Saturday, July 5, 2014

BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE CAKE

N. C. told me I'm getting better with age.  At least he didn't say "old age". That was his response after eating a slice of the Blueberry Cream Cheese Cake that I took to Hillcrest Thrift Shop this morning for the volunteers.

Maybe part of my success today, is because this was the second time in two days that I have made this cake. It was a success when I took it Thursday night to a "4th of July celebration", but between you and me, it didn't look great. I was determined to try again though and made it again yesterday knowing I would need something to take this morning when I went to work the first shift at the thrift shop.

The reason for my difficulties was the brief directions for making the cake. The recipe came from the cookbook called Cooking Made Plumb Easy, a collection of favorite recipes by the employees of Jay R. Smith Manufacturing Company in Montgomery, AL. (c 1980). The recipe was contributed by Melinda and Mike Banks from Finishing. They just said to "add all other ingredients....Pour into bundt pan." 

The first time I made it, I wanted the blueberries in the pie filling to stay whole, so I stirred (folded) the mixture with a spatula instead of using the mixer. The problem with this was I didn't stir it enough and so the result was a motley looking cake. 

The second time, I read the directions on the box of cake mix, and they wanted you to beat the cake mix for 4 minutes on medium speed. I decided I needed to not worry about the blueberries being whole and use the mixer. I only beat mine 2 minutes, but next time, I will try 4. (The two minutes worked as far as making a nice even blended cake though.)

I also added the words Cream Cheese to the title. That better describes the end result. It is almost like a cheesecake, but without all the trouble.

The third time I make this, I am going to try using a sugar-free yellow cake mix, 1/3 less fat cream cheese, and sugar-free vanilla instant pudding to reduce the calories. 

Don't forget if you use a cake mix that has the pudding included, omit the pudding called for in the recipe.

Remember if you want to print the recipe using the print friendly button at the bottom of the post, it will allow you to remove the images.




BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE CAKE

1        pkg butter cake mix
8        oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2     cup oil
3        eggs
1        pkg vanilla instant pudding (4 - serving size)
1        can blueberry pie filling, measure out 3 tablespoons to use for topping glaze
1        cup powdered sugar for glaze

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a tube pan.


Mix cream cheese and oil until generally combined.


Add the rest of the ingredients and stir on low until combined.


Oops, I forgot the pie filling.


Then beat on medium speed for 2 - 4 minutes til evenly mixed, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed.


Pour into a tube pan spreading out evenly.


Bake for 60 -70 minutes. Check with a toothpick.

Cool 10 minutes on wire rack.


While it is cooling, combine the reserved pie filling with powered sugar, sifted. 
Stir til mixed well.


Remove cake to cake platter and
spoon glaze mixture over the top.
The cake will "fall" as it cools. This is to be expected with all that cream cheese in it. When you slice it, it looks more like cheese cake.



Continue cooling and store covered in refrigerator

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