Blueberry Puffs

These individual blueberry puffs are baked upside down in custard cups, then flipped so the warm, jammy berries end up on top. It’s the same idea as a pineapple upside-down cake but smaller, more personal, and with a bright lemon-blueberry combination that’s hard to beat.

Lemon juice gets sprinkled over the berries before they go into the cups. That acid brightens the fruit and keeps the blueberries from tasting flat under the sweet cake layer. Fill each cup two-thirds full with berries. They’ll cook down and concentrate their juices.

The cake batter spreads over the top of the berries. It’s a simple shortening-based batter with lemon extract echoing the lemon juice below. Adding the flour and milk all at once and stirring just to combine keeps the batter light and tender. Don’t beat it smooth.

Thirty minutes at a moderately hot temperature puffs the cake up around the berries and sets the top. When you flip them out, the berry layer is glossy and saucy on top.

Kitchen Tips

• Grease the custard cups well. The berry juices caramelize during baking and can stick if the cups aren’t properly coated.
• Turn the puffs out immediately after removing from the oven. Waiting lets the sugar cool and cement the cake to the cup.
• Serve warm with heavy cream or vanilla ice cream. The contrast of hot fruit and cold cream is the whole experience.
• Fresh or frozen blueberries both work. If using frozen, partially thaw them so they release some juice during baking.

Variations

• Mixed berry: Use a combination of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries for a more complex fruit base.
• Peach puffs: Replace blueberries with diced fresh peaches and swap the lemon extract for almond extract.