James Beard's Huckleberry Cake

1963 to 1979 Cake #1

James Beard grew up in Portland, Oregon. In the summer, his family would visit the Oregon coast and pick huckleberries. Beard has said that the tart taste and fragrance of fresh huckleberries is "absolutely ravishing". A close friend of the family used to bake this cake for James when he was a boy.

My Experience:

While the simplicity of this cake is appealing, I found it to be pretty bland. There are only four steps in the recipe and about 7 ingredients. I could not find any huckleberries, and the book said blueberries could be substituted. Supposedly, Beard was a stickler about this cake being made with huckleberries so I should probably try again with the proper berries before judging it too harshly.

Neighbor's comment: "That was yummy."