Blueberry Cake || Eatz

I went blueberry picking with my aunt and uncle last sunday. The farm that went to was filled with bushes full of blueberries. We decided to head to the back of the huge field since not a lot of people want to trek in that direction. And for the next hour and a half, we spent picking the biggest ones we could find (which wasn't too hard to find). It was so nice to see these big and plump blueberries just waiting to be picked. Not going to lie, I did quite a lot of eating while I was picking. But that's all the fun with u-pick!

It's been a week and a bit since I picked, and one out of the two buckets has been eaten. I thought that I would bake a cake before they all disappear. I love cakes with fruit and especially blueberries. This is just a simple white cake with a twist -- crumb coat! Usually I make crumb coats for fruit crumbles but I remember, back when I lived on campus, I made a cake like this and I thought I'd give it another go. Cake, crumbs, fresh blueberries mmmm. You can always use frozen berries but make sure you thaw it out and drain the water out so that your cake won't get soggy.

Crumb coat:

1. Mix all the ingredients (excluding butter) with a whisk until there are not clumps.

2. Add cold butter and use two knives to cut the butter into the flour mixture. You should end up with small chunks of butter. It's okay if your chunks are bigger -- no smaller than a pea.

3. We want to keep the crumb coat cold, so put it in the fridge until it is assembling time.

Cake:

1. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt (if you are using non-salted butter).

2. In another bowl or your stand mixer, beat butter until smooth.

3. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.
4. Slowly add flour mixture and milk into the butter sugar mixture. Best way to do it is add 1/3 of the flour mixture and then 1/2 of the milk. Repeat this step until everything is incorporated. Do not over-mix or your cake will get a really gummy texture.

For easy transfer from pan to plate, I learned a little trick. All you will need is some parchment paper. Take a 9x9 pan and measure out your parchment paper just enough that it will cover the bottom and the sides. Cut your parchment in half lengthwise. Lay one sheet of parchment into your pan and lay your other sheet on top of the first one but perpendicular to the first. You should now have fully lined pan with little parchment "handles" on all four sides.

Assembling Time!
1. Take your lined 9x9 pan and pour cake batter into it. Even it out so that it fills in all the corners level it out. I used and offset spatula but you can used a regular butter knife or the back of a spoon. to make sure you don't get any batter onto your weapon of choice, spray it with some vegetable oil.

2. Place your blueberries on top of the batter. Make sure that the blueberries are evenly distributed or else someone is going to get a piece of cake without the star of the show. I gently pushed my blueberries into the batter so that it is 50% submerged. That way, the juices from the blueberries will be absorbed into the cake.

3. Sprinkle the crumb coat on top of the blueberries until fully covered. Don't pack it in or else it'll be super dense. Just let the butter work its magic :)

Put your cake into the oven and let it back for 40-45mins. To check to see that it's done, take a toothpick or a cake tester and stick it into the cake. If it comes out clean, and there aren't any crumbs stuck on it, you can take it out. Let it rest on a cooling rack.

You can eat this warm or cold, by itself or with whipped cream or even ice cream. Because it is a denser cake, don't make your servings too large.

I love the different layers! A simple yellow cake with fresh local berries and top it all off with a final layer of warm crispy crust. Mmmmm!

Hope you enjoy this recipe and make sure your try it out!


Good Eatz!
- V