The following post was written by my mom, WWW. Thanks, Mom!
The Pond Island kitchen is immense and beautiful and flooded with light from the
windows on three sides.
Blueberries—as well as raspberries, blackberries,
cranberries and various other berries—grow wild all over the island, so it is
apropos that blueberry pickers and two framed recipes for Pond Island Blueberry
Cake decorate the walls.
Had I known about the recipe, I would have brought the ingredients with us to the island so I could make it there. But I took a photo of the recipe so I could bring a little bit of Maine home with us. And next time we go—because there has to be a next time—I’ll be sure to pack the gluten-free flour and butter!
Last week, I surprised my mother and uncle (John) by baking Pond Island Blueberry cake when they came over for lunch. Neither of them had eaten it since 1939, when they
had last been together on the island.
My mother said it tasted just as she
remembered it, even though I used gluten-free flour. I modified the recipe a
little—added lemon zest and vanilla.
Here is my version of Pond Island Blueberry
Cake!
Pond Island Blueberry Cake
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
(Zest of one lemon)
(1 tsp vanilla)
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 cups blueberries
1. Cream butter and sugar.
2. Add zest, egg, milk and vanilla and beat.
3. To the
blueberries, add ½ cup of the flour and mix to coat.
4. Add baking powder to the rest
of the flour and beat flour into butter mixture.
5. Fold in blueberries. Spread in a
buttered 9x13” pan (batter will be very stiff…use a knife to spread).
Bake at 350 for
25-30 minutes.
I had been to Pond Island one other time when I was about 9. I remember parts of
it…arriving on the island by boat, sailing over to an adjacent island for a clambake
on the beach, combing the shore for driftwood. But for some reason, the magic of
the island didn’t infuse me. I don’t know why this time was different. Maybe it was
because on my previous visit, we didn’t stay in the Big House. It was in disrepair at
the time and we weren’t even allowed to enter it. Instead, we lodged with cousins in
their family homestead. (There are several of these more modern summer cottages
dotted around the island.) So when I arrived at the Big House and entered it for the first time, I could instantly feel the six generations of family stories papered on the walls.
Additionally, arriving there with four generations of my own family, to tack
on a few more memories, made the magic come to life in an almost surreal fashion.
Had I known about the recipe, I would have brought the ingredients with us to the island so I could make it there. But I took a photo of the recipe so I could bring a little bit of Maine home with us. And next time we go—because there has to be a next time—I’ll be sure to pack the gluten-free flour and butter!
Pond Island Blueberry Cake
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
(Zest of one lemon)
(1 tsp vanilla)
½ cup milk
2 ½ cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 cups blueberries
1. Cream butter and sugar.
Enjoy!
Love,
WWW
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