Nut Coffee Cake with Blueberries

There seems to be a lot of blueberries for sale, everywhere! And all at a fairly good price. Between me and my sister, I think we collected more than we really need, so besides freezing them,  I used about a pound to top up the amount of fruit I needed when making cherry jam... I guess it's Cherry Blueberry Jam now. I hope it tastes great!..hope hope and more hope.. even if it's not great, I hope at least edible and somewhat yummy! Jam is a funny thing, you can't really know for sure if it all worked until it's done..  *sigh*... ok..ok, less about jam and more other blueberry stuff! Although...runny jam is great on ice cream!

I love coffee cake, especially when having coffee. It seems like such a civilized thing to do. Like afternoon tea with dainty teacups. But coffee cake and coffee feels more rustic and down to earth. More like a friendly visit with girlfriends instead of a snooty affair. Apologies to afternoon tea drinking / cucumber sandwich eating folks :)

I took this one over to my mom....minus a TINY slice...Thankfully I had better self control than I did when I made the Sally Lunn!  It was yummy, although very cake like and not as dense as I envision coffee cake to be.

I basically followed the recipe as is with the exception of 1 or 2 things.  Ok, 3 things if I'm being honest.

I didn't read 'square pan' until I had already poured the batter into the Bundt Pan. And, well, I kind of decided that I didn't want to only use half the topping, nor did I want to put the topping and blueberries on top - so I followed the basic recipe and just added blueberries along with the first layer of topping in the middle of the batter.

It doesn't mention it in the recipe, but I usually dust fruit with flour before adding them into the batter. So I did that too.

I did have a bit of concern when I put the final bit of topping on. I thought to myself, "How the heck is this going to work...the cake gets flipped, so this is really the bottom", that's when I read 'square pan', which makes more sense based on the directions! 

There wasn't anything else to do, but put it in the oven and hope for the best. And..well, it worked out great! The blueberries and nuts sunk in to the batter a bit while cooking, so it didn't leave a weird sticky mess on the bottom when I flipped it over  :) Yay! I won!

I let it cool for the 10 - 15 minutes they recommend and then flipped it out onto a plate.

I wanted to pretty it up, so I lightly sprinkled it with icing sugar.

I took some pictures, and then off to my mom's house, cake in hand :)  Hahah, they didn't wait long to try it, since when I asked how she liked it later on that day, she said she liked it and that it was still warm when she tried it :)


Nut Coffee Cake with Blueberries
Five Roses Flour Cook Book  - 1970?  (pg 37)

Topping

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp butter or margarine

DIRECTIONS 

Combine brown sugar, nuts, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture is the size of large peas.

Batter (Basic Recipe)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 cup Five Roses All Purpose Flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp shortening
• 1 egg - beaten
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

1. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. In another bowl, cream together sugar and shortening until smooth.
3. Add egg and vanilla, and beat until mixture is light.
4. Gradually stir in dry ingredients alternatively with milk.
5. Spread half of the batter into greased pan. 
6. Sprinkle half of topping on top.
7. Cover with remaining batter and sprinkle with remaining topping.
8. Bake in a moderate oven.
9. Allow cake to sit at room temperature in pan on rack 10 -15 minutes.
10. Cut pieces from pan and serve warm.

Square Pan: 20 cm (8")
Temperature: 180 C (350 F)
Cooking Time: 30 - 40 minutes
Yield: 1 coffee cake

Variations: Blueberries

• 1 1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, not thawed

DIRECTIONS

1. Prepare only half of the topping.
2. Spread batter in greased mould.
3. Arrange blueberries on top and sprinkle with topping