Have you ever had a recipe “fail” turn into one of your best recipes ever? That is exactly what happened with this cake. My plan was to bake a blueberry buckle, but then realized I didn’t have the requisite springform pan. I thought I’d improvise and add the streusel topping to the bottom of the pan first, with the intention of turning it into an upside-down blueberry cake, but then I waited too long to flip it after taking it out of the oven. Some of the topping stuck to the pan, which made the cake look awful, even though it was still perfectly edible.
DIG DEEPER
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I probably would’ve simply just cut it up and served it as-is to my own family, but since I was planning to take it over to some friends, I knew I needed to do something to make it look pretty. I scraped the stuck portions of crust back onto the cake, then back right side up onto the plate, so that the streusel topping was now a sugar crust, then whipped up a quick sour cream glaze to spread over top.
I was a little hesitant to bring it, but apparently 2 wrongs do sometimes make a right, because both our friends AND my normally non-dessert-loving husband raved about the perfect combination of the tart blueberries, sweet crunchy crust and cool sour cream topping. I really knew I had struck gold when Princess–who doesn’t even like blueberries–asked if I would make it for her birthday cake. Apparently this is one “mistake” that will be repeated a lot more often!
Here is what you need:
1 stick unsalted butter, softened and divided (plus more for greasing pan) 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup sugar, separated 1 egg 2 + 1/3 cups flour, separated 2 teaspoons baking powder 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup milk 3 cups blueberries 1/3 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/2 cup sour cream 1/2 cup powdered sugar 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees; liberally grease round cake pan with butter.
Step 2: Beat 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 cups sugar until fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add egg and beat 1 minute more.
Step 3: Mix together 2 cups flour, salt, & baking powder.
Step 4: Add 1/2 of flour mixture and half of milk to egg mixture; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour and milk; mix again, just until blended. Batter will be thick.
Step 5: Add blueberries to batter and carefully mix in with a spatula, being careful not to mash the berries.
Step 6: Blend remaining half stick of butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in small bowl until crumbly. Layer crumb mixture at bottom of the pan.
Step 7: Pour blueberry batter carefully over crumb mixture, then spread out evenly with spatula. Tap pan gently on counter to release air bubbles. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
Step 8: Remove from oven. Loosen sides with knife, then invert cake immediately onto plate. Let cool upside down for 10 minutes.
Step 9: In small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to make glaze. Flip cake again onto serving plate, then carefully spread glaze over top of cake. Serve warm, if desired, or refrigerate and serve chilled. (We liked it best chilled!)
Sugar-Crusted Blueberry Cake with Sour Cream Glaze
Ingredients
- 1 stick unsalted butter divided and softened (plus more for greasing pan)
- 3/4 cup + 1/3 cup sugar separated
- 1 egg
- 2 cups + 1/3 cups flour separated
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup milk
- 3 cups blueberries
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees; liberally grease round cake pan with butter.
- Beat 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 cups sugar until fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add egg and beat 1 minute more.
- Mix together 2 cups flour, salt, & baking powder.
- Add half of flour mixture and half of milk to egg mixture; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour and milk; mix again, just until blended. Batter will be thick.
- Add blueberries to batter and carefully mix in with a spatula, being careful not to mash the berries.
- Blend remaining half stick of butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in small bowl until crumbly. Layer crumb mixture at bottom of the pan.
- Pour blueberry batter carefully over crumb mixture, then spread out evenly with spatula. Tap pan gently on counter to release air bubbles. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
- Remove from oven. Loosen sides with knife, then invert cake immediately onto plate. Let cool upside down for 10 minutes.
- In small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to make glaze. Flip cake again onto serving plate, then carefully spread glaze over top of cake. Serve warm, if desired, or refrigerate and serve chilled. (We liked it best chilled!)
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Have you ever had a recipe fail? How did you salvage it?
That looks amazing! I love when mistakes turn into total home runs. Thanks for sharing on Simple Supper Tuesday.
Looks delicious! I love blueberries, so I’m going to have to give this a try. I totally hear you about having pleasant surprises from mistakes. Fun how that works out sometimes! Thanks so much for sharing. Enjoy your day!
This looks incredible! Must make it soon.
Looks amazing. My husband loves blueberries so I have to try this soon! Thanks so much for the recipe.
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That looks delish! I love blueberries but I’ve never had a sour cream glaze, sounds interesting.
Pinning for later.
I think you have a very realistic touch on your blog. It is fun to read, and I enjoyed this post.
Your cake looks great, I re-made a cake tonight that failed yesterday. It looks far much better already. I found your blog post through Southern Lovely Show and Share.
Oh wow! That looks divine. Can i have a slice?
I have seen this recipe before but in here its very simple and easy to understand. I’m so glad that I’ve found this.
If it’s got blueberries, count me in. 🙂 It looks great and your directions are very nice!
Going to have to put this on my list for blueberry season this year – this looks great!
Saw you at Hun What’s for dinner?
Blueberry Buckle is one of my favorite recipes, so I’m going to have to get some blueberries out of the freezer and try this new “variation” on a classic! 🙂
This recipe looks absolutely amazing! I love the fact that it was a “fail” but you saved it. I love it when that happens 🙂 This fabulous recipe will be featured tomorrow @ Great Idea Thursday’s! Krista @ A Handful of Everything
This looks amazing! I chose this as a feature from my link party last week. I’m so glad you linked up. Feel free to grab an “I’ve Been Featured” button from the Link Parties page of my site. Have a great week!
XOXO
Angie
I made this cake today because I had so many blueberries. It is absolutely delicious! Thank you!
When you say stick of butter how much are you taking about (a stick to me is 450 g)
If you live in a higher altitude, you MUST make adjustments. My cake came out uncooked on the bottom and when I removed it from pan, it poured all over!
What is the size of the cake tin?
190degC presumeable not in a fan oven
The cake pan is a 9 inch round.
Enjoy!
i would love to make these cake but i do not like blueberries ca i use strawberries instead
I haven’t tried it so I’m not sure how it would turn out. I’m actually not normally a big fan of blueberries but this cake is amazing! Let me know if you do try it with strawberries! 🙂
Turned out really pretty, and hopefully tasty! Made for my Grandpa’s B-day/ 4th of July everyone loved it so far.
Well , following the directions…… The glaze melted on the warm cake. Was not pretty like your picture. Need to be more specific on that aspect. I used less glaze, thank goodness, because it would have been a gooey mess if I used all of it. Good flavor, unhappy with the glaze. 🙁
So I don’t think I’ve ever made a frosting or glaze with baking soda. Is it supposed to make the glaze fluffy (in combination with the sour cream)?
My family’s favorite cake! They ask for it every blueberry season. We love it!!!