This week’s TWD was chosen by Sihan of Befuddlement: blueberry crumb cake! I really, really wanted to make this cake with blueberries but (a) blueberries aren’t in season here and weren’t on sale and (b) I still have so many bags of cranberries in my freezer it just made sense to use the cranberries. When summer rolls around and blueberries are abundant, someone needs to remind me to make this cake again because I really want to try the blueberry version but I know I’ll forget! That’s one of the nice things about this cake: Dorie says that just about any berry will work so there are a lot of variations possible.
I had a few “firsts” with this cake. I received a BeaterBlade for my birthday and used it to make this cake. What a great invention – I loved it! It’s not that scraping the sides of the bowl is really all that difficult or time consuming but I’m messy and I always seem to end up with batter all over my fingers when I scrape the bowl. The BeaterBlade also feeds my need to multitask – I can walk away from the mixer to do other things (like gather the rest of the ingredients for the recipe – someday I’ll learn the importance of mise en place…). The other “first” I experienced with this recipe was grating my own nutmeg! I’d received some fresh nutmeg for Christmas and finally remembered to use it today. Yum, it smelled so delicious and was really fun.
Ok, back to the cake. I ignored Dorie’s instructions to put the pan on a baking sheet before sitcking it in the oven. When I checked on the cake I started to question my decision not to use the sheet pan. This cake rose quite a bit! Luckily, it did not spill over into the oven. I had to bake the cake longer than Dorie suggested. The sides were definitely done earlier but the middle was stubborn. I let the cake cool and tried a piece as an afternoon snack today and can definitely say this is a good one! The streusel is crisp in contrast to the tender cake below. I found the cranberries were pretty tart, almost too tart in fact if I didn’t get a piece of the sweet streusel in the same bite. I can’t wait to try the blueberry version because I know it’ll be amazing.
Great pick this week, Sihan – thanks! You can find the recipe on her blog, or better yet, get a copy of Dorie’s book so you can try this and other recipes. You can also find out which variations our bakers tried this week by visiting TWD.
Lemon Bars
Glazed Grapefruit Cake
Orange Sherbet
Meyer Lemon Pound Cake
wonderful rendition with the cranberries! i’m so sorrie blueberries weren’t in season. But i’m sure your next attempt would be fantabulous! glad that you liked the recipe.
Tracey- What a gorgeous coffee cake. Id love to try a piece with my coffee right now.
I will have to try a cranberry version!
The middle was so stubborn! I had the same problem! But your cranberry cake looks delicious!
The cranberries look like they were a fantastic addition to the cake. I have a beaterblade that I love but I never remember to use it.
Yours looks so beautiful! I would love to sit down to a slice of this…great job!
Looks wonderful! We really enjoyed this crumb cake too
Looks beautiful! I loved mine with cranberries too.
Gorgeous cake.
Having tried this cake I can attest to the fact that it tastes every bit as good as it looks!
Having tried this cake I can attest to the fact that it tastes every bit as good as it looks!
Sorry, that last post was mine.
Your cake looks fantastic with the cranberries. I’ve been debating about buying the beater blade. I’m glad you liked it.
I love the cranberry version you made! Yum.
It looks great with the cranberries I have a beater blade and I love it!
i need one of those beater blades, i don’t like scraping down bowls all the time. cranberries sound good.
The beater blade sounds so cool!! And I have to try a version with cranberries – it sounds so good!
i think cranberries would be great too
i never use the baking sheet under the pan like dorie says – it always seems to ruin the recipe for me
Your cake looks delicious. I think that this will be one of those recipes where I will try it a lot more than once with a different berry or fruit and different nuts every time.
I had that beater blade in my hand at the store! I want it sooo badly but I can’t reason the price into my budget now. I’m glad to hear that you like it. I think that I will ask for it for a BD present, too!
Oooh I bet this was great with cranberries! I will have to try that next fall!
I’ve never heard of BeaterBlade before. Now I have to look into it for myself. Sounds great!!
I’ve read about grating nutmeg, but haven’t tried it yet. Now you are putting THAT itch into me too.
Your cranberry cake looks amazing!!
Cranberries – Yum! I really want a beater blade. I can make a real mess when scraping down the sides.
I love the cranberries! It looks great!
Love the crumbly topping. Delicious!
cranberries! and fresh nutmeg! and a new beater blade! wow, i’m so jealous–everything about your cake sounds fantastic. it looks beautiful too!
love your blog header
Awesome!! What a yummy cake. Glad to know cranberries work…as well as the KA blade! That sounds fantastic. And isn’t fresh nutmeg the best?!
I have heard others complain about the middle. I am glad I went for muffins. We loved the cranberry. Our blueberries were flavorless so I would definitely wait.
I totally need to try this with cranberries. And I’m jealous of your BeaterBlade – totally need to get myself one of those. Your cake looks fabulous!
What a great idea to use the cranberries! I have some in my freezer too that I was wondering what to do with! Looks great!
I love cranberries! It looks delicious! I wish I had some left to have with my cup of tea right now. Nice job!
Cranberries probably taste just as good as the blueberries.
Your cake looks darn yum and I wouldn’t mind if you gave me a piece.
Lovely job!
There is nothing like fresh grated nutmeg, it really is so much better than the ground stuff.
I’ll remind you to make the cake again in summertime, blueberries really are great in it!
Cranberries sound like a great alternative to blueberries. You could make this all year long by using seasonal berries. I’m thinking of making it again because it was so good, especially several days later.