Blueberry Streusel Cake - Happy New Year!!!

I'm really fond of fruits in my cake and the berries, full of anti-oxidants, are definitely special! As a child, I haven't seen Blueberries or Blackberries and was fascinated to see some fresh produce here in Singapore! We do get Strawberries in India from places like Reliance Fresh or Nilgiris Supermarket and whenever appa brings home these cute fruits, amma makes fresh smoothies that taste so heavenly!

I am immensely delighted that this is my 100th post (Yeh!!!) and today is the 1st day of 2012 :) This is Celebration time! I decided to splurge a bit today and baked this one, without substituting butter with anything else! I did feel a bit guilty on creating some exceptions, but I guess we really enjoyed every piece of the cake :)

Blueberry Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping

The basic cake recipe is adapted from Joy of Baking, but the streusel topping is my own combination, with some oats and walnuts added for the crunch!

Blueberry Streusel Cake

What I Used for the Cake Batter -

Dry Ingredients -

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1/8th of a teaspoon
Baking powder - 1 tsp

Wet Ingredients -

Butter (unsalted) - 1/4 cup 
White Sugar - 1/2 cup
Flaxmeal - 1 tbsp soaked  3 tbsp of warm water for 5 minutes (or 1 egg)
Milk - 1/3 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp
Blueberries - 350 grams

Blueberries - out of the freezer!

For the Streusel Topping -

All-purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Brown sugar - 1/2 cup
Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp
Walnuts (coarsely chopped) - about 10
Oats (Quick Cooking) - 1/4 cup
Butter - 3 tbsp

Steps -

To Make Streusel Topping -

Mix the flour, oats, cinnamon and sugar together. Cut in the butter with a fork and blend well until it forms coarse crumbs. Add chopped walnuts. This is the streusel topping. Keep it aside.

To Prepare the Cake Batter -

• Sift the dry ingredients and mix them together.
• Beat the butter until smooth and cream sugar along with it.
• Whisk flaxmeal with warm water until it becomes sticky. Then, add it to the creamed butter-sugar mixture. Please look up this recipe for pictures of freshly ground flaxseeds and how it looks when whisked with warm water.
• Add vanilla and beat until well-incorporated.

• Now, add the flour mixture (dry) to the wet and add milk gradually and mix until just combined.

• Take out your cake pan, grease with butter (or use a baking sheet as a liner) and pour this prepared batter on top of it.

• Arrange blueberries on top of this batter.

• Sprinkle the prepared streusel topping on top. Press slightly with a spatula.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake, comes out clean, without anything sticking to it. Remove from the oven and let cool on the wire rack.

Blueberry Cake with Streusel Crumb Topping

The streusel crumb topping is the BEST part of this cake! It is ABSOLUTELY RICH with butter and sugar and the addition of oats and walnuts give it the much needed crunch :) I say, its so much better than cakes loaded with cream on top! Do try this and your taste buds will be soo pleased that you'll want to make it over and over again! :-)

Serve fresh out of the oven when it's still warm. Refrigerate the cake (if anything remains!) and it will stay good for a week.

Wishing everyone a fantastic new year filled with good health, joy and prosperity!!! :)