Smitten Kitchen Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake

A good friend of mine gifted me the Smitten Kitchen cookbook for Christmas, and I have been obsessed with Deb Perelman's recipes ever since.

The below recipe for SK's Blueberry Cornmeal Butter Cake bars is a favorite amongst my family and friends--they're always eaten in full within 24 hours! These bars are super easy to make, look pretty, and are for sure a crowd pleaser.

 

 

 

Ingredients

    

8 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 c all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
½ c cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp table salt
1 c sugar
2 large eggs
¼ tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp freshly grated lemon zest
½ c sour cream
2 c blueberries, rinsed and patted dry

For the streusel:

½ c sugar

6 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 tbsp cornmeal
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of table salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line the bottom of an 8-inch square pan with parchment, then either butter and flour the bottom and sides or coat them with a nonstick spray.

Whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, set aside. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions, then add the vanilla and lime zest. Add 1/3 of flour mixture, all of the sour cream, and another third of the flour, beating until just blended. Mix the remaining flour with the blueberries. Fold the blueberry-flour mixture gently into the cake batter.

Spread the cake batter in the prepared cake pan. Using the original dry-ingredients bowl, combine the streusel ingredients with a fork. Mash in the butter with your fork, fingertips, or pastry blender. Scatter topping over the batter.

Bake the cake about 35 minutes, or until top is golden brown and toothpick comes out clean. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for about 5 minutes, then cut and serve!