TWD: Blueberry Crumb Cake

Many thanks for the sympathetic comments about my Poison Oak and all the compliments about Ms. Ears last week. I am happy to report that we are feeling much better. Mr. Penpen’s skin has gone from Stay-Puft Marshmallow to Frosted Flake, which is a huge improvement and means we’re at the very end of this plague (his case much was worse than mine). We took Ms. Ears to parks both days this weekend, and, thankfully, she occupied herself digging holes with her friend Bruce and running with other dogs, rather than rolling in poisonous brambles.



Now on to the food! This week’s Tuesdays With Dorie recipe was Blueberry Crumb Cake. A while ago I watched an episode of “America’s Test Kitchen” entitled Old-Fashioned Breakfast Cakes that featured a confection called Blueberry Boy Bait. The recipe was originally the 2nd runner up in a 1954 Pillsbury bake-off; submitted by a teenager and named for its power to lure boys. The recipe in Baking is markedly different, but I think the fantastically buttery, sugary topping could definitely get you a man. I know Mr. Penpen certainly enjoyed it.



I thought this was a lovely recipe – very straightforward and easy to put together, and I like that it can be either breakfast or dessert. I actually baked an extra quarter recipe’s worth, since I wanted to bake it in my 9 ½ inch ring pan and I was afraid there would not be enough batter in the original recipe. I was wrong: the cake was very tall. I did make a small mistake with the blueberries. I was using frozen berries, and I took them out and mixed them with flour sooner than I should have, which led to blue batter since the berries had defrosted a bit. It was one of those situations where I knew I shouldn’t have done it, hastily went ahead and did it, then immediately regretted it. Luckily, the end result didn’t look as unappetizing as the batter.





I gave this recipe an 8 for Deliciousness and a 3 for Effort, giving it an EDR of 2.66. Much appreciation to Sihan of Befuddlement for choosing this tasty cake for this week’s recipe. You can find the recipe for the cake on Sihan’s site and check out what the other bakers thought of it via the TWD site.




P.S. I learned my lesson last time I made a cake with a crumbly topping and this one is being stored on top of the refrigerator, out of reach from even the wiliest dog paws.