Mrs. Chase's Prudence Island Blueberry Cake

Dearest Michael,

There is something about a recipe that is handed down through generations. The blur of the typeface from years of butter on my fingers and hence the recipe, the yellowing of the card, and the smear of chocolate all add to the magic of the recipe.

This recipe has been a staple in our morning routine year-round.

You were always game for breakfast at our go-to morning hole in the wall, HOPE DINER. Nowadays, you have branched out into onion or everything bagels, fried egg sandwiches on Brioche rolls, and this Whitehouse favorite, Mrs. Chase’s Blueberry Cake, passed down from one of my dearest friends, Marcia.

In this fast-paced world of drive-thru muffin shops, four-dollar donuts coated with fruit loops, buying a store-bought mix these days now seems retro. Baking “from scratch” is so easy and quick if you have the ingredients on hand.

Besides the fresh blueberries in this recipe, I always have the ingredients. And I have used Frozen blueberries in the winter, too which work enough to hold me over until the next Blueberry season.

Flour, sugar, butter, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla- the staples of a baking pantry.

I learned this from my mother, and she learned it from her mother, your great-grandmother. Lucky for this lesson, you, my dear Michael, are the luckier one.

There is something inherently old-fashioned about waking up in the morning and pulling out a perfectly sized glass pan to cook just the perfect recipe. One I use frequently is the Corning Ware famous cornflower motif that belonged to your Great Great Grandmother Mimi.

There is something comforting about creaming the dish with fresh butter and setting the stove to 375, getting the recipe ready while you are sleeping.

Here is the Costa Nova pan I love from Portugal that will surely become a regular date with this recipe.

I also fell in love with this beautiful Portmeirion dish (I am guessing you are seeing a trend with my color choices)

As I sift the dry ingredients and look fondly at the recipe, I am connecting with generations of women who have baked this very recipe for their families.

There are some recipes that I just don’t want to rewrite, so I am including them just as I received this one from Marcia at a birthday party I had for myself when we first moved into our condo in March of 2011 when I turned 46. Dad and I had just split up, and this was a hard time for you. I am hoping that the continuity and the efforts Dad and I made to keep you in our foremost focus during this difficult time made this painful transition at least a bit softer.

My dear friend, Ros, has since passed away, but his famous blueberry bushes live on forever in their proud place in this glorious recipe.

I love you. Love, Mom

MRS. CHASE’S PRUDENCE ISLAND BLUEBERRY CAKE (as written by Marcia to me)
My husband, Ros, had 60 blueberry bushes on our property on Prudence Island, and we looked forward to July when the early bushes produced fruit. One of the first things I cooked with the berries was Mrs. Chase’s blueberry cake. This recipe originated with Mrs. Eugene Chase, a year-round resident of Prudence Island from the 19th century well into the 20th. This recipe was first in print in the early 1940s. Blueberries, blackberries, wild strawberries, and elderberries are native to the island.
We enjoyed this blueberry cake all summer with a hot cup of coffee in the morning or a glass of red wine after dinner as a summer dessert.