Blueberry Crumb Cake

This is a serious crumb cake. No itty bitty crumbs here. The crumbs are not merely a topping for a cake, but a big part of the cake itself. The crumbs take up about half the height of the cake. They are massive and delicious!



I first saw this recipe on SmittenKitchen about a year ago and I do not know why I waited so long to make this! When I saw blueberries on sale at the store I knew exactly what I was going to make. Well actually, that's not true I suppose. I debated between this and To-Die-For-Blueberry Muffins. I've been wanted to those muffins for a long time now because they have 3000+ reviews and well... with a name like that they HAVE to be good...right?



But I digress...back to the crumb cake. The orginal recipe calls for rhubarb, but I'm not a huge fan so I replaced the rhubarb with blueberries, cut the sugar a down bit, and added the zest of 1 lemon. I'm pretty sure this recipe would be great with any (or no) fruit. Just make sure to adjust the sugar content accordingly. (I'm thinking cranberries with a little bit of orange zest for the next round)

The recipe comes together pretty easily. Some people on SmittenKitchen said they had problems with the crumbs being too floury but mine came together fine. I did use cake flour, not AP flour, like the original recipe calls for. You'll end up with 3 dirty bowls to clean, but it's well worth it. Make this!

Recipe
Adapted from SmittenKitchen
Ingredients:

Butter for greasing pan

For the blueberry filling:
1/2 pound blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
zest of 1 lemon

For the crumbs:
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick or 4 ounces) butter, melted
1 3/4 cups cake flour

For the cake:
1/3 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons softened butter, cut into 8 pieces

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease an 8-inch-square baking pan. For filling, toss blueberries with sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest. Set aside.

2. To make crumbs in a large bowl, whisk sugars, spices and salt into melted butter until smooth. Then, add flour with a spatula or wooden spoon. It will look and feel like a solid dough. Leave it pressed together in the bottom of the bowl and set aside.

3. To prepare cake, in a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg, egg yolk and vanilla. Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Add butter and a spoonful of sour cream mixture and mix on medium speed until flour is moistened. Increase speed and beat for 30 seconds. Add remaining sour cream mixture in two batches, beating for 20 seconds after each addition, and scraping down the sides of bowl with a spatula. Scoop out about 1/2 cup batter and set aside.

4. Scrape remaining batter into prepared pan. Spoon blueberries over batter. Dollop set-aside batter over blueberries; it does not have to be even.

5. Using your fingers, break topping mixture into big crumbs, about 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch in size. They do not have to be uniform, but make sure most are around that size. Sprinkle over cake. Bake cake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean of batter 45 to 55 minutes. Cool completely before serving.