Blueberry. Buckwheat. Buttermilk. Maple syrup. I don’t read minds but I bet you’re thinking about pancakes. I love weekend pancake breakfasts as much as everyone else but it is not practical on weekdays. I am gingerly stepping back inside my kitchen and want easy recipes that do not test my culinary limits. Luckily, I came across Orangette’s pancake-inspired recipe yesterday and it was just what I needed to fire up the oven once more.
At its heart, this Blueberry Maple Buckwheat Bundt is a quick bread. From the ingredients to the mixing method, it is no different than mixing up a batch of pancake batter. Instead of frying up each pancake individually, you pour every drop into a Bundt cake pan and let the oven take care of the rest. There is much to love about that. As the designated pancake maker of my family, I can’t say I am a huge fan of all that waiting and flipping. On an empty stomach, no less.
Another plus of this handsome cake is the satisfaction of eating cake for breakfast. It feels just a little indulgent, a little reckless. I can use a little bit of both in my life right now.
The usual caveat of making quick bread is rubbery texture from over mixing. The ingenuity of Orangette’s recipe is using 50% buckwheat flour. Buckwheat flour is naturally gluten free with faintly nutty flavour. Personally I love the hint of purple that it imparts to the crumb which echoes the little bursts of blueberries. The inclusion of gluten free buckwheat flour makes the batter less prone to gluten development. Even beginner bakers do not need to fear over mixing.
The thin batter doesn’t suspend the blueberries terribly well. Most of the berries sunk to the bottom of the pan which became the top once I unmoulded the cake. I don’t have an issue with it but it is something to consider if you want berries evenly distributed in the cake.
I was surprised by the relatively short baking time. Most Bundt cake recipes require at least an hour of baking. With the lesser amount of batter, this cake was done in 45 minutes for me. This is especially important when the temperature soars and leaving the oven on for long period of time seems uninviting.
The original recipe calls for honey, orange zest, and vanilla to flavour the cake. I opted to emphasize the breakfast pancake inspiration and took to maple syrup instead. I highly recommend that you do the same. The combination of blueberry and maple syrup is hard to beat.
Blueberry Maple Buckwheat Bundt Cake
serves 16
adapted from Orangette's Buckwheat Bundt Cake with Blueberries
Ingredients
- 500mL buttermilk, room temperature
- 65mL maple syrup, preferably amber grade
- 150g dark brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon maple extract, optional
- 130g buckwheat flour
- 130g all purpose flour
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 85g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1 cup of fresh blueberries, washed and dried
Method
- Preheat oven to 375F with a rack set in the middle. Grease and flour a 10-12 cup Bundt cake pan.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together buttermilk, maple syrup, brown sugar, eggs, and maple extract if using. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together both flours, baking powder, and salt. Pour buttermilk mixture into large bowl and gently fold with spatula until combined. Fold in melted butter. The batter may be lumpy.
- Pour half of the batter into prepared cake pan. Scatter half of the blueberries evenly. Top with remaining batter and blueberries.
- Baking for 35-45 minutes until cake just begin to pull away from side of pan and toothpick inserted into the cake comes out free of crumbs.
- Set pan on cooling rack for 15 minutes. Unmould decisively and let cake cool to room temperature before slicing. This cake keeps well and tastes even better after storing in an airtight container for a day.
