Apple Blossoms and Almond Blueberry Coffee Cake

Have you ever smelled apple blossoms? It is very faint, but extremely sweet. These apple blossoms happen to come from my Gravenstein Apple Tree in our side yard. My husband so graciously snipped these for me while pruning the tree the other day. Oh how heavenly they smelled....mmmmm.

I just love the simplicity of a country canning jar filled with apple blossoms, don't you? Before you know it, it'll be time to can applesauce in this jar!!! For now however, I'm going to savor the sweet scent. I adore how an apple blossom starts out that pastel shade of pinkish green, and then just explodes into a white splendiferous (word?) star shaped bloom. It's so unexpected; no wonder the bees like it so much!

Well, as my hunny and bumpkins were out pruning away....I was inside mixing up a cake! To be exact...I was making Raspberry-Blueberry Jam from frozen berries I had from last summer....and I ended up having a cup or so of leftover Blueberries...sooooooo....I HAD to make my Famous Almond Blueberry Coffee Cake. This cake is soooooo yummy...and best of all? It's SUPER EASY to make! So, here we go:

Trisha's Famous Almond Blueberry Coffee Cake

Cake ingredients:

• one box yellow cake mix
• one small box instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. almond flavoring

topping:

• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 small package pecans or almonds, chopped (optional)
• 1-2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. almond flavoring
• 2 Tbsp. milk

Mix cake ing. together for 2-3 minutes. Put half the mixture into greased and floured 9x13 pan. Sprinkle half of the sugar topping and half of the berries on batter. Cover with remaining batter and sprinkle on other half of topping and berries. Bake at 350* for 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

When cooled, drizzle with glaze.

I hope you can find an excuse to make this lovely easy cake...it is heavenly smelling, delicious tasting, and quickly dissappearing; especially if you have a hungry hubby and frumpy bumpkins like I did that day! They gobbled it up as fast as I could serve it! This cake is soooo moist due to the pudding mix...it's like something between cake and custard in texture. The blueberries could easily be substituted with chunks of apple, or other berries....how about peaches? If you dispise almond flavoring ( I feel sorry for you!) you could omit it and I'm sure this would still taste unbelievable!

Well, it's good to see you here again....I hope your week is going swimmingly. Take time to smell the apple blossoms! :)

Cheers!

Trish