Cuisine pg 4 7-14-11
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- Category: Past Issues
From Francoise:
It is so close to blueberry season. Most of the time, I pass up the blueberries in the supermarket, and wish that there had been more room in the freezer when it was time to preserve last year’s harvest. Blueberries vary in size and sweetness depending on the variety and climate, but they are all good when baked into pies, cakes, and muffins. Here is my apple coffee cake recipe, adapted for blueberries. It’s worth heating up the kitchen to bake this cake and enjoy a slice alongside a tall, cold glass of lemonade or iced tea. Hot tea works, too!
Blueberry Coffee Cake
Streusel: 3/4 cup brown sugar ~ 2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons flour ~ 4 tablespoons butter, cut into ½ -inch pieces
Combine the dry ingredients, and cut in the butter until mixture looks
crumbly. This can also be combined by pulsing in a food processor.
Cake: 2 sticks of butter (1 cup), softened ~ 2 cups sugar
6 eggs ~ 1 tablespoon vanilla ~ 3½ cups flour ~ 1½ cups sour cream
2 teaspoons baking powder ~ 1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt ~ 4 cups blueberries
Butter and flour either a 9x13 pan or a Bundt pan. Preheat oven to 350 F. Cream butter until light and fluffy; add sugar and continue beating 2 minutes more. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well (20 – 30 seconds) after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Stir baking powder, baking soda, and salt into sour cream. In 3 additions, fold flour and sour cream mixture alternately into butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour. For 9x13 pan, spread ½ of batter in pan, then ½ of streusel, then remaining batter, and end with streusel on top. For bundt pan, spread 1/3 of batter in pan, ½ of streusel, 1/3 batter, remaining ½ of streusel, and end with remaining batter. Bake for about 45 – 60 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of cake comes out with a few moist crumbs, but no wet batter. Allow the 9x13 cake to cool in the pan. For the bundt cake, allow to cool for 20 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate to finish cooling.