Blueberry Pudding Cake

I turned thirty. March 15th, 2022. Thirty years old. The sunflower birthday. The birthday I've been waiting for since I was twenty-seven and decided that thirty was the age when the tattoo would arrive and the tattoo would mean: I grew. I survived. I kept growing toward the light.

Saturday, March 12th: the tattoo. A shop on Broadway. An artist named Reese who listened to me explain the sunflower and why and what it means and she said: "That's a good reason for a tattoo." It's a good reason. It's the reason. The needle hit my left wrist and the sting was real and the sunflower bloomed under Reese's hand — yellow petals, brown center, green stem, small enough to be subtle and permanent enough to be forever. I watched it appear. I watched the thing I've been waiting for become real on my skin. The sunflower. The light-seeker. The dirt-defier. The Mitchell flower. Mine now. On me. Forever.

Mama saw it Sunday. She was furious. "SARAH ANNE MITCHELL. A TATTOO. ON YOUR WRIST. What would Earline say?" I said: "Earline would say it's pretty." Mama looked at it. She held my wrist and looked at the sunflower — the yellow, the brown, the green, the petals that grow toward the light — and she said: "It IS pretty." And then she cried. Because the sunflower is about growing and Mama knows that I've been growing since Danny left when I was nine and the growing has been hard and the growing has been the whole story and the sunflower is the proof that the story is still being written. Mama saw the sunflower and she saw thirty years of her daughter growing and she cried. And then she said: "Don't get another one." (I will. The three birds come at thirty-five. But she doesn't need to know that yet.)

The birthday dinner: Earline's full spread. Fried pork chops, mashed potatoes, collard greens, cornbread. Same as every year. The tradition is the spine. Mama made the cake: "30 — AND LOOK AT YOU." AND LOOK AT YOU. The icing inscription. The Lorraine Mitchell birthday message. 27 — AND JUST GETTING STARTED. 29 — ALMOST THERE. 30 — AND LOOK AT YOU. The progression. The arc. The three cakes that tell the story of a woman in her twenties becoming a woman in her thirties. Look at you. I'm looking. I see: a mother of three. A dental hygienist. A catering business owner. A woman with a sunflower on her wrist and a recipe box on her counter and a daughter who reads Bourdain and a son who visited a fire station and a baby who says Nana and a cat named Blaze and a table that's getting bigger. Look at me. I'm looking. I see everything.

Terrence called to say happy birthday. He said: "Thirty. The sunflower year." He remembered. He remembered the sunflower. He remembered the plan. From Atlanta, from 250 miles away, he remembered the woman who told him about growing toward the light and he remembered the birthday when the light became a tattoo. "Did it hurt?" he asked. I said: "Everything that matters hurts a little."

Mama’s cake had the inscription and the tradition and the thirty candles, and I’m not going to pretend I have her handwriting or her way with icing — but after a birthday spread like that, I wanted something I could bring to the next table, the next celebration, the next person who needed a dessert that tasted like someone meant it. This blueberry pudding cake is exactly that: warm, simple, made from things you already have, and sweet enough to feel like a message. You can write your own on top. I’d suggest: Look at you.

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 9

Ingredients

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup whole milk
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 cup boiling water
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, for serving (optional)

Instructions

Preheat and prep. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8x8-inch baking dish and set aside.
Season the blueberries. Spread the blueberries evenly in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle with the cinnamon and lemon juice, and toss gently to coat.
Make the batter. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the milk and melted butter until a smooth, thick batter forms. Spread the batter evenly over the blueberry layer — it will be thick, and that’s exactly right.
Prepare the sugar topping. In a small bowl, stir together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and the cornstarch. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter.
Add the boiling water. Slowly and carefully pour the boiling water over the entire surface of the batter. Do not stir. The water will settle through and create the pudding layer as it bakes.
Bake. Bake uncovered for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and set, and the blueberry pudding is bubbling up around the edges.
Rest and serve. Let the cake rest for 10 minutes before serving. Spoon into bowls warm, making sure each portion gets both the cake layer on top and the blueberry pudding beneath. Serve with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Blueberry Pudding Cake — The Cake That Says “Look at You”