The grass is always greener...

It never fails...when I am sitting at work, I'd rather be at home in the kitchen.  When I'm elbow-deep in pastry in the kitchen, I'd rather be sitting on the deck with a nice cold beverage.  Maybe I have ADD, or something....maybe nothing holds my attention long enough, so I'd like to be in several places at once.  I am a multi-tasker to the extreme...I don't like to be limited to one activity at a time, because I always think that I could be doing something else that might be more fun or productive...so I inevitably end up doing bits of everything at once.

I have spent way too much time in the kitchen this week...way more than I normally do (but to be fair, my normal amount is shockingly low).  I think the good thing about devoting time to being in the kitchen is that it benefits many people.  I mean, I enjoy sitting down with a good book, but that doesn't bring anything to anyone else.  I have gotten to the point that if I sit down to watch a movie, I find something else to do at the same time because I feel guilty that I'm sitting still.  Baking is a truly mutually beneficial act.

For me, baking is the best of all worlds.  After a long stressful day looking at numbers, whisking egg whites is blissful.  After answering phones to the point of vocal exhaustion, chopping up chocolate is a dream.  There is the excitement of waiting for the finished product....there is the scent that fills the house...and I like that waiting period.  I love the anticipation of what is to come (I love Advent, the time travelling to get to wherever I'm going, waiting for something great to come in the courier, etc.).

I think that's why I like making cakes.  They don't take so much time that I lose my focus mid-way through (like every time I make a pie...I've pretty much had enough by the time it comes to rolling out the top layer of pastry), but they still deliver in the stress-reducing, heavenly-scent wafting, and treat-yumminess categories.

If you've been following the plot here, you know that I had a slew of blueberries in the house.  I couldn't possibly bear making another pie that I wouldn't even be able to enjoy the fruits of my labour for, so I decided to give the humble blueberry another chance, and get them into a cake of some kind...and there were many choices.  In the end, I decided on a blueberry buckle...yet another recipe from the good people over at Cook's Illustrated.

A few words of "warning":

This uses 4 cups of blueberries...sounds like a lot?  You betcha.  Now, if you absolutely love blueberries, go for the whole 4 cups.  As I am not 100% sold on them, I should have used a tiny bit less than called for because this cake was LOADED with blueberries...like, there was only enough cake to hold the berries together...and it was superb, but in future, I will try this with less berries to see how it turns out.

Also, my pictures all came out blurry, so I have included the photo from the Cook's Illustrated site!

Streusel

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch table salt

4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick), cut into 8 pieces, softened but still cool

Cake

1.5 cups all-purpose flour

1.5 teaspoons baking powder

10 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/4 stick), softened but still cool

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon table salt

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

2 large eggs, room temperature

4 cups fresh blueberries, picked over

 

For the streusel:
1. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, combine flour, sugars, cinnamon, and salt on low speed until well combined and no large brown sugar lumps remain, about 45 seconds. Add butter and mix on low until mixture resembles wet sand and no large butter pieces remain, about 2 1/2 minutes. Transfer streusel to small bowl and set aside.

For the cake:
2. Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9-inch round cake pan with 2-inch sides with nonstick cooking spray, line bottom with parchment or waxed paper round, and spray round; dust pan with flour and knock out excess.

3. Whisk flour and baking powder in small bowl to combine; set aside. In standing mixer fitted with flat beater, cream butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest at medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes; using rubber spatula, scrape down bowl. Beat in vanilla until combined, about 30 seconds. With mixer running at medium speed, add eggs one at a time; beat until partially incorporated, then scrape down bowl and continue to beat until fully incorporated (mixture will appear broken). With mixer running on low speed, gradually add flour mixture; beat until flour is almost fully incorporated, about 20 seconds. Disengage bowl from mixer; stir batter with rubber spatula, scraping bottom and sides of bowl, until no flour pockets remain and batter is homogenous; batter will be very heavy and thick. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries until evenly distributed.

4. Transfer batter to prepared pan; with rubber spatula, using a pushing motion, spread batter evenly to pan edges and smooth surface. Squeeze handful of streusel in hand to form large cohesive clump; break up clump with fingers and sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Repeat with remaining streusel. Bake until deep golden brown and toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into center of cake comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool on wire rack 15 to 20 minutes (cake will fall slightly as it cools).

5. Run paring knife around sides of cake to loosen. Place upside-down plate (do not use plate or platter on which you plan to serve the cake) on top of cake pan; invert cake to remove from pan, lift off cake pan, then peel off and discard parchment. Re-invert cake onto serving platter. Cool until just warm or to room temperature, at least 1 hour. Cut into wedges and serve.