This unique cake combines the "warmth of gingerbread" with buttermilk and fresh blueberries

January gets its share of bad press. Between the weather and our resolutions, it is the month we feel we must get through, the month we must bear. Its days are short and either dreary and rainy, or gloomy and cold, or some other mix that you can count on to dampen your outside plans. Our beginning-of-the-year customs go hand in hand with its bleakness as we choose to make ourselves more cheerless by abstaining from things we enjoy, while pushing ourselves towards the more mundane and less exciting.

We force change upon ourselves “for our own good,” metamorphosing into harsh parents who are darn well going to reign things in after all the tomfoolery and freewheeling fun and extravagance that marked the last weeks of the previous year. Make a budget, go on a diet, get back to your work outs, clean out the pantry, organize your closet, save money, eat in and do better with your sleep hygiene. There shall be no more merriment, and in the words of Nat King Cole, it is time to straighten up and fly right.

Our third week of January threw quite the wrench in our new habits and schedules put in place since the beginning of the year. We had a blizzard: A blizzard on the Gulf Coast! A full-on snowstorm!

By the end of twenty-four hours, we had inches and inches of powdery, white snow — somewhere around 8”-10” all along the Coast from Texas to Florida. You could not tell what was a sand dune and what was a snow mound. It started around noon on Tuesday, January 21st, broke all existing records and sent this whole area into a state of childlike wonder, the likes of which you cannot imagine. People snow skiing down Bourbon Street in New Orleans, garbage can lids and plastic baby pools used as makeshift sleds, snowmen on the beach; it was something out of this world. January said, “Hey, how bout you take a break from all that newfound discipline and turn that frown upside down: no gym, no work, no school, no nothing that involves driving for three days. Go outside and play!”  

Monday evening, the night before Snowmageddon was due to hit, we had guests arriving. Three weeks prior, they had departed from their home on the Virginia coast, driven all the way to Oregon and seeing us was a stopover on their way back. Their trip had not gone as planned. They had to flee the west coast because of fires, then were met with ice in Texas. Trudging on as best they could, they felt confidant they could stay ahead of our "incoming arctic blast” with an early enough start Tuesday morning, which they did, save for some minor travel inconveniences made worse by the wintry road conditions.

I made a Blueberry Buttermilk Spice Cake that afternoon before they arrived with the idea that I would serve it as part of breakfast Tuesday morning, because it is one of those cakes that is better the second day, but the four of us managed to consume over half of it before going to bed that night.

It is a unique combination, blueberry buttermilk spice cake. I forget how different it sounds until I hear myself tell someone the name of it.

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It has the warmth of gingerbread and the blueberries impart freshness more than flavor. Because the batter is so thick, the berries remain scattered nicely throughout the cake — no worry of them sinking to the bottom. It is not overly sweet, which makes it a great anytime-of-day cake to accompany tea or coffee in the morning or afternoon, and as evidenced by the dessert sized slices we ate after dinner Monday evening, it works for then too. 

In the rush of our friends’ hasty departure Tuesday morning, breakfast was a blur of frenzied movement. In addition to eggs, toast and copious amounts of coffee, my husband, Tom, decided to try out the suggestion made by our friends the previous evening and pan-fry slices of cake in butter. As you would guess, in no time the rest of the cake was gone.   

It has been seventy-two hours since the snow felland we are in the process of thawing out. It's supposed to be raining and in the 60s by the end of the weekend, but who knows what the rest of the month may bring. I tell you, I have nothing but respect for all of you who shovel snow and navigate icy conditions regularly. As for me, I have not moved off our property since Monday afternoon and today will be no different. All that winter-wonderland business was fun for a minute, and incredibly beautiful, but what a disrupter! Thankfully, I stocked up like a hurricane was coming on Sunday and Monday and have no need to get out. 

I think this cake will now be Snowmageddon Cake and will forever bring back memories of our unprecedented, once-in-a-lifetime snow event here along the beach. An adventure it was! 

I have now had my share of winter weather and I have had plenty, thank-you. How many more days until Spring? I am counting them down and have never been more ready.