Berry Pudding Cake

I really like pies, especially strawberry rhubarb pie. However, pies require some effort to make and even more waiting time while they bake and cool. Often when I want a dessert, I want it now. . . or at least within an hour of starting to make it. So I was looking for a new dessert that would contain strawberries and rhubarb and be just as tasty as a pie, but that would be much simpler and faster. Then I came across a recipe for berry pudding cake. I tried it, and it's my new favorite berry dessert. Michael liked it well enough that he was willing to help with taste-testing, three times over the past couple of weeks. We had to try the cake with strawberries and rhubarb, just strawberries, and rhubarb and blueberries. I wouldn't want to suggest a berry combination without knowing if it would taste good, right? All three were great, so just use whatever kind of berries is in season, or you can even use frozen berries. I used some blueberries that I had frozen from last summer, and the cake turned out just as good. The original recipe calls for orange zest, but I decided to use lemon since we really like the combination of lemon and fruit.

Berry Pudding Cake
serves 4 adults

Ingredients:

• 2 packed cups of fresh berries (like blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries -- for strawberries it equals 16 oz.) OR 1 packed cup of berries and 1 cup of rhubarb (about 1 to 2 stalks, depending on their size)
• 1/2 cup and 1 or 2 Tbsp. granulated white sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract. Use Trader Joe's alcohol-free vanilla extract or another vanilla extract that does not have corn syrup and is preferably alcohol-free, since the alcohol could be derived from corn. Recently I have been using Rodelle Vanilla Flavor alcohol free all natural extract, which I found at Stop and Shop.
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free flour
• 1/8 tsp. sea salt
• 1/8 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8x8" Pyrex pan lightly with olive oil. Rinse the berries and rhubarb. If using strawberries, cut the tops off and cut them into slices. If using rhubarb, cut the ends off the stalks, cut the stalks in half length-wise, and then cut them width-wise into 1/4"-wide pieces. (If you cut them thicker than this, they may end up still crunchy at the end of the baking time.) If using tart berries or rhubarb, place all of the fruit in a medium bowl and toss with 1 to 2 tablespoons of sugar. Then transfer the berries to the Pyrex pan and spread evenly over the bottom of the pan.

In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, and cream of tartar. Zest the lemon and set aside. In a second medium bowl add the sugar, vanilla extract, olive oil, lemon zest, and eggs. Whisk for 1 minute, until the egg mixture is lighter in color and frothy. Then whisk in the flour mixture until just combined. Carefully pour the batter over the fruit. Put the pan in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Let the cake cool for 10 minutes before serving. If you would like, you can serve the cake with powdered sugar. (Most powdered sugar contains corn, so we just ate the cake without it.)