It is the season of all things berry! We are a divided family when it comes to loving blueberries. The girls in this house absolutely love anything blueberry and the boys give blueberries two thumbs down. Which leads me to my favorite grown-up saying…”Girls rule. Boys drool.” I know, I bet you wish you were half this sophisticated.

Even though the boys were not berry fans, for my son’s eighth birthday party, I wanted to add one special addition to the birthday dessert table with some of our blueberries. Although the hate for blueberries was strong, just a peek inside this cake shows why anyone can eat it. The cake only has one cup of blueberries in the whole thing. This handful of berries makes a beautiful stripe down the middle and adds just the right balance of blueberries and cake instead of the overwhelming amount of berries that can be in other cakes and muffins.

The blueberries are suspended in the batter with the help of a little reserved cake mix and a quick toss to coat them. The cake mix has added flavor boosts from the addition of cinnamon, vanilla yogurt, and a little vanilla pudding mix. The resulting cake is moist and absolutely perfect.

As is tradition in our house, the whole family helps with the cooking for our parties and Emily was more than happy to be my helper in the kitchen. A bowl of blueberries kept her content while I did the parts of the recipe that she could not help with. I will admit, we were both quite pleased with the results and one of us had a very full tummy too.

What did the guests think? A total hit with blueberry lovers and haters alike.

Blueberry Muffin Cake (Courtesy of  “The Cake Mix Doctor“)

1 package plain yellow or white cake mix (we used a yellow cake mix)

1 package (3.4 ounces) vanilla instant pudding mix

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup canola oil

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 large eggs

1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained

2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar (for dusting on top)

Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 10-inch tube pan with shortening and then dust with flour. Set the pan aside. Measure out two tablespoons of the cake mix and reserve it. Place the remaining cake mix, pudding mix, yogurt, oil, water, cinnamon, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for one minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat for two minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Toss the blueberries with the reserved cake mix.

Pour two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan. Scatter the blueberries over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the blueberries so that it covers the fruit. Place the pan in the oven. Bake the cake until it is golden brown on top and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan (approximately 45-50 minutes).

Remove the pan and place it on a wire rack to cool for twenty minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a rack, then onto another rack so that the cake is right side up. Allow it to cool completely, 30 minutes or more. Place the cake on a serving platter and dust with confectioners sugar.

This week we celebrated my son’s eighth birthday with two delicious little celebrations that I can’t wait to share with you. We decided to do a friend party and a family party this year and I let Ethan pick who he wanted to invite and what activity he wanted to do for his big day.  His idea of the perfect party involved two friends, one Wii, and lots of my homemade cupcakes. I have to say it was the cheapest party ever thanks to having everything on hand to make his celebration special right in my pantry and fridge.

If you haven’t tried this recipe for Snickerdoodle Cupcakes, you must try them because they are the most delicious cupcakes ever.  The cupcakes are made from a cake mix (you can use white or yellow cake mix) with the addition of a few pantry ingredients that takes the cake to another level. What sets this cupcake right over the top though is the homemade cinnamon buttercream frosting that made every single child at the table declare it, “the best cupcake EVER!” Oh yes, it is really is that grand!

I piped the frosting on the cupcakes with a Wilton 2D tip and just went around and around in a swirly motion, leaving the cinnamon cake edges peeking out of the side. I am not a fancy cake decorator, in fact, I will do anything to get out of decorating cakes right now. Fortunately, these cupcakes are still impressive without all of the fancy cupcake bells and whistles.

In a moment of spontaneity, I set aside a cupcake for his breakfast in the morning as a special surprise. He enjoyed his cupcake before the rest of the family had risen and we had a private little celebration for just the two of us. The efforts for this tiny gesture, I hope, will be one we will always remember. I also think we have created a brand new tradition that I can’t wait to repeat again for future birthdays.

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes/Cake (adapted from, “The Cake Mix Doctor Cookbook“)

1 package plain white cake mix or yellow cake mix
1 cup whole milk (I used skim milk and it still tasted delicious)
1 stick of butter, melted
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Frosting:
1 stick butter
3 3/4 cup confectioners sugar
3-4 Tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and flour & grease 2 9″ pans (for cakes) or line your cupcake tin. Place cake mix, milk, melted butter, eggs, vanilla, and cinnamon in a large mixing bowl. Blend for three minutes (stop to scrape once). Pour into pans and bake for 27-29 minutes (for cake) or 22-25 minutes (for cupcakes). Allow the cakes to cool completely.

Beat butter until fluffy for frosting. Add all other ingredients.

This recipe yields eighteen cupcakes…or approximately one serving.