Blueberry Boy Bait
Blueberry Boy Bait is a simple yet delicious blueberry coffee cake that bakes in a standard 9 x 13-inch pan. This cake is great for breakfast or brunch, or even as a snack with coffee or tea.
Another gem from my America’s Test Kitchen Cookbook. The story goes that the girl who created this recipe for the Pillsbury Grand National Baking Contest said that teenage boys found this cake irresistible. I don’t make a habit of entertaining teenage boys (ha!), but Bob loved this cake and I still consider him a boy.
Recipe Details
Of course, ATK improved upon the original recipe by swapping out shortening for all butter and subbing some of the granulated sugar with brown sugar.
The batter comes together quickly. Blueberries are folded into the batter and also arranged on top before a cinnamon topping. Fresh or frozen blueberries can be used. If using frozen, it’s important to keep them frozen until you add them to the cake so they do not discolor the batter.
Then the cake is baked to a golden brown.
The original recipe suggests, turning out the cake onto a serving platter, keeping the topping side up. I served it right out of the glass baking dish.
The result is a moist, simple cake perfect for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon treat. This would be a great coffee cake to take to a breakfast potluck. When I was in MOPS years ago, we had a rotating schedule to provide breakfast at our meetings. This would have been a very welcome addition!
Looking for something a little more festive for the holidays? Try this Cranberry Christmas Cake!
Gluten Free Blueberry Boy Bait
I haven’t tried it myself with this recipe, but I have good luck using Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour in place of all purpose in baking. It worked very well in the Best Blueberry Muffins recipe, so I think it should work nicely here!
Looking for other Breakfast and Brunch Recipes?
Check out my favorites:
Cheesy Amish Breakfast Casserole
Quiche Lorraine Florentine
Best Blueberry Muffins
Allspice Crumb Muffins
Monkey Bread Muffins
Cranberry Christmas Cake
Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes
Blue Cornmeal Pancakes
Breakfast Chicken Sausage Patties
Perfect Crispy Potatoes and Breakfast Skillets
Ultimate Steel Cut Oatmeal
Baked Oatmeal
Classic Cream Scones
Blueberry Boy Bait
Ingredients
For the cake:
- 2 cups plus 1 teaspoon unbleached all purpose flour (10 ounces)
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 16 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened (2 sticks)
- 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces )
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (see note)
For the topping:
- 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen (see note)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar (1 3/4 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×13-inch baking pan.
- Whisk 2 cups of the flour, the baking powder, and salt together in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until just incorporated. Reduce the speed to medium and beat in one-third of the flour mixture until incorporated; beat in 1/2 cup of the milk. Beat in half of the remaining flour mixture, then the remaining 1/2 cup milk and finally the remaining flour mixture.
- Toss the blueberries in a small bowl with the remaining 1 teaspoon flour. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
- For the topping, scatter the blueberries over the top of the batter.
- Stir the sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and sprinkle over the batter. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out and place on a serving platter (topping side up). Serve warm or at room temperature. The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
