Chocoholics are fierce. I know several who would give up a limb for just one tiny bite, I promise.  This time of year, spring fever provokes a wandering eye over to the vanilla camp where sweet is not so showy. There find a cake so simple it’s ridiculous.
Unadorned, maybe this leans a bit boring. The testers in this house didn’t think so-they went at the cake before I could even try any embellishment, like one to use up some  frozen wild blueberries lurking around in the freezer. Heart of the smoothie, these berries cooked up in a sauce are all about kicking winter’s rear right on out the door.

Full confession: I’m a vanilla freak and this cake has a double shot. It also has a delicious outer coating that may fool you for a moment. You may think it is over-baked. Nope. Inside is a moist and delicious crumb. My girls immediately pronounced it “GREEK CAKE” as it reminds them of many delicious treats made by their Yiayia.

The only pronouncement I made was: AWESOME.

Double Vanilla Cake with Warm Blueberry Sauce

adapted from Posie Hardwood

What you need:

For the cake:

• 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting the pan
• 3 eggs, warmed slightly
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour

For the blueberry sauce:

• 2½ cups frozen wild blueberries
• ¼ cup water plus another ¼ cup for cornstarch mix
• ½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• ¾ cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• ⅛ teaspoon cinnamon

What you do:

For cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease an 8-inch round cake pan and dust it with granulated sugar. Set aside.
2. If your eggs are cold, place them in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes.
3. Beat the eggs with the sugar in mixer for 5 minutes until pale and almost doubled in size.
4. Add the vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract and salt. Mix gently.
5. Sift the flour over the egg mixture. Using a spatula, gently fold the flour into the batter.
6. Add the melted butter to the batter and fold gently but thoroughly using a spatula.
7. Pour the batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes. The cake should be nice and golden on the top.
8. Run a knife around the edges of the pan and let the cake cool for 5 minutes before turning onto wire rack to cool completely.
9. Serve with warm blueberry sauce.

For blueberry sauce:

In a small bowl combine cornstarch with 1/4 cup very cold water. Set aside. In a medium pot bring berries, water, OJ, and sugar to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir gently for 4 minutes until sauce thickens.

Remove from heat and stir in the almond extract and cinnamon.

Serve warm over this double vanilla cake.  Or a fancy-pants pancake brunch. Or another vanilla favourite: vanilla bean ice cream.

From spring last year: Apricot-Blueberry Crumble

From spring two years ago: Maple glazed apple cake