On Saturday we stopped by Rockford’s grandmother’s house to pick some blueberries. His grandfather, Pop, had the greenest of green thumbs, and the blueberry bushes he planted when they moved into their “new” house some 12 years ago have been magnificently productive. Pete puts at least as many blueberries in his mouth as he does in his bucket; Poppy, not surprisingly, doesn’t eat a single berry from her harvest.

“I don’t like eating them,” she says. “I just like the festivity of picking them.”

Rockford and the kids picked probably 2 quarts of blueberries, and last night we turned some of them into a Blueberry Upside-Down Cake.

Blueberry Upside-Down Cake

adapted from “The Best Recipe“

Topping
4 tablespoons butter, plus more for cake pan
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 1/2 cups blueberries

Cake
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 tablespoons cornmeal
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
4 large eggs, separated
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2/3 cup milk

For the topping: Butter bottom and sides of 9×3-inch round cake pan. Melt 4 tablespoons butter in medium saucepan over medium heat; add brown sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture is foamy and pale, 3 to 4 minutes. Pour mixture into prepared cake pan; swirl pan to distribute evenly. Distribute blueberries evenly over topping; set aside.

For the cake: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk flour, baking powder, cornmeal and salt together in medium bowl; set aside. Cream butter and sugar in large bowl. Gradually add 1 cup sugar; continue beating until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in yolks and vanilla. Reduce heat to low and add dry mixture and milk, alternating in three or four batches, until batter is just smooth.

Beat egg whites in a large bowl at low speed until frothy. Increase speed to medium-high and beat to soft peaks. Add cream of tartar and continue to beat to stiff peaks. Fold a quarter of the beaten egg whites into the batter with a large rubber spatula. Fold in remaining whites until no white streaks remain. Gently pour batter into pan and spread over blueberries. Bake until top is golden and toothpick inserted into cake center comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes.

Rest cake on rack for 2 minutes. Slide a paring knife around the edge of the cake to loosen it from the pan. Place a serving platter over the pan and hold tightly, then invert the cake onto the platter. Carefully remove the cake pan.

A note about the order of things

I only have a stand mixer, and I only have one bowl for it. This means I have to be a little creative about the batter and the egg whites. I get everything I need for the batter lined up, then I beat the egg whites, put them in another bowl and wipe the bowl down so I can use it to mix up the rest of the batter.

I am considering getting a second bowl for the stand mixer.

Pop gave us a few sticks (or sproutlings or cuttings or whatever you call them) from his blueberry bushes after we bought the house, and I so want them to thrive. I do not have the greenest of green thumbs, though, not by a long shot. So for now we will continue enjoying the bounty of Mom & Pop’s blueberry bushes, and I will keep coddling the sproutlings for as long as they need to be coddled.