Blueberry Pound Cake

Jesse turned 33 in July, out in the backyard with just immediate family under the big oak that gives that corner its shade. Hannah put up a string of lights she'd bought for some other occasion and never used, and by the time it got dark the backyard looked like something deliberate and festive rather than improvised, which is the best kind of thing.

She made the peach cake again—the one with the August peaches, which are actually still July peaches when you get the early variety from the stand near Pryor. I've had some version of that cake for most of my adult birthdays and I hope I always do. There's something in a tradition you can count on that's worth more than its ingredients.

Caleb was there, outdoors, masked until we were all seated and spaced out enough to feel reasonable about it. He'd picked up a side job through the pandemic doing some carpentry and handyman work for people who needed things fixed while they were home all day noticing what needed fixing. The work had been good for him. Having somewhere to go, something to do with his hands, a deliverable at the end of the day. He looked better than he had in April.

Kai made me a birthday card that said "you are my favorite cook" in his careful seven-year-old handwriting, illustrated with what appeared to be a fish and possibly a volcano. He explained it was the backstrap I'd cooked from the deer I got last November. I said it was the best birthday card I'd ever received, which was true.

Thirty-three. The world was strange and getting stranger, and I was here, cooking, watching the garden, watching my family hold on. That's the whole of it.

Hannah’s peach cake has always been the thing I look forward to most in July, and if you’ve got a fruit cake tradition you count on, you know exactly why. This blueberry pound cake carries that same spirit — a dense, tender crumb loaded with summer fruit, the kind of thing that looks like something when you put it on the table even if you threw it together in under an hour. It’s the recipe I’d reach for any time a birthday calls for something homemade and unhurried, especially under string lights in a backyard that turned out better than planned.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min | Total Time: 1 hr 25 min | Servings: 12

Ingredients

3 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup whole milk
Powdered sugar for dusting (optional)

Instructions

Prep oven and pan. Preheat oven to 325°F. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt or tube pan thoroughly, getting into all the grooves.
Coat the blueberries. Toss blueberries with 2 tablespoons of the measured flour in a small bowl and set aside. This prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat softened butter and sugar together on medium-high speed for 4–5 minutes until pale and fluffy. Don’t rush this step — it’s where the texture comes from.
Add eggs and extracts. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond extracts.
Combine dry ingredients. Whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt in a separate bowl.
Alternate wet and dry. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream and milk combined. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Mix just until incorporated — do not overmix.
Fold in blueberries. Gently fold the flour-coated blueberries into the batter with a rubber spatula.
Bake. Pour batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 65–75 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Tent loosely with foil after 50 minutes if the top is browning too quickly.
Cool and serve. Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Cool completely before dusting with powdered sugar and slicing.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Pound Cake — The Birthday Cake You Make Every Year