I make the cake with fresh blueberries and, as you can see, they fall to the bottom of the cake and form their own jammy layer. I like this. You could probably get the berries to dot the cake more evenly by tossing them in flour before folding them into batter, but it just never seemed necessary to me. I like the pleasure of starting in on the light cake and then coming to the fruit layer, but it’s your choice …
If you want, you can make the cake with raspberries or blackberries or a mix of berries, but I wouldn’t try it with strawberries because they’re too watery. And, of course, there’s nothing to stop you from making a good cake even better by topping it with streusel. Do that and you’ll have three good layers: sweet crumbs, tender cake and jammy berries.
Click here to get the recipe for the cake. Here’s the streusel:
BROWN SUGAR-WALNUT STREUSEL
Adapted from Baking From My Home to Yours
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
Put all the ingredients except the nuts in a food processor and pulse just until the mixture forms clumps and curds and holds together when pressed. Scrape the topping into a bowl, stir in the nuts and press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface. Refrigerate until needed. Covered well, the crumb mixture can stay in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
This is a little more than you need for the 7-x-11-inch breakfast cake … or not: my husband always says that there’s no such thing as too much streusel.