Tuesday, March 24, 2009

TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

I was very happy to see another cake. Especially coffee cake. Especially coffee cake with a streusel topping. I'm not generally a big fan of blueberries, but between Dorie's blueberry pie and this cake, I could be a convert.

Medium-low fuss factor this week. It was pretty easy with few components. First, the streusel gets made and put in the fridge. The recipe calls for walnuts, but I really don't like them, so I used almonds instead. I tried to do it in my Cuisinart mini-prep. It did not work well. I ended up finishing it by hand. Had I started it that way, I could have had fewer dishes. Ah well.

The cake came together in a snap. I love the way fresh lemon zest smells. Dorie put in a notation to use 2 tsp. of flour to mix with the berries. It's an important step. When the berries are coated in flour, they tend to sink less. I went with frozen berries this time around. I just find that the frozen berries from Trader Joe's are really good and fresh tasting.

Decent mix of berries to cake ratio. No sinking here!
You do have to be careful when mixing in blueberries. The batter can take on a really odd purple tinge. I kept my berries frozen until just before they were mixed in. I think it minimized the purple. The streusel got crumbled on top, and the cake went into the oven. Again, no sheet pan underneath. Mine cooked for 60 minutes.

The house smelled lovely. I brought it to a friend's for an open house. It received rave reviews there. And the pieces that I brought home were very quickly eaten by the husband and his two friends. This is definitely a keeper recipe. I may have to make it again next week for a vacation breakfast. The streusel topping alone was fabulous. Mixed with the cake it was scrumptious.

Mmmmmm. Streusel.
Dorie suggests that this should make nine servings. I cut mine into 16 pieces, and they were just right. Well, except for the husband and his friends. I think they would have preferred that I cut it into three pieces.

Golden brown and delicious.
You can find the recipe at Sihan's blog, Fundamentally Flawed. Good thing, too. You'll want to make this one.

22 comments:

Cristine said...

Your cake looks wonderful!!!

Marthe said...

Great cake!! I did coat the blueberries with flour, but they still sunk... :( The cake still tasted delicious though!

Andrea at Nummy Kitchen said...

Your cake looks so golden brown and delicious! I love the almond streusel. Glad this one was such a big hit for you, we really enjoyed it as well :)

Cakelaw said...

Looks great Jules!! I loved this one too. I don't think much of blueberries by themselves either, but in baked goods, they are transformed.

Leslie said...

I love the almonds in your topping! I must try that next time. My berries mostly stayed put but I did have some purple streaks that seemed to disappear during the baking. How funny that guys can eat an endless amount of stuff like this!

Anonymous said...

I love that lemon/sugar thing, too...it smells so heavenly! I am going to try your pan next, you might be very much right about the dark pan having too much of a darkening effect. The recipe seemed perfect, I just could not get the middle done forever and a day. Yep, the guys here would have prefered to have it cut in very large pieces also...less need to get up and get seconds...LOL! Yours looks really good.

Jessica said...

The slivered almonds on top look so good! I'm glad that this cake was a hit for you.

Sihan said...

It was good wasn't it! I'm glad everyone liked it! and yours look so lovely. great job.

Flourchild said...

Great looking cake. I really loved this recipe and will make it again!

Banjo said...

Oh gosh I love the smell of lemon zest too!!! Delightful! Well done, looks lovely.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, it's a keeper. I didn't coat my berries with flour, which is probably why they sank.Oh well, it still tasted good!

spike. said...

If these recipes are making you a blueberry convert, than maybe I should give it a try! Looks good!

Unknown said...

Wow, your cake looks perfectly golden. I love the way you point out the baking tips. Nicely done.

chocolatechic said...

Oh...how I wish I had a square pyrex dish.

Nancy/n.o.e said...

Well, that was one popular cake! How perfect for a vacation dessert. Frozen wild blueberries beat out lots of fresh ones, I think. Great job.
Nancy

Fit Chick said...

Your cake looks YUMMY! Nice job and I like the idea of using almonds.

Anonymous said...

yours rose beautifully!
mine sunk a bit in the center :(
looks YUMMY!
erin @ glutenfreewithapurpose

Shari@Whisk: a food blog said...

I love the no-fuss of this cake too! And it was still delicious without any hassle. Looks great with the almonds!

Heather said...

Your cake looks deliciously crumbly and crunchy. Great job.

Welcome to our crazy blessed life said...

haha!! Funny that you think they thought it should be cute into 3 pieces. Silly boys!:)

Pamela said...

Looks wonderful. This would be great for your vacation breakfast! The topping was very, very yummy.

TeaLady said...

It does look wonderful. Yummy!