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Weekend Recipe: Blueberry Boy Bait

June 24, 2016
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The folks at Cook's Country have swapped a few ingredients in the Blueberry Boy Bait recipe to give this delicious treat a richer flavor.

This coffee cake with the odd name—so called because the girl who created it for the Pillsbury Grand National Baking Contest said that teenage boys found it irresistible—is a moist cake with blueberries and a light streusel topping. We tracked down a version of the contest-winning recipe and decided to see if we could improve it.

The original recipe called for shortening and granulated sugar. We swapped butter for the shortening and brown sugar for some of the granulated sugar. Both exchanges resulted in richer, deeper flavor in the cake. We doubled the amount of blueberries; half went into the cake batter and the other half on top. An extra egg in the cake batter firmed up the structure so that the extra fruit wouldn’t make the cake mushy. The topping couldn’t be simpler: in addition to the blueberries, just sugar and cinnamon instead of a streusel, which baked into a light, crisp, sweet coating. If the quick disappearance of this cake is any indication, it’s not only teenage boys who can’t refuse a second piece.

Blueberry Boy Bait
Image courtesy of Cook's Country 

Blueberry Boy Bait
Serves 12

If using frozen blueberries, do not let them thaw, as they will turn the batter a blue-green color.

INGREDIENTS

Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour plus 1 teaspoon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
16 tablespoons unsalted butter (2 sticks), softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (see note above)

Topping:
1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (see note above)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS

1. For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 13 by 9-inch baking pan.

2. Whisk 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl. With electric mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated. Reduce speed to medium and beat in one-third of flour mixture until incorporated; beat in half of milk. Beat in half of remaining flour mixture, then remaining milk, and finally remaining flour mixture. Toss blueberries with remaining 1 teaspoon flour. Using rubber spatula, gently fold in blueberries. Spread batter into prepared pan.

3. For the topping: Scatter blue-berries over top of batter. Stir sugar and cinnamon together in small bowl and sprinkle over batter. Bake until toothpick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in pan 20 minutes, then turn out and place on serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. (Cake can be stored in airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.)

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