Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake

Remember how I said that sometimes I create occasions to make food?  Well--I made one last week.  It was really a perfect storm.  I had five pounds of cornmeal that I confiscated from my mom during the great pantry-clean-out, and blueberries were on sale for $1 a pint at my local market.  Plus, I was in sore need to see my grandparents, who I typically see weekly and haven't really visited with since the end of July.  I asked if I could bring over cake, and they lovingly agreed!  If all of those circumstances don't scream, "MAKE THE BLUEBERRY CORNMEAL BUTTER CAKE YOU'VE WANTED TO MAKE FOR 8 MONTHS!!!!"  I don't know what would...

{Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake}

Not only that, I made some and brought it to work for my lovely co-workers.  To say that it went fast was an understatement.  It's nice to know that my baking is held in such regard!!!

{Whisking the dry ingredients together}

{Adding eggs to the creamed butter}

{Add flour mixture until just combined!  (Key if you want a soft cake!)}

{Mix blueberries with flour and fold into batter}

{Cake batter!}

{Dry ingredients for the topping}

{Add butter and mix until crumbly (hands work best in my opinion so I wear gloves}

{Spread cake batter evenly in the pan; plus a shot of the yummy cake I was making!}

{Sprinkle topping on top of the cake batter; this is the cake that I made for work.  I doubled the recipe to fit this pan}

{My grandparents gave me this pan; it's called a brownie tin.  Same principle as a cupcake tin, just square.  The original recipe only makes this much, and I had not used this pan so I decided to do it (it's much better individually in my opinion because the edges get crunchy!)} 

One year ago: Peach Sangria

Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake
from smitten kitchen cookbook

Makes an 8x8 pan or 12 cupcakes

1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest
1/3 cup sour cream
2 cups blueberries

Topping:

1/2 cup sugar
6 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornmeal
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
dash of salt
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Whisk flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Using a mixer, beat butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
4. Add eggs in one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions.
5. Add vanilla and lemon zest until combined.
6. Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and mix until just combined.  Add sour cream and mix until just combined.  Add another 1/3 of the flour mixture until just combined.
7. Add blueberries to the remaining flour and stir to combine.
8. Gently fold blueberry-flour mixture into the batter until just combined.
9. Spray cake pan or cupcake tins with non-stick spray.  Spread the cake batter evenly if in a pan; if in a cupcake tin, fill each cup until almost full and smooth out the top.
10. Mix topping ingredients in the bowl that held the blueberry-flour mixture (save dishes!) until crumbly.
11. Spread the topping evenly and in a thin layer--this mean that you might not use all the topping.  I made this twice and never did use it all, but I sat there and ate it instead (don't judge).
12. Bake until a tester comes out clean--cake pan will take about 70 minutes while cupcakes will take 20-25.  To ensure even brown-ness, turn the pan halfway through baking.
13. Cool and watch as they last a scant 24 hours!

Did I get some strange looks when I brought this to work?  Why, yes--yes I did.  However, almost everyone tried a piece, and no one hated it.  Some said "huh that's interesting" while most said "love it!"

So go forth and make cake!  No excuse or reason needed!  ;o)

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