We’ve finally been struck with a heatwave in Ohio. The temperature went from slightly cool in early May to hot and humid by the end of May. The heat has continued into this week. The weather in Ohio has definitely reminded me summer is here. One of the goals I set for this summer is to learn how to take better photos with my Canon EOS Rebel T6 DSLR camera. I recently enrolled in two online photography courses and have been applying what I learned from the two courses to the photos I take throughout the week. Today, I am taking a break from capturing photos to share a recipe for one of my all-time favorite breakfast treats – my blueberry cinnamon crumb cake. Although I’m not usually a fan of cakes on the sweeter side, I do make an exception for crumb cakes. I love the balance of textures in a crumb cake. You have the fluffy cake as a base and then the crisp crumb on top. The cake is scrumptious, bursting with fresh blueberries, brimming with warm cinnamon, and has the most amazing crumb topping ever. It’s also super easy to whip together for a quick breakfast, simple dessert, or sweet treat. Over the last few years, I’ve made variations of crumb cakes quite a bit. During the holidays, I like to incorporate seasonal spices into crumb cakes. My pumpkin spice crumb cake was the result of one of my experiments in the kitchen during the holidays. Throughout the rest of the year though, I prefer a simpler crumb cake filled with fresh blueberries and ground cinnamon. The combination of fresh blueberries and warm cinnamon has been one of my favorite flavor profiles in baked treats since childhood. The blueberries add a wonderful pop of sweetness and freshness to the cake. The cinnamon adds a nice spice and fragrant flavor to the rest of the cake. The crumb cake itself takes less than an hour to assemble, bake, and serve. I like to eat a piece here and there throughout the day and always with a cup of freshly brewed hot tea. The best part is one cake can serve a lot of people (or in our case two people for a few days). My blueberry crumb cake reminds me of my favorite blueberry crumb muffins sold in the bakeries throughout New York City. Blueberry muffins are one of my mom’s favorite breakfast foods. She used to drop us off at school in the morning before heading to work and picking up a blueberry muffin on her way to work. I like to think of my blueberry cinnamon crumb cake as a larger version of her favorite breakfast treat.
For the cake:
· 2 cups all-purpose flour
· 2 teaspoons baking powder
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
· ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
· 1 cup granulated sugar
· 2 large eggs, room temperature
· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
· ½ cup whole milk
· 1 cup fresh blueberries, divided
For the crumb topping:
· 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
· ½ cup all-purpose flour
· ¼ cup granulated sugar
· ¼ cup dark brown sugar
· ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter or grease a glass baking dish. I like to use the leftover wrapper from the room temperature butter to butter my baking dish. Set aside the baking dish.
2) In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
3) In a large bowl, mix the butter and sugar until combined. Add the eggs, one at a time. Mix between each addition until the eggs are incorporated into the butter and sugar. Add in the vanilla extract. Slowly pour in half of the flour and half of the milk. Stir to combine. Add the remaining flour and milk and stir to incorporate the ingredients. Gently fold in half of the blueberries. Combine all ingredients until the batter is smooth.
4) Pour the batter into the baking dish pan. Use a spatula to smooth out the top of the batter. Press the remaining blueberries into the batter.
5) To make the crumb topping, cut all of the ingredients together using a pastry cutter (or your fingers). Sprinkle the crumb topping generously over the top of the cake batter.
6) Place the baking dish into the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Test doneness of cake by inserting a knife in the center and checking to see if the knife comes out clean.
Takeaways: You can swap in your favorite berries or play around with different fruits and citrus zests to change up the flavor profile of the crumb cake. You can also omit the fruit and make just a spiced crumb cake or swap in some pumpkin puree to make my pumpkin spice crumb cake.