Blueberry Crumble Cake

Well last week I ended up baking two things I’ve already showcased on this blog (another white chocolate pound cake and the cinnamon swirl bundt cake), and then got busy preparing for my baptism on Easter Sunday.  This week I’ll probably be too preoccupied to make anything new, so I figured I probably wouldn’t have anything to post about for a while… until I remembered that I didn’t post about a blueberry crumble cake I made for church a couple weeks ago.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

For lovers of blueberries, this was one of the nicest breakfast creations I’d baked in a very long time.  Not too sweet with a TON of fruit, I didn’t even feel guilty eating a second piece! (Just tell yourself that you’re storing up antioxidants)  In fact, some might even think it has too many blueberries, but I think it’s just perfect 🙂

The assembly was quite easy since I used frozen blueberries.  You just need to coat them with some flour to prevent them all from sinking to the bottom while baking.  Also, many people who made this recipe from Dorie’s book (including me) noticed a “pool of butter” at the top of the crumble cake during baking.  Most of it will eventually go away, but I feel that it caused the middle to be slightly underbaked.  People have recommended cutting the amount of butter in the crumb mixture, so if I ever make this again, I’ll probably heed that advice.

Blueberry Crumble Cake

from Dorie Greenspan’s “Baking: From My Home to Yours”

Ingredients

For the Crumbs:5 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp

• 5 tbsp unsalted butter at room temp (recommend reducing this to 3-4 tbsp)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts*

For the Cake:

• 1 pint (2 cups) blueberries (preferably fresh, or frozen, not thawed)
• 2 cups plus 2 tsp all purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• 2/3 cup sugar
• grated zest of 1/2 lemon or 1/4 orange
• 3/4 stick (6 tbsp) unsalted butter at room temp
• 2 large eggs, at room temp
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup buttermilk

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch square pan and put it on a baking sheet.

2.  To make the crumbs: Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. (Covered well the crumb mix can be refrigerated for up to 3 days.)

Crumb mixture

3.  To make the cake: Using your fingertips, toss the blueberries and 2 tsp of the flour together in a small bowl just to coat the berries; set aside. Whisk together the remaining 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.

the dry goods

.  Working in the bowl of a stand mixer or in another large bowl, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips until the sugar is moist and aromatic. Add the butter and, with the paddle or whisk attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat the sugar with the butter at medium speed until light, about 3 minutes.

5.  Add the eggs one by one, beating for about 1 minute after each addition, then beat in the vanilla extract. Don’t be concerned if the batter looks curdled — it will soon smooth out. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture and the buttermilk alternately, the flour in 3 parts and the buttermilk in 2 (begin and end with the dry ingredients.) You will have a thick, creamy batter.

6.  With a rubber spatula, gently stir in the berries.

7.  Scrape the batter into the buttered pan and smooth the top gently with the spatula. Pull the crumb mix from the fridge and, with your fingertips, break it into pieces. There’s no need to try to get even pieces — these are crumbs, they’re supposed to be lumpy and bumpy and every shape and size. Scatter the crumbs over the batter, pressing them down ever so slightly.

Add the crumbs

8.  Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, or until the crumbs are golden and a thin knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the cake to a rack and cool just until it is warm or until it reaches room temperature.