Snap out of it: Dessert Can be Simple

by Jeannette Ordas of Everybody likes Sandwiches

I have friends who rarely make dessert. For them, it seems like too much of a bother. Maybe they fear that every pan in the kitchen will be used or that the counters and floor will be covered in flour. Or maybe they just think that making dessert is too hard. Let me tell you now, friends, making dessert can be easy.

Last summer I discovered the easiest cake ever (it is!). I can also whip up some vegan chocolate thumbprint cookies and have them baked in about 30 minutes. Dessert complicated? No way.

So when I was having some friends over this weekend for a bit of competitive board game playing, I thought that I should offer something besides beers. In just under 15 minutes I had this coffee cake in the oven. I did let the cake stay a bit too long in the oven (I blame the beers) but that didn't spoil the deliciousness one bit.

Packed with last summer's frozen blueberries and tinged with spice, this cake was perfect. The cake itself was light and the crumb was great...who doesn't like a good crumble topping? Don't have blueberries on hand? Sub in another fruit like plums, apples or strawberries. Next time you are having a dessert dilemma, don't worry about it. Whip up this cake and soon you'll have a slice of cake to go with your pot of tea.

Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake
1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
large pinch of nutmeg & cardamom
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup blueberries (frozen is a-ok)

crumb topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans

1. Preheat oven to 400. Butter and flour an 8" round cake tin, shaking out any floury excess. Set aside.

2. Prepare the crumb topping by using your fingers to work in the ingredients until you get pea-sized crumbles.

3. In a large bowl, combine the flour through to the pecans. In another bowl, blend together the egg, yogurt and oil. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and lightly blend. Stir in the blueberries until mixed through.

4. Pour batter into cake tin and spread down the top lightly with a spatula. Sprinkle the crumb topping over top. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool, slice and serve.

Jan Halvarson

12 comments:

RedFenyx said...

seems delicious!
Thanks for the recipe!

melissa said...

Some people don't make dessert?

It's the only thing I do make - and this recipe looks very nice and simple!

Aleksandra Podbereski said...

I guess it's slightly more complicated, but this is by far my favourite bundt cake recipe. 1. It's easy to make a bundt cake look fancy--powdered sugar and you're done! 2. Frozen blueberries!--so you can use local all year round! 3. Substitute buttermilk for milk with some lemon juice! SO. EASY.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Blueberry-Buttermilk-Bundt-Cake-109372

Alex Snowdon said...

Oh no! I shouldn't have looked at that cake at 4pm on a workday afternoon, I'm now desperate for something sweet n sugary. I'm off to scrounge some biscuits until I can make my own yummy cake...

Unknown said...

Looks delectable. (Mentally checking off the ingredients I have in the pantry.) Is whole wheat pastry flour different from whole wheat flour?

Dolores said...

Yum!!! And today is National Coffee Cake day.

kickpleat said...

Jane, the only difference between the two is that it's a softer wheat compared to the harder wheat of reg ww flour. You can sub in regular but it may result in a bit heavier of a cake - but it should be fine and still delicious.

kenzie said...

I was just thinking about using up some frozen blueberries left over from a failed scone experiment. perfect!

Unknown said...

all i can say is YUM

meghan said...

So I read this post while at work yesterday and had all the ingredients at home, except for the blueberries, I stopped and got frozen ones on my way home. I made it last night but turned them into mini cakes by using a cupcake pan. I brought them to work today, SOOO yummy!!! Definitely will go on my list of things to make again, so easy to make! Thank you for sharing!!

Joanne said...

I am a dessert fanatic. At weddings, I will barely eat the mains so that I can visit the dessert table more than once (I'm not telling how many times)!
Living with a diabetic however, I'm often having to come up with dessert recipes that are low in sugar and carbs. I noticed that this recipe has only a cup of brown sugar - between the cake and the crumble - which is awesome!

L said...

i made it for mothers day + it was so delicious! i had to use macadamia, peppitas and sunflower seeds as my nut topping. yum, i need more! thanks for the recipe xL