Bring in the New Year Bundt

I’m very happy to announce that Husband and I are finally home after our long holiday trip. As predicted, the mothers, kitchen queens that they are. fed us well, from coconut flan to steaks to my favorite split pea soup and enough sugary treats to last the year long. Arriving home last evening to a puddled dingy floor (more on that later), I waded through the swamp and smiled to see my dear friend, Mr. Oven, gazing up at me in dusty delight probably with weeks of anticipation of our return. The feeling was mutual. Oh, how I missed baking! That’s not to say that I’ve gotten rusty, as I did manage to bake my 1st macarons, chocolate chip biscotti, and my own variation of Paula Deen’s Southwest Georgia Pound Cake– with BLUEBERRIES, my favorite food on the planet and coincidentally unavailable in Costa Rican markets (aside from $$$ frozen versions).

Curious about the floor? Here goes: We asked brother-in-law to stop by the house from time to time while we were out, for safety’s sake. Unfortunately, in the rush of packing and planning, I’d forgotten to mention to him that I remove the washing machine’s drain hose from the drain when not in use. I plug the drain hole with plastic wrap to keep the sneaky sugar ants from parading into the apartment through the hole. It seems that brother-in-law had planned himself a relaxing night of movies and sushi, with a side of laundry, which happened to go awry when water gushed from the hose and flooded the kitchen, bathroom, laundry room and likely part of the living room. Poor B-i-L tried his best to clean up the waters, but knows me well enough to do his best but leave the rest, as I’d be mopping when I returned. Funny story, but so much for B-i-L’s cozy evening of R&R. * B-i-L, if you’re reading this, take comfort in knowing that I’ve done the exact same thing, waking Husband early during his precious weekend sleeping-in hours to mop the floor with me.

Blueberry Pound Cake Bundt

Adapted from Paula Deen’s Southwest GA Poundcake
6 large eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half
2T. sour cream
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 pint fresh blueberries

Generously grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan. Do not preheat the oven.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.Add sour cream. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Reserve about 2T. of dry ingredients. Alternately add flour mixture and heavy cream to butter-sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour. Stir in flavoring. Combine blueberries with remaining dry ingredients and then stir gently into batter. (This helps to keep blueberries well dispersed throughout the cake instead of sinking to bottom.)

Pour batter into prepared pan. Put into a cold oven and set the temperature to 325 degrees F. Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes without opening the oven door. Bake for an additional 15 minutes if necessary. Remove from the oven and cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto cake plate.