Thanks to my friends at Bear Mountain Blueberry Farm I have 1.5 gallons of lovely blueberries to play with. What better way to start using them than by making a blueberry coffee cake?
INGREDIENTS
TOPPING
In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, xanthan gum, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gently fold in blueberries. Get a separate bowl, put the egg, milk and butter in then whisk together. Mix into the dry ingredients, careful not to mush the blueberries. Pour into a buttered/oiled 8-in. x 8-in. baking pan.
Make topping to sprinkle over batter (put on last).
Once you have everything apart from the topping mixed, start preheating the oven. This will allow the xanthan gum to set before baking. Bake at 425 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until top is light golden brown. Can be served warm or room temperature.
WHAT GLUTEN FREE FLOUR CAN I USE?
Pretty much any of them. There are 1-to-1 substitute blends in the stores, you can use my pudding flour, or you could use a flour made from a psuedocereal. I used millet flour and it turned out nicely – next time I will try buckwheat flour to see if the nuttiness in the buckwheat comes through.
WHAT IS A “PSEUDOCEREAL”?
A pseudocereal is a seed grain that isn’t a grass, but that is used like it’s a cereal. Millet, buckwheat, and quinoa are 3 examples of seeds that are used like a cereal. They do not contain gluten.
A cereal is a grass derived grain such as wheat, rye, barley. They usually contain gluten.
WHAT DOES “SCANT” MEAN?
You want to have a concave surface instead of a flat or convex surface. If you force me to guess, I’d say about 0.8 tsp? But I will not judge you if it’s 0.7 or 0.9 tsp… only your tastebuds will!
WHAT IF I AM NOT GLUTEN FREE?
Use plain/all-purpose flour instead of the first 2 ingredients. Start preheating the oven before you start mixing.
TOPPING VARIATION
I made the topping with raw sugar, which comes in larger, crunchy sugar crystals. It made for a nicely crunchy topping.