Blueberry Crumb Cake

I had some frozen blueberries left over from last season that I wanted to use up.  I found the Barefoot Contessa's recipe from a Blueberry Crumb Cake that had excellent reviews. It was super super easy and I had all the ingredients in my pantry with the exception of the sour cream.  

This is hands down the BEST tea cake I have had. You could substitute it with any fruit.  I think a strawberry crumble cake would be wonderful  It is super moist and the next day it was still fantastic, so you can definitely make it a day ahead!

A few tips of mine: The recipe calls for room temperature eggs.  This is because eggs at room temp you can achieve the maximum volume when beating them.  Although, if you are needing to seperate the whites from the yolk, like in the Marshmallow recipe, a cold egg seperates much easier. Any who...I did not allow them to reach room temp and it still tasted fantastic.  The same with the butter needing to be room temperature.

This temperature allows the maximum amount of air to be beaten into your batter. This creaming or beating of your batter or butter and sugar creates air bubbles that your leavener (baking powder or baking soda) will enlarge during baking. I melted the butter in the microwave for about 8 seconds. So....theres your little home ec. lesson for the day. On to the recipe!!!!!!! 

Ingredients

For the streusel:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

For the cake:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature (3/4 stick)
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2/3 cup sour cream
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• Confectioners' sugar for sprinkling

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9-inch round baking pan.

For the streusel:

Combine the granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter and then the flour. Mix well and set aside.

For the cake:

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment on high speed for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Reduce the speed to low and add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread it out with a knife. With your fingers,
crumble the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool completely and serve sprinkled with confectioners' sugar.

Here is my finished tea cake! It came out of the pan perfectly!!