Blueberry Crumb Coffee Cake

Tuesdays with Dorie has over 200 members who make the same recipe and post each Tuesday. Joining this group is exciting because it is currently closed and only opened up to new members for just for one day last week, St. Patrick’s Day.

I jumped right on it, which means that you can look forward to a weekly, delicious Dorie Greenspan treats. Each week a different host picks the recipe from Dorie’s book, Baking, From My Home to Yours. This week’s recipe was picked by Sihan of Befuddlement, who served as this week’s host.

Normally, I do not follow the crowd or recipes, but the allure of TWD was too hard to resist. I’ve looked each week at so many beautiful pictures and creative renditions of the chosen recipe and I wanted to be a part of it. My intention is to learn a lot about desserts, and create some sweet photographs to share with you.

Desserts from Scratch are More Nutritionally Sound!

As Spinach Tiger, I promote healthy eating and don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but what I think is ultimately important when eating sweet desserts is to make them from scratch. Store bought desserts often contain high fructose corn syrup, trans fats, or new fat and sugar substitutes that are not good for you.

Take a moment to read why you don’t want to eat high fructose corn syrup. There are also many additives, preservatives, and chemicals that appear in processed baked goods and box mixes. I encourage you to make your own baked goods, freeze small, individual portions, and enjoy the goodness of ingredients and the love you put into it.

When feasible, use the least refined real sugar, and white whole wheat flour. However, I’m still not where I want to be when using alternative whole grains, but am hoping to be able to learn more about baking and learn more about making the healthiest adjustments when choosing ingredients.

The topping is made with chopped walnuts, butter and brown sugar. Crunchy, and yet not too sweet.

Blueberries and Walnuts are Brain Food!

I can tell just by looking at an ingredient list if I will like something. This recipe had many of my favorites that go together so well…nutmeg, vanilla, lemon zest, walnuts and, of course, blueberries. And, it’s brain food. Yes, read here why walnuts and blueberries are very good for your brain and help neutralize free radicals. Don’t you love when you can find a reason to eat a Dorie Greenspan creation.

This was my first Tuesday with Dorie and I can’t wait to go visiting the other sites that are showcasing this delicious blueberry coffee crumb cake, and I look forward to the next recipe,

The Process
I baked this in a square silicone baking dish, and removed right at 55 minutes. It was perfect.
The batter is very very thick and it concerned me a bit, thinking I didn’t read the directions, but once it came out of the oven, I couldn’t wait for it to cool. We were eating it warm with big sips of milk. I was on my way to a wine tasting and justified this indulgence as my dinner. That was yesterday. Today I was able to get my neighbor, mom and husband to join in and eat really big pieces. I still have about four pieces left that are going into the freezer for a rainy Sunday.

Find out more about Dorie at her blog,  The recipe can be found in this book, Baking: From My Home to Yours.