Blueberry Bavarian Cream Cake

Backstory: I came across this amazing-looking dragonfruit cake recipe and immediately wanted to try it for myself.  Of course dragonfruit is only available seasonally, so there was no way I could get any for another six months and I was impatient.  So I found this similar strawberry recipe... but strawberries aren't great this time of year, either.  But my freezer was full of blueberries, and this blueberry Charlotte recipe sounded similar, but not exactly what I was looking for.... so I frankensteined all 3 recipes together to come up with this one:

Blueberry Bavarian Cream Cake

Cake base:
1/4 c butter, softened
1/4 c sugar
1 egg
1/4 c flour
1/4 c baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Line the bottom of a springform pan with parchment paper.

In a mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar.  Add the egg and mix well.  Add the flour and baking powder and mix to get a uniform batter.

Pour into the pan and bake for about 15 minutes, until a toothpick comes cleanly out of the cake.  Unmold and cool completely.

Cream filling:
4 c blueberries
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 c heavy cream
5 tsp gelatin powder
1/3 c water
1 c milk
3/4 c sugar
2 egg yolks

In a blender, puree the blueberries with the lemon juice.  Remove 1 1/2 cup of the blended mixture and reserve for the topping.

Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks; set aside.

Mix the gelatin powder with 1/3 c water and let sit while making the custard.

Pour the milk into a saucepan and heat until steaming.  In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.  Pour hot milk into the egg yolk mixture and whisk quickly to combine without cooking the egg yolks.  Pour back into the saucepan and cook for a few more minutes, until thickened and able to coat the back of a wooden spoon.  Remove from heat, add the proofed gelatin, and mix until gelatin dissolves into the hot custard.

Mix the 2 1/2 cups of pureed blueberries and the custard in a large bowl.  Fold in the heavy cream until the mixture is uniform - it will still be quite liquid at this point, but will solidify in the fridge later.

Now line the walls of the springform pan with parchment paper.  Replace the cake base at the bottom and pour the cream filling over (it should fill the pan most of the way).  Place in the fridge and let cool for at least 3 hours, until firm.  For a long refrigeration, cover with a plate or plastic to keep it from drying out.

Blueberry gelatin:
1 1/2 c reserved blueberry puree
3 tsp gelatin powder
1/4 c water

(You may not have to use this much gelatin powder, but I wanted to use up all of mine.)

Mix the gelatin powder with the water and let sit for about 5 minutes.

Heat the blueberry puree in a saucepan.  Add the gelatin mixture to it and whisk together.  Pour over the now completely cooled cake to form a top gelatin layer.  You can also do as the dragonfruit recipe suggests: pipe a ring of whipped cream around the edge of the cake, and pour the gelatin inside.

Place back in the fridge to finish cooling and setting, at least 1 hour or up to a day.  Again, for long refrigeration, cover it to keep it fresh.  Then serve - top with whipped cream, powdered sugar, extra fruit, or whatever else you like!

The amount of gelatin gave it a lot of structure, so it wasn't at any risk of falling apart.  You could consider adding sugar to some - or any - of the above steps.  It came out very rich, but not particularly sweet for a dessert.  Then again, if you're looking for something less sweet, this may be the cake for you!