Blueberry Cake

This wasn't what I envisioned for my blueberry cakes. When most of the berries sunk to the bottom and the cake wouldn't even support itself, I had to flip them upside down.


These were some of the better looking ones and the sinkage might even pass as intentional for decoration purposes.


Since I'm obsessed with texture shots, this is the best one I could get after splitting through 3 and only seeing an explosion of blueberries. Maybe I went a teeny tiny overboard with the addins.

Despite their appearance, these were amazing! I loved the tight crumb and light and fluffy texture. The blueberries added a really nice burst of flavour with each bite. I'm definitely going to give this recipe a try again as cupcakes. Blueberries add a lot of moisture and these cakes weren't soggy at all so I hope that the cake only version won't end up dry.

I used the cake part of the New York style crumb cake from CI

New York Style Crumb Cake
Cooks Illustrated

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup granulated sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar (2 2/3 ounces)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
1/8 teaspoon table salt 
8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), melted and still warm
1 3/4 cups cake flour (7 ounces)

Cake

1 1/4 cups cake flour (5 ounces)
1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
1/4 teaspoon baking soda 
1/4 teaspoon table salt 
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (3/4 stick), cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool
1 large egg 
1 large egg yolk 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
1/3 cup buttermilk 

Confectioners' sugar for dusting

1. FOR THE TOPPING: Whisk sugars, cinnamon, salt, and butter in medium bowl to combine. Add flour and stir with rubber spatula or wooden spoon until mixture resembles thick, cohesive dough; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

2. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Cut 16-inch length parchment paper or aluminum foil and fold lengthwise to 7-inch width. Spray 8-inch square baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and fit parchment into dish, pushing it into corners and up sides; allow excess to overhang edges of dish.

3. In bowl of standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed to combine. With mixer running at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes. Add egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk; beat on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping once if necessary.

4. Transfer batter to baking pan; using rubber spatula, spread batter into even layer. Following photos below, break apart crumb topping into large pea-sized pieces and spread in even layer over batter, beginning with edges and then working toward center. Bake until crumbs are golden and wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on wire rack at least 30 minutes. Remove cake from pan by lifting parchment overhang. Dust with confectioners' sugar just before serving.