Blueberry Crumb Cake

There is still an abundance of delicious, fresh blueberries available in the supermarket where I shop. Plump, sweet and a deep indigo blue, there is no way that I can leave these beauties in the store…and I guess that explains why I have four boxes of blueberries in my refrigerator at this moment. But even one pint of blueberries would be enough to bake this blueberry crumb cake by Maida Heatter. This cake is tender and bursting with the summery taste of blueberries, while the perfect amount of cinnamon-infused crumb tops it all. This recipe was brought to my attention by the talented Deb Perelman, author of the sensational food blog Smitten Kitchen. Maida Heatter’s original recipe was published in her book Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts and more recently re-published in her collection, Happiness Is Baking: Cakes, Pies, Tarts, Muffins, Brownies, Cookies: Favorite Desserts from the Queen of Cake.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Baking doyenne, Maida Heatter, passed away in June 2019 at the age of a hundred and two, at her home in Miami Beach, where she had lived for decades, developing and testing all her recipes in her home kitchen. A celebrated author of nine cookbooks, her career as a cooking professional took off when her skills in dessert making caught the attention of Craig Claiborne, a former food section editor of the New York Times. She was not a trained culinary professional, which she thought worked to her advantage. Not bound by any cooking rules, she felt that any problem she encountered must have a solution. No stranger to difficulties in her personal life, Maida told the Miami Herald in 1997, “I know women my age who are bored. [She was 81 years old.] They have nothing to do. Even if they have family, their families are somewhere else—their kids, their grandchildren. I really don’t [have family]. But I always have so much to do, even if it’s that I’m going to go into the kitchen to bake a cake. I’m in seventh heaven—I’m having so much fun, and it doesn’t matter if I give it to the mailman…When you’re busy and you’re being creative, that’s something the outside world can’t compete with.” Maida Heatter’s dedication and joie de vivre remain an inspiration to me.

The blueberry crumb cake that we’re making today is rich and moist. Surprisingly, it’s baked with only a half cup of butter or margarine for the entire cake, including the crumb topping, but it is as tender as one made with far more shortening. I love lots of crumbs and this cake does not disappoint in that department. The batter for this cake is very thick which prevents the streusel topping from sinking and also keeps the berries in place. Maida Heatter’s cake is quick and easy to make and freezes beautifully.

Assemble your ingredients. Prepare your baking pan by spraying it with cooking spray. I also lined the bottom with parchment paper for ease of removal from the pan.

Combine the ingredients for the streusel topping in the bowl of your mixer. Beat together with the whip beater until coarse crumbs form. (This can also be done with a fork or pastry blender.) Refrigerate the crumbs while you prepare the rest of the cake. This will help them keep their shape when baking.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt until combined. Set aside. Rub the lemon zest through the sugar with your fingers to release the oils. Beat the butter or margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Beat in 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with 1/2 of the milk, repeating and ending with the flour mixture.  

Dust the blueberries with 1 tablespoon of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the cake. This batter is so thick, there is little chance of that occurring, but old habits die hard. Fold the blueberries into the cake, using a spatula. Stir gently. You don’t want a purple cake. Add the cake batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Cover with the streusel that you prepared earlier. Bake in a preheated oven on the middle rack for 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out batter-free (you may stab a blueberry but don’t get nervous. You are looking for dry crumbs clinging to the tester).

Allow the cake to cool completely on a rack. Flip the cake out of the pan streusel side down on to a plate. Remove the parchment paper from the bottom of the cake. Place your serving dish against the bottom of the cake and using two hands flip it upright. Dust the top of the cake with icing sugar before serving.

Print Recipe

Blueberry Crumb Cake

Cookies, Cakes, Pies and Desserts

By Book of Great Desserts by Maida Heatter, modified slightly by Smitten Kitchen – Serves: 8

Prep Time: 20 minutes – Cooking Time: 40 – Total Time: 1 hour

A moist, rich coffee cake, bursting with tart-sweet blueberries and topped with a crunchy cinnamon streusel

Ingredients

• Topping:
• 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine (I used Fleishmann's stick margarine)
• Pinch of salt
• Cake:
• 2 cups minus 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried gently with a paper towel, dusted with 1 tablespoon flour
• 1/2 cup any type of milk (I used almond milk)
• Icing sugar for dusting after the cake is baked (optional)

Instructions

1

Preheat oven to 375 F. Spray a 9 inch round baking pan (at least 2 inches high) with cooking spray. Dust it with flour and line it with a round piece of parchment paper on the bottom.

2

Prepare the topping: Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt in the bowl of your stand mixer. Using the whip beater, add 4 tablespoons of butter or margarine to your mixer bowl in 4 or 5 pieces. Large crumbs will form. Break up the larger crumbs with your fingers and place the streusel in the refrigerator while you prepare the rest of the cake. The butter or margarine can also be cut into the flour mixture by hand using a fork or a pastry blender.

3

For the cake: Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl until combined. Set the mixture aside.

4

Add the sugar to the bowl of your stand mixer. Add the grated lemon zest to the bowl and rub the lemon zest into the sugar with your fingers to help release the lemon oil. It should be fragrant. Add the margarine or sugar to the bowl and beat using a flat beater until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.

5

Beat in 1/3 of the dry flour mixture, alternating with 1/2 of the milk. Repeat with the remaining dry ingredients and milk. The last addition should be the flour mixture. The batter will be very thick.

6

Add the blueberries by hand, stirring gently with a spatula to combine. Try not to squash the blueberries.

7

Add the cake batter to the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle with the prepared streusel.

8

Bake on the center rack of a preheated oven for 40 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with dry crumbs clinging to it. You may stab a blueberry. That's OK.

9

Allow the cake to cool completely on a baking rack.

10

When the cake is cool, cover the cake pan with a large plate. Flip the cake over on to the plate. Remove the parchment paper on the bottom of the cake. Place your serving plate over the bottom of the cake. Holding on to the plate on top of the cake and your serving dish, flip the cake upright.

11

Dust with icing sugar over the top of the cake if desired.

Notes

This is a very moist cake that freezes very well. Wrap carefully in foil and freeze.