I’ve got to ask my wife to stop bringing me these great dessert recipes. For years I’ve been telling people, “I’m a cook, my wife is the baker.” Then she leans over and whispers in my ear, “Blueberry … coffee … cake.”
Are you kidding me? Of course I had to make it. And of course it was delicious. But if she keeps bringing me this stuff, people are going to start thinking I can bake. And how manly would that be?
Ingredients
2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites
1 cup milk
1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions
Sift the flour into a mixing bowl, and add the sugar.
Add the butter, which should be about room temperature — soft enough to work with, but not melted. Cut it in with a pastry cutter until it becomes a coarse meal. That means pieces no bigger than a pea.
Reserve 3/4 cup of the dry mix. This will be the topping.
Into the dry mixture, add the egg yolks, baking powder, salt and milk.
By the way yes, the bowl suddenly changed. I didn’t want to mix by hand, but the pastry cutter doesn’t work really well in the bowl from my stand mixer.
Beat everything together on low speed until just combined, but still lumpy. If you over-beat, you’ll develop the gluten in the flour and make the cake tough and chewy.
Now whip the egg whites until they have formed stiff peaks.
Add them to the batter and fold in carefully by hand, trying not to deflate them.
Pour the batter into a greased and floured 9 x 13 pan. Distribute the blueberries across the top.
Don’t press the berries down, they’ll sink plenty before the batter starts to set up.
Now get the dry mix that you reserved at the beginning, and sprinkle it evenly over the top of the berries.
Bake at 350° for 40-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the tallest part comes out clean. (You may need to try a few times to not hit a berry.)
Try to keep the kids away from it for a few minutes while it cools.
But feel free to get right in there an take a whiff of it. (PS: Don’t make moaning sounds when sniffing your pastries. I’m just sayin’ …)
Cut into 2 to 3-inch squares.
And that’s it.
Want more like this? For more recipes like this, that you can hold right in your hands, and write on, take notes, tear pages out if you want (Gosh, you're tough on books, aren't you?) you might be interested in How To Cook Like Your Grandmother, 2nd edition, Illustrated. Or to learn your way around the kitchen, check out Starting From Scratch: The Owner's Manual for Your Kitchen.
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30 Comments
We call that yummy cake "blueberry buckle" around our house. I put cinnamon in the topping, but otherwise, it's about the same. Great stuff!!!
2 to 3 inch square? Hrrumph! Not a chance of that happening here. More like a really good meal for breakfast on a hot day. And boy have we had some hot ones lately!
"And how manly would that be?"
Hold up there, cowboy!!!!
In our house, I do 50% of the cooking and it least that much of the baking.
My cookies, cakes and the such are the favorites of family and friends. (My carrot cake kicks butt!!)
Now excuse me as I go cut down a forest with my pet ox, Blue.
Kristen, I was about to say, "I like cinnamon as much as the next person," but I guess I really don't. Sometimes you just don't need it.
Becca, I didn't say anything about how many squares makes one serving, did I?
Frank, sounding a little defensive there. And do you drive a red convertible sports car? Or a Hummer? (I apologize in advance if you actually do … but that would be freakin' hilarious.)
Dude, there is nothing unmanly about baking (of course, I suspect you already know this). A great dessert can be perfect for getting ladies in the mood. Heh.
Oh and the cake looks great.
No Bob, for an "in the mood" dessert, it's got to include chocolate. I think it's a law.
I have two sons (16 and almost 15) and both are students in the culinary program in their high school. One is aspiring to be a chef, the other a baker.
Both have demanded (politely, of course lol) that I bookmark this recipe for them to try this weekend.
Thank you!!!
Topaz, if you have a blog, put up a picture of the finished product. If not, email it to me, I'd love to post it.
WILL MAKE IN THE MORNING AT 6AM.
Drew…I do all the baking, cooking, cleaning, and I drive the Hummer! Welcome to Texas.
Cerise, first of all getting up early to make coffee cake is some kind of dedication. Second, I've learned you can't say anything about Texas online without starting a flame war. So I think I'll just drop it.
Sounds great. May I offer a couple of tweaks? Lemon zest and subbing about 1/4 of the flour for fine cornmeal.
Baking is Very Manly. Scrapbooking, not so much.
Zest for the tanginess, cornmeal for … crunchiness?
Lemon and blueberry are lovely together. And the slight sweet "corniness" of the cornmeal is very nice with fruit, too. I've been making my cobblers with part cornmeal, and they are Wonderful (she says, modestly)!
Drew…you are way too funny! I LOVE to cook. I have a large family and I refuse to feed them garbage that comes premade from the grocery store with ingredients I can not hardly pronounce. And besides…homemade is better. AND I love your website! How to cook like your grandmother.
Don't worry with me about starting flames in Texas. It is a great state and of course EVERYTHING is bigger and better in Texas.
The coffee cake was good. I agree…add Lemon Zest…yah yah. I think my muffins are better thou…sorry. I got up early because my 16 year old is "practicing" getting up early for school. It starts in 3 weeks. He is my serious student and loves to play the piano really early in the morning. So, I have to admit it is really wonderful to smell something baking, listening to Chopin or Bach and drinking a cup of coffee while petting the dog. It's a great life!
REALLY LOVE YOUR SITE!
My oldest son baked it and it turned out great. The response form doesn't let me post a direct pic, so here are the links:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topazcat/3783263020/
The blueberries didn't sink like they were supposed to and he thinks he might have deflated the beaten egg whites a bit while folding in, but it didn't change the fabulous taste.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/topazcat/3782456647/
This particular recipe seems like it would lend well to other types of berries – like blackberries? (My personal faves…)
Anyhoo, this recipe is definitely a keeper. Thank you again!
Topaz, that's awesome! If I have a problem it's always that the berries sink too much, so your son's experience is kind of surprising. I'd love to have seen the batter to see the consistency before it was baked.
And yes, other berries should work just fine. The one thing I'd be concerned with is if blackberries are more delicate, and would they scorch if they're on top, not covered by any batter.
Drew, you're killing me.
At least it's a sweet death.
Yummy! I've been reading your blog for a while and this is the first recipe I've tried. Its absolutely delicious!
This looks divine!
Susskins, thanks a lot, now I've got "Killing me softly" going through my head and I can't get it out.
Julie, glad you liked it. I hope you like some of the others. If you liked this one, I'd go with the peach cobbler next.
Ellie, maybe divinely inspired.
omg. Im going to make that right now.. <3 <3
I am OBSESSED with your blog. I have been looking through it for literally three hours straight (actually, minus the dinner-making break). I love your recipes, commentary, instructions, and especially the photos. I feel inspired to cook all of a sudden! Too bad it's almost 2 AM. Anyway, thank you!!!
Alex.
You're welcome, I guess. Now go to bed!
okay, so the day i saw this, i just HAD to make it! was going to take a piece to the neighbor, and i kid you not, GONE! 9×13, evaporated….all i got was a piece, okay a LARGE PIECE, but just one!!!!
Cathy, that's why I cut small pieces. Gives me a better chance at seconds.
Drew, you rock as usual. Does your wife appreciate you as much as we do? Just teasing! Any man that cooks is tops with their wife. This blog is the highlight of my week and I get so excited when you post something new. I live in blueberry heaven (New Brunswick, Canada where the berries grow everywhere for free) so it's always nice to have a new recipe to try.
Do you think you could help me with a small dilema? There is a muffin shop in my town called MMMMarvelous Muffins and the products is just that. FABULOUS. I know they use a premix for the base and then add whatever ingredients they want. No problem. But how do they get the muffins to be so TALL? Mine turn out like cupcakes and I can't get that nice centre rise.
Just thought you or one of your followers would be able to give me a hand with this.
Why as a matter of fact I do know how. Or rather, I know where to find it. Go check out The Muffin Method on Jenni's blog. She's one of the co-authors on my upcoming book, by the way. You can get a sample chapter, and I'll let you know as soon as it's ready to order.
Well now I have to make muffins! It's almost dinner and I have salmon to grill but I think I better get my sugar fix out of the way so I can think straight.
I tried this recipe a while back and it came out too salty. I think next time I’m not putting in any salt at all. Also my blueberries didn’t sink at all. The top of the cake was delicious because it had the blueberries and the not-yet-salted dry mix but the bottom was barely edible. It was a good experiment after all. I can’t wait to try it again.