With July just around the corner, my food thoughts begin to turn to fresh blueberries.  We are fortunate to live in an area that is brimming with fresh produce, farmers markets, and pick-your-own farms.  One of our favorite stops is a local, organic blueberry farm.   Not only is the price amazing, but the blueberries, picked fresh from the bush, are amazing as well.

It’s always our goal to pick enough blueberries to freeze to ensure that we have delicious berries in the fall and winter months.  During our last visit, we did just that and picked nearly fifty pounds of berries.  I quickly worked to freeze all but ten pounds.  After being individually frozen, I bagged the berries into 5 pound bags and tucked them away into the chest freezer in our basement.

I forgot about them…but my kids did not.  Unbeknownst to me, my three teen boys were making daily trips to the basement and eating handfuls of the frozen blueberries.  Come the fall, when I was looking to use some of those berries, I discovered one lone bag in the freezer.  Those boys of mine had plowed through 35 pounds of blueberries over the summer.

How can you be mad at that?  They’ve got good taste (the boys and the berries).

Well, this week I picked up a flat of berries for eating, not freezing, and begged the boys to leave me some to bake with.  They did, and those berries were used to make this amazing blueberry crumb cake.

I’ve got a weak spot for desserts with crumbs, and I’ve had it on my mind to create a gluten free crumb cake recipe for quite some time.  Well, here it is.  I hope you’ll give it a try!

Gluten Free Blueberry Crumb Cake
serves 9

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick), salted butter, melted, cooled
4 tablespoons cream cheese spread
1 cup sifted, powdered sugar
3 eggs
1 cup gluten free flour blend with xanthan gum (I used Bob’s 1 to  1)
1/4 cup potato starch
1 & 1/2 teaspoons double acting baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Crumb Topping:
1 cup (2 sticks)salted butter, melted
2 & 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend
1 & 1/4 cups light brown sugar

Filling:
1 & 1/2 cups fresh blueberries (not frozen)

Topping:
Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Line a square, glass 8″ x 8″  baking dish with enough parchment paper to overhang two opposing sides by 1″.  Set aside.

Melt 1 stick of butter.  Allow to cool.  Place the melted butter, cream cheese, and powdered sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with an paddle attachment.  Mix together.  Add in the eggs and continue mixing until the batter is creamy.

Add one cup of flour, the potato starch, baking powder, and cinnamon in.  Mix until the batter is completely smooth, about 1 minute on medium speed.

Spread the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Create a tight, single layer of blueberries over the batter.  You could certainly opt to use any fresh, seasonal fruit in place of blueberries.  Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, peaches, apricots, and cherries would all be equally delicious.   Be sure to steer clear of frozen fruit in this recipe.  Fresh works best.

Now, begin to make the crumb topping.  Melt 2 sticks of butter.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 2 & 1/2 cups of flour and 1 & 1/4 cups of brown sugar.  Pour the melted butter into the sifted mixture.  Using a fork stir together to create the crumbs.  You want to have a mixture of big and medium sized crumbs.  What you do NOT want are crumbs that look like sand on the beach.

Scatter the crumbs on top of the blueberry layer.

Bake in the center rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Allow the cake to rest for at least 30 minutes prior to serving.

Cut into 9 squares and top with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

 

 

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