Blueberry Crumb Cake
This week I bought blueberries on sale. The Picky Apple likes blueberry muffins (which surprises me a little), so I thought I’d make muffins for him to take to work. Unless I bake him something tasty (like Banana Crunch Muffins) for breakfast, he typically skips it. I’ve tried a few different blueberry muffin recipes from various cookbooks I own, but still haven’t settled upon a go-to recipe. While searching for a new recipe to try, I ran across this recipe for Blueberry Crumb Cake. I had all of the ingredients (or an easy substitution) on hand. This crumb cake turned out perfectly, and The Picky Apple gave it two thumbs up. Allspice gives the cake a slightly more complex flavor than basic cinnamon, and the cake is not overly sweet. I think this could easily be converted to muffins, which I may try next time I make this.
 Blueberry Crumb Cake
from Everyday Food
Serves 9
Ingredients:
For the streusel topping:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, (spooned and leveled)
- 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup butter
For the cake:
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pan
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon allspice (See Picky Apple Note, below)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 large egg
- 2/3 cup buttermilk (See Picky Apple Note, below)
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries
- Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make streusel topping: Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. Make the topping: In a medium bowl, stir together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in the butter using your hands or a pastry blender until large, moist crumbs form. Chill.
- Butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and allspice. In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar with an electric mixer until fluffy. Add egg; beat well. Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately until just combined. (Batter will be very stiff.) In a large bowl, toss the blueberries with 1 teaspoon flour. Fold blueberries into the batter; spoon into prepared pan.
- Sprinkle cake with streusel topping. Bake until golden brown and a tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar before cutting into squares.
Picky Apple Notes:
- Allspice is actually its very own berry, not a combination of others spices. However, if you find yourself without allspice on hand as I did, simply use equal parts ground cinnamon, ground nutmeg, ground clove, and black pepper.
- I also used a simple substitution for buttermilk: Add 1 tablespoon of vinegar to 1 cup of milk, and let sit for 10 minutes. I used this substitution for my Red Velvet Cupcakes as well.
mmmm allspice and blueberries. That makes me happy just thinking about it! =) This looks very good – and very blueberry-comforting.
I saw your blog mentioned on Taste and Tell. You’ve got a great blog! I Look forward to trying some of your recipes! This crumb cake looks fabulous!
pickypalate
I was lucky enough to get a piece of this crumb cake before it was devoured by the Picky Apple’s office mates. It was pretty awesome. It was a combination of perfectly moist cake and just right crumble (sweet but not too sweet for me). I could probably eat more ;).
Bet it would make fantastic muffins, too.