Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tuesdays With Dorie: Blueberry Crumb Cake

This week's Tuesdays With Dorie selection, via Sihan of Befuddlement, gave us an opportunity to try out Dorie's take on a classic: Blueberry Crumb Cake.


Because Baking: From My Home to Yours is such a massive tome, it's been my hope that enough of the recipes will be successful that the cookbook can be my go-to resource when I'm looking for a classic recipe. Sometimes the book falls flat of my expectations - I still need to use a different recipe for Iles Flottantes, for example. And other times, Dorie's versions of classics are exactly what I hoped for. In the future, when I want to make sugar cookies, I'll be using Dorie's recipe.

So when Blueberry Crumb Cake was chosen, I was looking forward to seeing which category the recipe would fall under: new go-to recipe, or disappointment -- is that too harsh?

Now, first of all, because I live on my own and cake doesn't tend to keep very well, I tend to shy away from cake recipes. Generally if a cake is chosen for Tuesdays With Dorie, I'm skipping that week. This is bound to change in September when my internship ends and I finally, happily, move back to my university home and the hungry boyfriend and roommates that it contains. For now, I figured that Blueberry Crumb Cake Muffins are decidedly easier to scale down, so that was the route I took. I ended up halving the recipe, eating some, sharing some, and freezing the rest.

The batter was perfectly spiced with cinnamon and fresh nutmeg. Yum. I love a well-spiced batter. Fresh lemon zest was also mixed in, which added a brightness to the flavour.


As I spooned the batter into the muffin cups, I was a bit concerned. It really wasn't like a typical thin batter - it was like a thick paste. This is generally not a good sign when it comes to cake, although Dorie did mention that this batter would be thick. Luckily, my concerns were unfounded.


I decided to forgo the nuts in the crumb topping because I really, really don't like nuts in baked goods. I read that a lot of other bakers had issues with the crumb topping turning into a melted, buttery mess, but I somehow managed to escape this fate.


I baked the muffins for a bit less than half of the time suggested for the full cake and was impressed with the final result: a spicy, lemony blueberry-flecked batter and a light, crunchy crumb topping.

Definitely a go-to recipe. For a copy of the recipe, visit Sihan. Thanks for stopping by! See you next week when I'll be baking Coconut Butter Thins with lime and coriander.

10 comments:

Steph March 24, 2009 at 7:40:00 AM EDT  

I like scale down as muffins too! The batter was definitely thick!

chocolatechic March 24, 2009 at 2:34:00 PM EDT  

It is definately a go-to recipe.

Fitness Foodie March 24, 2009 at 3:24:00 PM EDT  

Your photos look really good.

Pamela March 24, 2009 at 4:31:00 PM EDT  

They turned out really well. That first picture is great.

Anonymous March 24, 2009 at 7:39:00 PM EDT  

Kait - those are GREAT looking muffins! I almost went that route but chickened out at the last minute. Love your additions. Muffins are the perfect cake substitution. And yes, the batter wasn't really "spreadable" at all! Nicely done this week!

MaryBeth March 24, 2009 at 7:57:00 PM EDT  

Oh Kait they look so darn good...

Anonymous March 24, 2009 at 8:29:00 PM EDT  

You know they are good since there are blueberries AND I liked it!

Amanda March 24, 2009 at 9:58:00 PM EDT  

Yours looks so good! We loved this cake :)

Michelle March 24, 2009 at 11:45:00 PM EDT  

Just gorgeous photos! So nicely done.

I so wish I had made muffins instead of the cake pan. Your muffins look perfect.

TeaLady March 26, 2009 at 6:20:00 PM EDT  

Those muffins look really yummy! Muffins are a great way to scale a recipe and they keep better than a cut cake/loaf. Nice job on this one.

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