Blueberry Crumb Cake

When I downloaded the above photo, it actually took my breath away.  It's  amazing and so is the recipe. Blueberries are on my list when we shop next week. Many thanks Carol for this post and all the recipes you shared with us. Stats don't lie and many, many people loved what you posted.

This is last week that Carol and Cyndy will join me for "theme" week. If you have enjoyed their post please email me and let me know.  I'm sure they would love to come back!




                                                          Blueberry Crumb Cake

Some people collect figurines...some collect antiques....I collect....cookbooks.  Especially community cookbooks. You know the ones....churches, schools, civic organizations put them together to sell for fund raisers.  I scour rummage sales, yard sales, flea markets and book sales looking for these books every chance I get.  I have a VAST collection of them, along with loads of other cookbooks from all over-ALL of them treasures to me. My Mom loved collecting cookbooks and passed that love to me.  Some people read novels at night. Not me.....I read COOKBOOKS, dog earing page after page of recipes I can't wait to try.

I was so happy to see blueberries on sale at our grocery store a few weeks ago. Not only do I love to eat them, I REALLY love to bake with them.  I have a great blueberry muffin recipe that I make all the time and adore, but I wanted to try something different....AND use one of these fantastic cookbooks I have on bookshelves waiting for me to crack open and use.

When I came upon this recipe, I knew I'd found just what I wanted....it was easy, made a small cake which I love since there's just 2 of us, and used every day ingredients I always have on hand.


I made the crumb topping first, figuring it's easy to make and pop in the refrigerator to be ready to sprinkle right over top of the batter.  Once the flour, sugar and cinnamon were mixed, I grated ice cold butter on my box grater on the side with the large holes-it makes it makes it easy to toss the shreds of butter into the dry ingredients. You can also use a pastry cutter. It was a warm day when I was making this and the butter softened pretty quickly. That didn't give me quite the coarse crumbs I wanted, so I just added a little more flour to the mixture to form coarse crumbs. Once I was happy with the way the topping looked, I popped the bowl in the refrigerator while I made the cake batter.

Also-don't use margarine for the crumb topping-it's way too soft and the crumbs turn into a crust once baked...ask me how I know that?!  Live and learn......

I stayed true to the recipe as written, just adding a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the cake batter......after all, what's a cake without vanilla?  To me?  Flat in taste.  Had I had a fresh lemon in the crisper drawer, I would have added the grated zest of 1 lemon and 1 teaspoon of lemon extract along with the vanilla....lemon goes so well with blueberries....OR orange extract and orange zest. Linda's Blueberry Orange Juice Bread above is a true testament to how wonderful THAT flavor combination is. I can't wait to try that recipe!

This cake can be served right from the pan OR line the pan with parchment paper and serve it from a large plate.  I've included the method I use for lining the pan in the recipe instructions.

I've made this cake 3 times since I found the recipe....once for a church bake sale and it sold in no time.  It's SO incredibly good.  The cake is moist and not overly sweet, which I like in a coffee cake. The blueberries are the star, which is as it should be. The light crumb topping adds just the right touch of sweetness to seal the deal. This cake is the perfect size-I had some to share with our neighbor and plenty left to keep us happy.

If you love blueberries, give this easy-to-make coffee cake a try.....I think you're gonna love it.


As always, thank you SO much for having me as a guest poster, Linda. I have so much fun sharing recipes with you and your readers,

Carol 



BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE
(Source:  slightly adapted from Favorite Recipes From The Hannah Dustin Quilters Guild, Hudson, NH cookbook-recipe submitted by Eleanor J. Ferreira)

CRUMB TOPPING:
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 c. cold butter, no substitutions

CAKE:
2 c. sifted all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened
3/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. milk
2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries (if using frozen berries, do not thaw)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour an 8x8-inch baking pan. I usually serve this cake directly from the pan, but on occasions that I want to have it on a serving plate, I spray the pan lightly with nonstick cooking spray, then line the pan with 2 pieces of parchment paper, criss-crossed one piece over the other, with at least 2" excess paper hanging over each side of the pan. The cooking spray holds the paper in place and allows you to smooth it out to fit the pan. Set the pan aside.

For the crumb topping, combine the sugar, 1/4 c. flour and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl until well mixed.  Cut in the butter until the mixture becomes crumbly.  I grate ice cold butter on the large hole side of a box grater, then toss it into the flour mixture with a fork and my fingers until everything is mixed and forms coarse crumbs. If you find the crumb mixture looks a little too wet, add a little more flour and mix it in until well combined and the mixture looks crumbly. Sometimes if your butter gets a little too soft, it clumps rather than makes coarse crumbs.

Place the bowl of topping in the refrigerator while mixing the cake batter.

For the cake, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed of an electric mixer until very well combined.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients, beating just until combined.

Toss the berries in 1-2 Tbsp. of all-purpose flour, then gently fold them into the cake batter.

Spread the cake batter evenly in the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and a pick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.


Place the pan on a wire rack. If you used parchment paper in the pan, let the cake cool about 10 minutes.  Make sure all 4 sides of the cake and paper are loosened from the pan. Use the "handles" to gently lift the cake out of the pan. Remove the paper from the sides and bottom of the cake and place it on a wire rack to cool completely before transferring it to a serving plate. Whether serving from a plate or directly from the pan, allow the cake to cool completely before cutting.  Makes 9 servings. 

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