Hot Yellow Cake with Crackle Icing and a Blueberry Pile
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
This recipe knocks it STRAIGHT out of the park in terms of ease, speed, and deliciousness. Take a hot cake out of the oven, dump hot frosting straight on, fill it with a pile of blueberries, and eat it out of the skillet. You can't beat it. I use the same saucepan for all three steps to simplify cleanup.
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Cake Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 1/8 cups cake flour
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1/4 cup sour cream
  • 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Icing Ingredients:
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup butter, cut into chunks
  • 1/3 cup evaporated milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
  • pinch of salt
Blueberry Pile Ingredients:
  • heaping 1 1/2 cups blueberries, divided
  • spritz of lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon water
  • vanilla bean ice cream for serving (optional)
Instructions
  1. To make the cake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a 10-inch oven-safe skillet sprayed with cooking spray. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring the butter and water to a boil. In the meantime, in a separate large bowl, whisk together the cake flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt before whisking in the egg, sour cream, almond extract, vanilla extract. Mix to combine. While mixing, slowly pour in the boiling butter and water mixture. Mix to combine completely. Your batter will be very runny. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees for 17-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in several places comes out with a few moist crumbs. While the cake bakes, prepare everything to start your frosting.
  2. Make the icing: When the cake is fresh out of the oven, bring the sugar, butter, evaporated milk, and salt to a boil over medium-high heat (I use the same saucepan as before). Reduce the heat and simmer, whisking constantly, for 10 minutes. The frosting will bubble like caramel most of the time and you'll notice it start to pull away from the sides of the pan as it nears the 10 minute mark. Remove the icing from the heat and whisk in the almond extract. Pour the icing over the hot cake and spread quickly, because it begins to set immediately.
  3. Make the blueberry pile: Heat 1/2 cup of blueberries, spritz of lemon juice, sugar, and water over medium heat (I use the same saucepan as before). Cook and stir until the berries burst and the sauce thickens, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in the remaining berries to coat and pour in the middle of your cake (I, ahem, hollow mine out a bit first). Serve hot with vanilla bean ice cream.
Recipe by Willow Bird Baking at http://willowbirdbaking.com/2015/05/04/hot-yellow-cake-with-crackle-icing-and-a-blueberry-pile/