tablespoon is for sprinkling on top

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter with lemon zest and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.

3. Add the flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Fold in the blueberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.

It was perfect!  For once, a breakfast recipe that didn't have to take longer than what the recipe called for.  All my french toast recipes and egg bakes always seem to take longer than the times posted because it's too runny.  This one was just like a cake.  Moist, but still together.  Yum!  Too bad I was the only one to enjoy this cake since Scott came down with the dreaded stomach bug Sunday in the wee hours of the morning...