Blueberry-Lemon Upside-Down Cake

February cold this week. The greens kept simmering for hours. Three days of counseling at the middle school in East Point. The work was the work.

Daddy in his apartment in the back. I brought him his coffee and his medication this morning. He grumbled. The grumble was the love. Marcus, 20, studying for finals at Alabama.

Cornbread in the cast iron. No sugar — Mama would haunt me. Crisp edge. Soft middle.

Jasmine, 18, home from Howard for the weekend. Isaiah, 17, shot baskets in the driveway after school.

Derek brought me coffee Sunday morning before service. That man.

I drove to the Walmart on Camp Creek Saturday morning. The kind of grocery run that takes two hours because you run into three people you know. Sister Patrice caught me in the produce. We talked about her grandbaby for fifteen minutes.

Pastor preached about the prodigal son again. He preaches about that boy at least three times a year. The text is the text but every preaching is different. I cried in the second service this time. Don't ask me why.

Sunday service at New Birth this morning. The choir sang. I sang soprano in the second alto row. Pastor preached about Naomi and Ruth. The congregation said amen. I said amen.

I read for an hour Sunday night before bed. Some novel about a Black woman in 1960s Alabama. Mama would have liked it.

I went to the cemetery Saturday morning. Brenda's grave is on the hill at South-View. Curtis still goes most Sundays. I left a small bouquet of magnolias.

Miss Ernestine called Tuesday. She's ninety-something and sharp as ever. She told me my potato salad still needs more mustard.

Wednesday Bible study at the church. We read through Proverbs. The women in my row argued about whether wisdom is built or born. I said both. They agreed, sort of.

Tuesday evening I sat at the kitchen table with my composition notebook and worked on the cookbook. From Brenda's Kitchen — that's the working title. I cannot write the introduction without crying yet.

Saturday morning I had Set the Table at the Cascade Heights center. Twelve young women. We did baked chicken. One of them — Imani, sixteen — was so afraid of seasoning that she barely shook the salt. I stood next to her and put my hand over hers and said, baby, you cannot be afraid of food. We seasoned the chicken. The chicken came out right. She glowed.

Darnell sent a photo from Clarksville. The garden is producing. He grew tomatoes the size of softballs. I sent him back a photo of my sweet potato casserole. We are competitive about food now in our middle age.

Andre called from LA. He told the Kevin Hart story again. Twenty-some years and that boy is still telling that story. Everyone in this family is going to hear about Kevin Hart at our funerals.

I had a hard counseling case at school this week. A seventh-grade girl whose mama lost her job. We talked. I gave her my number. I told her she could call.

Derek and I had date night Friday. Same restaurant, same booth, same enchiladas for me and carne asada for him.

Thursday I made cornbread for a sister at church whose husband had surgery. I dropped it off at the hospital. She cried at the door. I told her, eat the cornbread, baby. The food is the saying.

The neighbors had a Friday cookout this week. I brought my mac and cheese. They have come to expect this. I have come to expect this. The block is the block.

I dropped cornbread off at the hospital Thursday and told Sister Cheryl to eat it because the food is the saying — and I meant every word of that. But when I sat down at the kitchen table later that night to work on Mama’s cookbook, I kept thinking about something lighter, something that looked like how I wanted the week to feel. This Blueberry-Lemon Upside-Down Cake is that. You flip it over and it’s suddenly beautiful in a way you almost didn’t expect, which feels about right for a week that had grief and laughter sitting at the same table. It’s the kind of cake you bring to somebody — or you make just because the kitchen is yours and the making is enough.

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 9

Ingredients

For the blueberry topping:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 teaspoon lemon zest
For the cake batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Heat the oven. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch round cake pan or an 8x8-inch baking pan.
Build the topping. Pour the 3 tablespoons of melted butter into the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the brown sugar evenly over the butter. Scatter the blueberries in a single layer across the bottom and finish with the 1 teaspoon of lemon zest. Set aside.
Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together with a hand mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Add lemon and vanilla. Mix in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla extract until just combined.
Finish the batter. Add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture in two additions, alternating with the milk. Begin and end with the flour mixture. Stir until just combined — do not overmix.
Assemble and bake. Gently spoon and spread the batter over the blueberry topping in an even layer. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden.
Cool and invert. Let the cake cool in the pan for exactly 10 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges, place a serving plate face-down on top of the pan, and flip in one confident motion. Let the pan sit a moment before lifting it away. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry-Lemon Upside-Down Cake — The Food Is the Saying