Happy birthday to the guy who can juggle limes, add up the tip in his head, ride a unicycle, fall asleep during any movie, pop up a tent in a storm, sink into the deepest food coma I’ve ever seen, save me from death by spiders, build a headboard and a birdhouse from scratch, and make me smile no matter the circumstances.
When we met at 18, I never imagined I’d be celebrating 25 with you but here we are and I couldn’t be happier about it.
A little over 6 years ago I met a guy named Chris who told me he didn’t think birthdays were “that special”. I set out to change his mind and have officially succeeded.
So much so that he actually requests cake on his birthday now. Not just any cake…lemon blueberry birthday cake. In a season where blueberries are no where to be found this was an interesting request.
I improvised with frozen berries to get the birthday boy what he wanted and we were not disappointed. I have a feeling this cake is going to be a tradition.
Today Chris and I had a little dilemma. At what point do you begin your “late twenties”? Being the engineer that he is, he decided if you round up then 25 is closest to 30 and therefore he is now in his “late twenties”.
I still don’t know what I think about this late twenties things but I do know that calories don’t count on any birthday.
So we skipped the perfectly portioned cake slices with this dessert. We all dug straight into it with forks…no hesitations.
I used a basic blueberry pie filling recipe for the center and really moist lemon cake from the box. I just didn’t trust myself to be able to bake a perfect cake from scratch.
The frosting tastes like the light and fluffy kind you would get at most grocery stores. SO good.
The sprinkled topping was a last minute decoration and it was the real icing on the cake…if you know what I mean.
Lemon Blueberry Birthday Cake
Happy Birthday Christopher!
Ingredients
1 box lemon cake mix (Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme is great!)
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
3-4 cups frozen blueberries, defrosted with juices reserved (or fresh)
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Whipped frosting (1/2 batch) from Buns in My Oven
Directions
Follow directions on the box to make 2 9-inch round cakes. Let cool.
In a medium pot, combine 1 cup of water with sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice, and whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil and add berries; the mixture will look gloppy. Smash some of the berries with a fork or the back of a spoon. Continuously whisk mixture over medium heat as you slowly add the reserved blueberry juice. Cook, whisking continuously until corn starch is no longer opaque, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract. Let sit until it reaches room temperature.
Place one cake on a cake stand or large plate. Spread blueberry filling on top leaving 1/4 inch gap from the edge of the cake. Place second cake on top. Frost with cake with the whipped frosting. Cut out the desired number (age) or lettering from paper and place on top of the cake. Cover cake with colorful sprinkles and then peel the paper off to reveal text. Light the candles and serve!
From the Little Yellow Kitchen,
Lauren
