Vanilla Cake with Bumbleberry Sauce
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup salted butter, melted
- ¾ cup whole milk
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
For the Bumbleberry Sauce:
- 2-½ cups mixed berries
- ¼ cup water
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 rounded tsp. corn starch, dissolved in a little water
For Serving:
- Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, optional
Instructions
To prepare the cake:
- Grease and flour a 9-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper, if desired.
- Pre-heat oven to 350°F.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder first, then add all of the other cake ingredients.
- Using an electric mixer, beat together quickly; do not over-mix this batter; it is still a pretty thick batter and if it is mixed too much, the gluten in the flour will begin to develop and toughen the texture of your cake.
- Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan, place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Be careful not to overbake this cake; check it early, because it can appear quite pale on top and still be fully baked; it does not need to brown on top to be baked fully.
- Remove from the oven and cool, in the pan, before serving.
To prepare the bumbleberry sauce:
- In a small saucepan, bring the berries, water, sugar and vanilla to a slow boil for only a few minutes; you don't really want the berries to break down in the boiling time..
- In a glass or measuring cup, dissolve the cornstarch in a little water and pour into the boiling sauce, stirring constantly
- Boil for only a minute longer before removing from the heat and cooling to room temperature.
- Stir the sauce several times as it cools.
To serve the cake and sauce:
- Serve with the vanilla cake and whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.