Melt-in-your mouth Blueberry Cake

No fruit says "Maine" like wild blueberries, and though you can buy them in the freezer section of the local supermarket year-round now, when I was growing up, if you wanted blueberries in the winter, you had to go get them yourself in late summer.

When I was a boy, my mother would take us to visit her friend, Donna Rae, and we'd pick quarts of blueberries by hand from the fields behind her house. Sure, it would have been easier and faster to use a rake, but harvesting by hand allowed us to pick only the fattest, ripest berries. We learned to tug on those leaf-hidden clusters of fruit with loose fingers so that only those blueberries ready to drop would land in the palms of our hands. Berries that weren't quite ready stayed on the bushes for another day.

When we got home, we cleaned the bounty, and most of the fruit went into the freezer. Every bite of pancake in December, muffin in January, or pie in February brought back memories of bent knees, warm summer breezes, the rustling of blueberry leaves, and the sound of berries being dropped into plastic bowls. Not all of them went into the freezer. Some were destined for my mother's delicious blueberry cake.

At the time, it was the only blueberry cake I knew. But after years of trying other people's blueberry cakes, this recipe stands out as lighter and more moist than the rest, probably because the egg whites are beaten separately and folded in. Of course, I could be biased.

Note: If you use frozen blueberries, don't be alarmed when some of the purple color of the berries bleeds into the cake. It will taste just as delicious.

Melt-in-your-mouth blueberry cake

Here's the recipe.

2 eggs, separated

1/4 cup confectioners sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 tsp vanilla

1-1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups blueberries tossed in a bit of flour
(Optional additions: a tablespoon or two of finely minced crystallized ginger adds a delicious spicy note to the cake. Fold it in with the egg whites.)

Beat the egg whites with confectioners sugar in a small bowl till stiff.

Cream the granulated sugar, salt, and shortening in a large bowl. Beat in the yolks and vanilla.
Mix together the flour and baking powder, then add to creamed mix alternately with the milk.

Fold in the egg whites.

Fold in the blueberries.

Bake in a greased 8-by-8-by-2-inch pan in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes to an hour. A toothpick inserted into the cake should come out clean. Set the pan on a cooling rack and let the cake cool at least 10 minutes before cutting.