I’ve been wanting to try cake recipes from Life, Love & Sugar, and Father’s Day was a good opportunity to test a recent post on the site for Blueberry Crumble Layer Cake. I have a long queue of recipes I want to try, and this cake was chosen by my wife out of a list of options.

The cake is a cinnamon brown sugar cake, and it is delicious. The only truly disappointing part of this cake is that there isn’t more of the actual cake. The layers are not very tall, maybe 1 1/4″, and are probably the highlight of the cake. My wife thought the cinnamon cake was one of the best cakes I’ve baked and wants me to make it again.

However, she thought the frosting was too sweet and would like to try the cake paired with a less sugary option. This was echoed by two other taste testers, as well. I would tend to agree with their assessment, noting the need to add enough sugar to offset the earthy taste of pureed blueberries. The blueberries also give the frosting a nice color, but I wonder if using a blueberry compote (similar to the filling in this cake) would be a better option for the frosting in lieu of just pureed blueberries and a lot of powdered sugar.

The blueberry compote filling is very nice in between the layers. I really like adding fruit filling in between the cakes for something different, plus this filling helped to cut the sweetness of the frosting. Another highlight of the cake in both flavor and texture was the oat crumble that adorned the outside of the cake. I’m not sure if there is a way to add more of it to the cake, but it is good enough that you want more. I fear that adding it in between layers would make it soggy. Perhaps a filling of blueberry compote, frosting, and oat crumble in that order would work.

BLUEBERRY CRUMBLE CAKE
Based on this recipe.

INGREDIENTS

Cinnamon Cakes:
2 1/2 cups (325 g) all-purpose flour
1 cup (207 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (225 g) light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup whole milk, room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs, room temperature
1 cup water

Blueberry Filling:
1/4 cup (52 g) granulated sugar
1 tbsp. (8 g) cornstarch
2 tsp. water
2 cups (277 g) fresh blueberries

Oat Crumble:
1/4 cup (33 g) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
2 tbsp. light brown sugar
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold and sliced
2 tbsp. quick-cooking oats

Blueberry Frosting:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup vegetable shortening
8 cups (920 g) powdered sugar
6 tbsp. blueberry puree (from 1 cup, or 135 g, blueberries)
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. For the cakes: Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare three 8″ cake pans with non-stick baking spray and parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, combine add milk, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and eggs.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together flour, sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, then beat until well combined.
5. On low speed, slowly add the water until well combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
6. Divide batter evenly (~585 g each) between the pans and bake for 24-28 minutes (mine took 24 minutes).
7. Remove cakes from the oven and allow to cool for 2-3 minutes before removing cakes from the pans to cool completely.
8. For the blueberry filling: While the cakes are baking, combine sugar, cornstarch, and water in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir to combine and heat until sugar begins to melt.
9. Add the blueberries, stirring to coat with sugar mixture.
10. Cook blueberries until softened and juicy. Remove from heat when juice has begun to thicken.
11. Pour mixture into another bowl, allow to cool, then refrigerate.
12. For the oat crumble: After the cakes have finished baking, in a medium bowl, combine flour, sugars, and butter, using a fork to press the butter into the dry ingredients to form a crumbly mixture.
13. Add the oatmeal and continue incorporating the butter into the mixture with the fork.
14. Sprinkle mixture over a lined baking sheet and bake for 5-8 minutes (I baked mine for 8 minutes). Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
15. For the frosting: Once the cakes, filling, and crumble have cooled, puree blueberries.
16. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and shortening on high speed until smooth.
17. Add half the powdered sugar, and mix on low speed until well combined, then add half of the blueberry puree until smooth. Repeat with remaining powdered sugar and blueberry puree.
18. Add cinnamon, then beat on medium speed for one minute to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
19. For the assembly: Remove domes from cakes, as needed.
20. Pipe a damn of frosting around the outside of the bottom layer, then add half of the blueberry filling inside of the damn.
21. Cover filling with additional frosting then spread into even layer.
22. Add second cake layer and repeat.
23. Add final cake layer, then frost and decorate as desired.

NOTE: About 3 pints of blueberries were used for this cake.