Blueberry Crumble Cake

As I was catching up on my YouTube subscriptions, this little cake appeared in the list for one of my favourite channels, Cupcake Jemma. The hubby happened to be around at the time and watched it with me then requested I make it immediately.  Unfortunately for him, there were no blueberries in the house, but the next day I headed to the shops to pick up some to make this ridiculously delicious Blueberry Crumble Cake.

Following that first cake, I have made this another three or four times, in as many weeks almost.  Any time we had someone coming over, or the hubby needed to take a cake to work, this was the go to recipe and for good reason.  The blueberries burst in your mouth, you get the crunch from the crumble on top as well as that nice soft cake.  Perfection.

The first step is to make the streusel topping, similar to the one you have seen me use previously in the Éclairs post where the addition of the streusel made the choux pastry puff up much more.  For this cake you will need melted butter, demerara sugar, flour and cinnamon.

It is as simple as putting everything into a bowl and mixing together until it is nice and combined.  As Jemma mentions in the video, the demerara sugar gives a nice flavour as well as a nice crunch due to the size of the granules, however you can substitute it out if you cannot find it.

Set the topping aside and move onto the cake batter, for which you will need caster sugar, vegetable oil, an egg, milk, flour, baking powder, salt and of course blueberries.

Make sure you get the best blueberries you can find as they are the hero of the cake.  We were lucky to find these massive ones at the time and I use a little more than Jemma’s original recipe because in Australia we have punnets of blueberries in 125g or 250g and I found it easier just to chuck the lot in rather than leave a few out.

In a bowl, beat the caster sugar, vegetable oil and egg together until the mixture is quite pale and a little fluffy.

Pour in the milk and mix until combined.  Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then add to the wet ingredients and mix until it comes together.  If you are using a stand mixer, remove the bowl and then fold in the blueberries with a spoon/spatula as you do not want to use your mixer for this step and squash them.

It is best to use a loose-bottomed or spring-form pan for this cake so you do not have to invert it.  In the video, Jemma uses an 8-inch tin but the spring-form one I had was 9-inches and still yielded a nice height.  Line the bottom of the tin and then pour in your batter.

Grab that streusel topping and crumble it over the top of your cake, ensuring every bit (or pretty much every bit) of it is covered.

Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.  As this blueberry crumble cake bakes, your kitchen fills with the smell of cinnamon from the streusel topping.

Let the cake cool in the pan completely, or until just warm, then transfer to your serving plate.  Cut a slice and add some extra blueberries and a bit of cream then tuck in.

This is definitely best eaten on the day, but should you have any leftovers we kept it in the fridge and the crunch was still just as good.  Just heat up the slice in the microwave a little if you like and maybe serve with ice cream instead.

Print Recipe

Blueberry Crumble Cake

Adapted from Cupcake Jemma

Course

Cake

Servings

slices

Ingredients

For the streusel topping

• 50 g butter melted
• 100 g demerara sugar
• 50 g plain/all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon

For the cake

• 175 g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 egg(s)
• 120 ml milk
• 225 g plain/all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 250 g blueberries

To serve (optional)

• blueberries
• cream
• vanilla ice cream

Course Cake Servings slices Ingredients For the streusel topping 50 g butter melted 100 g demerara sugar 50 g plain/all-purpose flour 1 tsp cinnamon For the cake 175 g caster sugar 4 tbsp vegetable oil 1 egg(s) 120 ml milk 225 g plain/all-purpose flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt 250 g blueberries To serve (optional) blueberries cream vanilla ice cream

Instructions

For the streusel topping

1. Place the melted butter, demerera sugar, flour and cinnamon into a small bowl and mix together until thoroughly combined.
2. Set aside.

For the cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and line the bottom of your loose-bottomed/spring-form pan with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl (or your stand mixer), beat the caster sugar, vegetable oil and egg together until the mixture is quite pale and a little fluffy.
3. Pour in the milk and mix until combined.  
4. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt then add to the wet ingredients and mix until it comes together.  
5. Gently fold in the blueberries (if you are using a stand mixer, remove the bowl and use a spoon/spatula).
6. Pour the batter into your prepared pan then sprinkle over the streusel topping, ensuring all of the batter is covered.
7. Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
8. Allow the cake to cool completely in the pan, or until just warm, then transfer to your platter.

To serve

1. Serve with additional blueberries and cream or ice cream.