Blueberry Salve
Sometimes it's the little things that make the biggest impact. Blueberries are right up there. As always, your readership means everything. Enjoy!!
I’ve been craving coffee cake lately. A week or so ago I wasn’t sure exactly why this particular craving was popping up. But now I know it has everything to do with wanting to experience some kind of comfort during this tumultuous, violent time. It seems like every day more poor decision making and worse behavior is corrupting our democracy.
Senator Alex Padilla, D-Calif, who was pushed to the ground and handcuffed last week after asking a question during Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem’s new conference, said that he was “…sadly, not shocked in the least bit”, about New York City mayoral candidate Brad Lander’s arrest on Tuesday, June 17th, in a courthouse after Landers demanded to see a judicial warrant for the detention of an immigrant:
Padilla said yesterday on the Senate floor in regard to Trump’s deployment of the Marines and National Guard to Los Angeles:
What's happening is not just a threat to California, it's a threat to everyone in every state," he said. "If Donald Trump can bypass the governor and activate the National Guard to put down protests on immigrant rights, he can do it to suppress your rights, too. If he can deploy the Marines to Los Angeles without justification, he can deploy them to your state, too, he added.
I’ve been trying to brace myself for whatever might come next. Months and months ago, during our too long election cycle and up until January of this year, my friends and I would commiserate about the changing ethos of our country. We began our conversations by saying in unison, just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse it does. Then we’d spend the next 20 plus minutes re-hashing events in an effort to understand or at least try to make a modicum of sense from non-sensical rhetoric. We’ve stopped saying just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse.
It's so much worse now.
This is where making blueberry coffee cake comes in. Coffee cake in general is one of my favorite treats. Mixing in blueberries is the cherry on top. But since I’m always extremely hungry in the mornings, I knew I had to incorporate some kind of protein in the cake. I’m still trying to work my way through an abundance of rolled oats in my pantry, and I had some cream cheese on hand. So, I wondered if I could combine baked oats and coffee cake into a slightly decadent, one pan breakfasty, concoction? Was it a crazy idea or was I about to discover something delicious for breakfast?
Why not give it a try, I thought. Combining baked oats and coffeecake is waaaay less crazy than throwing a military parade for your birthday and calling it an homage to the army. It’s also waaaay less crazy than the newest Trump Organization money grab to start a cellular phone service, complete with roadside assistance, telemedicine, and unlimited texting to 100 countries. For a mere $499, you can buy a gold smartphone that they’ve said will be designed and built in the U.S.
Right.
This stuff is so crazy you can’t make it up.
Yet it’s happening right before our very eyes.
But back to blueberries and coffeecake. Because right now, blueberries and coffee cake make sense to me. Blueberries and coffee cake will always make sense.
This recipe combines four not so crazy things I enjoy eating: baked oats, blueberries, a cream cheese layer, and streusel topping. The blueberries and oats provide the backbone to the recipe while the cream cheese swirl and streusel topping are responsible for the hit of decadence. Once made, the cake needs to be refrigerated after it cools. It will keep for three to four days.
The crumb topping is so good and versatile you might want to consider making a double batch. Keep the extra topping in a baggie or container in the refrigerator for another coffee cake or batch of muffins. Because it’s a guarantee. More crazy White House shenanigans are coming our way and crumb topping for baked blueberry oats might be just the salve.
RECIPE: BAKED BLUEBERRY OAT COFFEE CAKE
8 SERVINGS
BAKING TIME: 40 MINUTES
Equipment needed:
8x8 baking pan
Hand mixer or stand mixer
Silicone spatula/wooden spoon
Measuring cups and spoons or a kitchen scale of using gram measurements
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CAKE
2 cups/226g rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt Diamond Kosher salt or 1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup/71g toasted almonds, or any nut of your choice. Omit if allergic to nuts.
1 ½ cup milk, whatever kind you prefer
2 eggs
4 ounces/114g cream cheese, at room temperature
4 ounces/114g Greek Yogurt
1 ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons maple syrup
10 oz/208g blueberries. You can use frozen berries but DON’T defrost them
INGREDIENTS FOR THE CRUMB TOPPING:
Makes about ¾ cup
½ cup/60g AP flour. You can use whole wheat flour or GF flour if preferred
¼ cup/53g light brown sugar
¼ cup/39g yellow corn meal
4 tablespoons/57g butter, slightly firm but at room temperature, in small pieces
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Place ingredients in a bowl. Using a fork, combine until just barely mixed and it has a coarse texture. DO NOT work the butter in all the way. It should look pretty rough and crumbly. Set aside until ready to use.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350º. Coat baking pan with a small amount of olive oil or vegetable oil to help cake release after cooking.
-In a large mixing bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and almonds. Stir to combine.
-Place cream cheese in a medium mixing bowl and beat with mixer until fluffy. Add eggs and mix again until combined. Add yogurt, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla. Mix again with mixer until everything is well combined.
-Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients.
-Using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, stir well to combine.
-Pour just enough of the cake batter into the 8x8 pan to cover the bottom. Now scatter the blueberries over the cake batter. Top the blueberries with the remaining batter from the mixing bowl.
-Bake the cake for 20 minutes and remove from oven
-NOW top the half-baked cake with the crumb topping and return to oven for another 20 minutes or until the crumb topping is slightly browned.
-Let cool on a wire rack for about 10-15 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve with more fresh blueberries on the side and a piping hot cup of coffee!