Adapted from the Wednesday Wine Bunch Cookbook (1960s/1970s)
Your New Favorite Summer Cake
This recipe comes from a cookbook created by a group of friends in Los Alamos, New Mexico, sometime in the 1960s or 70s. It was submitted by Marie Filip, who is of Czech descent — which makes her contribution of Bublanina a particularly fitting one.
A traditional Czechoslovakian sponge cake typically made with blueberries or cherries, Bublanina takes its name from the Czech word for ‘bubble,’ referring to the way the batter rises up and envelops the fruit as it bakes. It’s the kind of recipe that carries a sense of place and history with it — both Marie’s and the cake’s own.
What to Expect
The cake itself has the tender texture of a good coffee cake, built on simple pantry ingredients and a technique that’s very straightforward. The batter starts with creamed butter and sugar, enriched with egg yolks, then lightened by folding in separately beaten egg whites — it’s this step that gives the cake its delicate crumb. The blueberries go on top before baking, and as the batter rises around them, they sink just slightly into the surface, releasing their juices into the cake as it bakes.
While the streusel topping was listed as optional in the original recipe, I’d strongly recommend adding it. I tested both versions and the streusel won decisively — the sweet, buttery topping adds a richness to every bite and makes the cake a bit more interesting.
A Few Notes
Blueberries are a classic choice here, but this batter would work beautifully with cherries, sliced peaches, or plums — essentially any summer fruit that can hold its shape during baking. This dessert is versatile enough to work as a breakfast cake, a brunch centerpiece, or a casual dessert dusted with powdered sugar.
Leftovers keep well covered in the refrigerator, though the cake is at its best the day it’s made. Just remove the cake from the refrigerator prior to serving to bring it to room temperature.
Marie Filip’s Bublanina Blueberry Cake
Ingredients
Streusel topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 5 tablespoons salted butter, melted
Cake
- 1 cup salted butter (2 sticks)
- ¾ cup sugar
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 4 eggs separated
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups flour
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups blueberries or pitted cherries
Optional
- Powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Grease and flour a 13×9 inch pan.
Prepare the streusel
- Mix together the ingredients (flour, sugar, melted butter) to combine and set aside.
Prepare the cake
- In a small bowl, rub the lemon zest and sugar together with your fingers, to release the oils and infuse the sugar.
- With a mixer, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
- Add the 4 egg yolks one at a time, beating after each addition.
- Add the vanilla, mix to incorporate, and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, salt) and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, beat the 4 egg whites until stiff.
- Add the dry ingredients alternately with beaten egg whites to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Be sure to fold gently to avoid deflating the egg whites too much.
Assemble
- Spread the dough into the prepared pan.
- Arrange fruit evenly across the top.
- Sprinkle streusel on top of the fruit.
Bake and serve
- Bake at 350°F for 30-35 minutes (cake tester should come out clean).
- Cool in pan before slicing.
- Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
- Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator.
