As I mentioned before, one great food blogger I follow is Helen Fletcher. She is an expert baker, and also a natural teacher. Each of her posts is a detailed tutorial that allows even the most insecure baker (Sally raises her hand…) to feel comfortable to face a little baking challenge. A few months ago she blogged on a Blueberry Coffee Cake that had a nice twist to it, the inclusion of a crumb topping. I was intrigued. It turned out as a delicious, moist and tender cake, one that prompted Phil to grant me an unexpected compliment: “this is exactly the type of cake my Aunt Mildred would bake and we loved so much!” Can you grasp the full impact of those simple words put together? Me and his Aunt Mildred, joined in the same level of cake baking. I had to hold myself on the side of the counter top, my knees went a bit weak as my blood pressure dropped from the sheer shock of it. And then… then I could not stop smiling.
EASY BLUEBERRY CRUMB COFFEE CAKE
(from Pastries Like a Pro)
for the cake:
2 + 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided (315 grams)
1 cup sugar (200 grams)
3/4 cup butter, cold (170 grams)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
9 ounces frozen blueberries (255 grams)
for the lemon glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar (130 grams or 4 1/2 ounces)
3 tablespoons lemon juice (plus more if needed)
Heat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9″ cheesecake pan or springform pan and set aside.
Combine 2 cups flour and sugar in the bowl of a mixer. Cut the butter into small pieces and add it to the bowl. Mix on low at first until most of the butter has been cut in. Raise the mixer and continue to mixing until crumbs form. Aim for fine, not large crumbs.
Remove 1/3 of the crumbs (about 210 grams) and set them aside. They will be used for the topping.
Add the remaining 1/4 cup flour, baking soda, egg and buttermilk to the remainder of the crumbs in the bowl. Beat on low to bring it together then on medium to smooth it out. Stir half of the frozen blueberries into the batter. Spread it evenly in the pan.
Place the second half of the blueberries over the top of the batter. Sprinkle the reserved crumbs over the blueberries. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes until a tester comes out clean. The crumbs will be light in color. My cake took a little more than 1 hour in the oven.
Let cool before removing from the pan.
For the glaze, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a bowl and stir until smooth and with the right consistency to be drizzled. Place the cake on a rack over waxed or parchment paper for easy clean up. Drizzle one way,turn the cake and drizzle in the opposite direction. Allow the glaze to set before serving.
ENJOY!
to print the recipe, click here
Comments: for a step by step tutorial, make sure to stop by Helen’s site using the link I provided under the recipe’s title. Once you pour the cake batter in the pan, it will seem as if it’s not enough. Don’t worry, just go on and follow the recipe as specified. I suppose my glaze could have been slightly thicker so that it would stay more as a drizzle, but even if a bit thin, the taste was not compromised.
As usual, this was shared with our co-workers on a Monday morning. It is one of my favorite things to do, bake something on Sunday and share with our departmental colleagues. The cake was gone before 9:30hs, which is an excellent indication of approval. But, truth is, I could not ask for a better compliment than that of my beloved husband, the resident cake-critic, the one who was raised by bakers probably as talented as… Helen Fletcher!
Helen, thanks so much for another great recipe, I now need to take a deep breath and make your Portokalopita! If anyone is puzzled by the name, go visit her site, it is a cake that uses phyllo dough in the batter! Can you imagine that? Mind blowing!
ONE YEAR AGO: Fresh Strawberry Yogurt Bundt Cake
TWO YEARS AGO: Quinoa Salad with Red Grapes and Avocado
THREE YEARS AGO: Strawberry Coffee Cake
FOUR YEARS AGO: Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins
FIVE YEARS AGO: Mascarpone Brownies
SIX YEARS AGO: Salmon Tacos
SEVEN YEARS AGO: Cinnamon Turban Bread
EIGHT YEARS AGO: Summertime Gratin
Bewitching Kitchen 
This sounds soooo good! I do the same thing at work. I love baking treats on Sunday, eating one, giving a couple of slices to my kids, and taking the rest to work to treat my colleagues. I also time how long it takes for it to disappear. No, I’m not competitive. At all. No, I’m not. Really.
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It looks delicious. I really need to buy some buttermilk. 🙂
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Can’t you make buttermilk by adding a little vinegar to good milk? Not sure…maybe that’s a different kitchen trick.
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Yes, you can! And also lemon juice does the trick. Of course, I should mention that my husband is a buttermilk purist and insists that it won’t be the same (can you see me rolling my eyes to the ceiling? ) – anyway, many cooks do and I do think it works great….
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Yeah – I just can’t ever use enough of it to make it worth the $$. Mostly it goes down the drain.
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you know what I’ve been doing? I use it to soak boneless chicken breasts before breading and doing a Parmigiana… works great in place of egg wash and allows me to put a lot of leftover buttermilk to use…
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Oooh – that sounds delicious!
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It’s a good trick to get ‘soured’ milk but I really enjoy the taste of real buttermilk. It just never seems to go on sale … and I’m ‘frugal’. Guess I’ll have to use the hack. 🙂
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Thank goodness for kitchen hacks!
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as Convivial mentioned… you can make it in a few minutes with milk and some acidic ingredient… I say go for it 😉
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Real buttermilk as it the ‘good old days’ doesn’t really exist any more. What we get these days is a pale imitation but it’s still pricey for what you get. The ‘hack’ of using acid soured milk will have to do I guess. 🙂
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here we also have powdered buttermilk, which obviously the husband twists his nose at. BUT I think it’s a great way to be frugal, as the powder doesn’t go bad and you can prepare the exact amount of buttermilk you need. I honestly don’t know how it compares to the buttermilk of the good old days… 😉
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LOL
The last time I had some buttermilk (from the grocery store) I marinated chicken in it for fried chicken and made some cheddar biscuits with the rest. Tasty stuff though I’ll never try to make fried chicken again. 🙂
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I’m in love with both you and Helen. This coffee cake is perfect for me!
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you are THE sweetest! 😉
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Aunt Mildred would be proud to produce this cake!
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I definitely hope she would! 😉
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Simply mouth-watering, Sally!
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It was delicious indeed!
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Looks so good, making this one tonight. Thanks for sharing Helen’s blog!
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Her blog is great, I learn so much from her expertise..
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Reblogged this on All About Writing and more.
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thank you for the re-blog…
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Love the lemon glaze! I wouldn’t have thought of that. I have added lemon zest to blueberry cake stuff, tho…
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It’s a great match, I think the lemon goes nicely with blueberries…
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Love this! Try this with apples, taste great too 🙂
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