OMGeeeeee! This Blueberry Orange shortbread cake was a party in my mouth. A pie, cake, and cookie all in one, oh my! The filling is a sweet blueberry orange jam and is dusted with confectioner's sugar.
It is best served as is or with a large scoop of ice cream. I am giving myself a pat on the back with this one and it is oh so pretty!
Bananas foster scones and mini red velvet cakes deserve some credit as well. Be sure to check them out as you are perusing my site!
Blueberry orange shortbread cake
This recipe was modified from Dorie Greenspan. She used a Cranberry Orange Jam and I concocted together my own filling. It truly has the texture of a cake but with the flakiness of a pie crust. A 10 out of 10!
I thought that the blueberry orange combination didn't sound appealing, however, to my surprise it was the bomb! (yes, I just used that word, I am old school). It was quite delicious right out of the oven, but my kids preferred it with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Traditionally this cake is served during Thanksgiving, but with my blueberry jam filling it could be served anytime of the year. Besides, all the frozen blueberries I had in my freezer could not go to waste. Other types of filling like chocolate or vanilla custard would also go well in between the shortbread stacks.
How to make the Blueberry Orange Shortbread cake?
For the Filling
There are two parts to this dessert, but overall it was not difficult.
First, grate the orange zest into the bottom of your saucepan. Slice off the peel, remove the cottony white pith, and slice between the membranes to release the orange segments. Cut the orange segments into ¼ in pieces put into the saucepan. Do not discard orange membranes.
Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a measuring cup until you get ¼ cup. I did come up short, so I added water to make ¼ cup. Pour into saucepan.
Lastly, add in the blueberries, granulated sugar and cornstarch. Use a potato smasher to smash the blueberries and oranges. Make sure that there are no clumps of cornstarch. It is okay to have chunks of blueberries. Bring this to a boil and continuously stir until the mixture thickens. Simmer for 5-10 minutes and set aside to cool.
For the cake
First, whisk together flour and baking soda in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
With an electric hand mixer, beat together the butter on medium until smooth and creamy (you can also use a stand mixer with paddle attachment). Add in the granulated sugar and mix until it dissolves into the butter. Reduce the mixing speed to low and add the egg and yolk, beating until absorbed. Put in vanilla extract and mix well. Lastly, fold the flour mixture in by hand until incorporated. At this point, the dough will be thick and malleable.
Turn out your dough onto a smooth surface. Gather it into a ball and then divide it in half and pat each half into a disk. Wrap each half in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Baking the cake
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a Nordic Ware 9 in springform pan with crisco and set aside.
To create the bottom layer of the cake, put one half of the dough into the pan and press it lightly and evenly across the bottom with your fingertips. Spread the blueberry orange filling on top.
Unwrap the second half of the dough, but leave it sitting on the plastic. Roll out the dough until it is the same diameter as the pan. Carefully lift it and invert it onto the filling; peel away the plastic and use your fingers to even out this dough layer as necessary to cover the filling. Brush the top of the cake with water and sprinkle with remaining granulated sugar.
Bake until golden brown on top and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. It took about 40 minutes. Let it cool for 20 minutes. Release the spring on the pan and let cool to room temperature.
Topping
To finish, dust with confectioner's sugar. To get creative you could stencil designs on top with the confectioner's sugar. Serve and Enjoy!
Cake recipes
- Angel food cake with strawberries
- Butterfinger cake
- Strawberry powdered donut cake
- Chocolate cuddle cake
Blueberry Orange Shortbread cake
Equipment
- Electric hand mixer with beaters
- Home Decor
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Nordic ware 9 in spring form pan
- spatula
- Rolling pin
Ingredients
Blueberry Orange Filling
- 1 large navel orange
- 1 12 oz frozen blueberries
- 1½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
- 4 tablespoon cornstarch
For the cake
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ cup unsalted butter, plus 5 tbsp softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar, plus 2 tsp
- 1 large egg, room tempertature
- 1 egg yolk, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon salt
- confectioner's sugar for dusting
Instructions
Blueberry Orange Jam filling
- Grate a zest of an orange into a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan. Slice off the peel, remove the cottony-white pith, and slice between the membranes to release the orange segments (save the membranes). Cut the segments into ¼ in pieces and toss into sauce pan.
- Squeeze the juice from the membranes into a measuring cup until you get a ¼ cup (if you come up short, add water to make a ¼ cup). Add this to the saucepan.
- Add the blueberries, stir in 1½ cups of sugar, and 4 tablespoon of cornstarch. Bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 5-10 minutes. Take off heat and set aside.
Cake recipe
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder. Set aside.
- With elecric hand mixer, beat the butter together until smooth and creamy. Add one cup of sugar and continue to beat until it dissolves into the butter.
- Reduce mixing speed to low and add the egg and yolk and beating until it is just absorbed. Beat in the vanilla extract. Add in the flour mixture and fold by hand until it is incorporated. The dough will be thick and malleable.
- Turn the dough onto a smooth surface and gather it into a ball. Then divide it into halves and pat each into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly butter a 9in springform pan. To create the bottom portion of the cake, put one piece of dough into the pan and press it lightly and evenly across the bottom with your fingertips.
- Spread in the blueberry orange filling.
- Unwrap the second piece of dough, but leave it sitting on the plastic. Press or roll out the dough until it is the same diameter as the pan. Carefully lift it and invert onto the filling; peel away the plastic and use your fingers to even out this dough layer as necessary to cover the filling. Brush the top of the cake with water and sprinkle with the remaining granulated sugar.
- Bake until the top is lightly golden and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. It should take about 35-40 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for about 20 minutes. Open spring on pan and release cake. Let cool to room temperature.
- To finish, dust with confectioner's sugar. May be served as is or with ice cream. Tightly wrapped, the cake will be good for up to 4 days at room temperature or for 2 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Fun Fact of the Day!
A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans. And that is all I have to say about that!
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