Sylva’s Blueberry Birthday Cake

Sylva’s birthday cake is easy and quick to make, especially if you don’t separate the eggs. Ask a grown-up to help, and start by washing your hands.

Stoke a fairy oven with plenty of wood to make a glowing fire. If you don’t have a fairy oven, use a regular oven. It should work almost as well. Preheat it to 350 degrees.

Mix together:

1½ cups flour (sifted, if you enjoy sifting)

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, cream together:

1 cup sugar

½ cup butter (Clara likes to use the unsalted kind)

2 eggs (not separated! but no shells)

1 teaspoon vanilla

Add the dry mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with:

½ cup whole milk

(“Alternately” means that you mix a scoopful of the flour mixture into the creamed mixture. Then you mix in a good splash of milk, then another scoopful of flour mixture, then milk, and so on, till it all turns into a creamy cake batter.)

Next, gently fold in:

1½ cups fresh blueberries, which you have sprinkled with

1 tablespoon flour

Don’t mix the batter too hard, or you’ll bruise the poor berries!

Pour the batter into a buttered pan that measures 9 inches by 9 inches. If you don’t have a square pan, a round pan does nicely, too.

If you want to get very fancy with your cake, you can add a topping before you bake it.

Here’s how to make the topping.

Mix together:

½ cup light brown sugar

¼ cup flour

3 tablespoons butter (unsalted again, says Clara)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

When the mixture is crumbly, toss it over the cake batter. Make sure it gets into the corners, too. Then bake the cake in a fairy oven until it’s done.

If you don’t have a fairy oven, bake the cake 25–30 minutes (using regular minutes, not fairy minutes), and it should turn out perfectly.