Blueberry Crumb Cake

The Project Food Blog Competition has now ended for me

Sad to say, but it just had to be

So, one last rhyme to end it right

Since the road to make it this far was quite a sight

Thanks to everyone who helped me along the way

Without you, I would have nothing to say

You voted and turned my hearts into the color of red

Even when you could've voted for others instead

I'm so grateful for the opportunities the competition gave

It allowed me to improve and the experiences I will save

It's bittersweet to be out so fast

But, the competition was definitely a blast 

To be honest, this competition gave me stress

Trying to finish a post and impress

Barely finishing on time because of school

At the end of the day it was all cool

I discovered new blogs to follow and read

Even new twitter followers, yes indeed!

Now I'm back to my usual blogging days, 

Focusing on school and cooking whenever I may

Once again Thank you so much for all your help because it was a lot of fun

PFB 2010, for me, is officially done.

Yes, you've read right. I've been eliminated out of the Project Food Blog 2010 Competition. Sad. ha. But I think the timing was right for me. My work for classes is increasing by the days and I don't know how much longer I would have been able to keep up with the competition and school work at the same time. I mean, I start everyday by waking up at 5:30 AM and don't sleep until all my work is done which is usually at midnight every night. This cycle repeats over and over. A bit much don't ya' think? In fact, after I make this blog post, it's back to getting all this work done. Oh college...

Anyway, what better way to have UW spirit than making a cake with our school colors, Purple and Gold?! A blueberry crumb cake that is bursting with purple blueberries and surrounded with a golden cake and streusel. YUM!! Even though I'm bombarded with school work, I still have the school spirit!! :D Everything I'm going through now will be worth it in the end.

Results

-Taste: The lemon in the cake added just enough flavor without overpowering the whole cake. The blueberries gave a tartness which cut down on some of the sweetness. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a sweet cake but the added blueberries worked well with the lemon. The cake was just sweet enough. In the streusel, you can definitely taste the nutmeg and it wasn't too sweet either. Great combo of flavors!

-Texture: Streusel gave a crunchy layer that worked well in contrast to the soft, fluffy and moist cake. However, the streusel was dry. It may have been because I had to bake the cake longer or I would simply reduce the flour to 1 cup.

Tips

-I added a bit more lemon zest than what was called for to have more flavor. Usually the zest of one lemon has a little over 1/2 tsp of lemon zest so I went ahead and used the zest of one lemon instead.

-Toss your blueberries in flour before adding to the batter. Supposedly it's supposed to prevent the blueberries from sinking but that didn't help with mine. ha

-Feel free to use frozen blueberries. However, don't over mix because your batter WILL begin to turn blue-ish in color. I would even suggest to not mix the blueberries into the batter. Instead, pour the batter into the pan, spread it out, sprinkle in the blueberries over the top and press the blueberries gently into the batter until they are covered. I think this would also help in "suspending" the blueberries in the batter. In addition, it will cook a little longer. Mine cooked for about an hour instead of the 40-50 min since I used the frozen.

-Some people suggest to use a spring form pan instead of a cake pan for a "nicer" presentation and losing less streusel but I made mine in a cake pan and I had no problem. I only lost about a tablespoon of streusel while inverting the cake so it wasn't a problem. I would say either method would work fine.

-When using a regular cake pan and inverting the cake, first take something flat such as a plate of cardboard cake round, and place it on top. Invert the cake quickly so that now, the streusel is on the bottom. Next take your cooking rack, place that on top, and invert the cake a second time to finish off the cooling. Once cooled, you can easily pick up the cake and place it on your serving platter.

Blueberry Crumb Cake (6-8 Servings)

Recipe by Ina Garten

Ingredients

For the streusel:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,

crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

-Aaron John

My Food Outings: AJ's Food Adventure

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