This paleo blueberry crumb cake is so easy to make with just a couple of bowls and a whisk. The result is a moist, dense cake, studded with juicy blueberries that you just can’t get enough of! The gluten free, dairy free, and paleo cake pairs perfectly with coffee or ice cream – so you can make it for a party, or just for a weekend breakfast. 

There is a school of thought that insists that summer is over after Labor Day but it seems to me that as long as plump, ripe blueberries are still front and center at grocery stores and farmers markets, we can still wear white with abandon (just maybe not while eating blueberries).

Unless you’re a glutton for punishment, there is no reason to declare an end to summer any earlier than is absolutely necessary. So, though a blueberry crumb cake may seem more fitting for, say, July or August, I see no reason not to make it in September.

Or January, for that matter. Nothing wrong with planning ahead.

Anatomy of a Crumb Cake

I already gave you a brief lesson on the difference between a crisp and a crumble, but where does a crumb cake fit into the sweet-stuff-topped-with-differently-textured-other-sweet-stuff equation?

Well, in my opinion, it doesn’t. Whereas crisps and crumbles are made of a base of baked fruit combined with a little bit of flour (usually tapioca or arrowroot, in my kitchen) and sugar, a crumb cake is made from – as the name suggests – a base of cake with some fruit baked into it. 

Because it has a higher dry ingredient-to-wet-fruit ratio, a crumb cake is far less wet than a crumble. Once baked, you can slice it into neat squares or triangles, like any normal cake, for serving, rather than scooping out amorphous blobs of soft fruit into a bowl, as you do when serving a crisp or crumble.

But you’ll be relieved to know that all three forms of dessert go well with ice cream or coffee (or both), though.

As Low Key As Cakes Get

This is one of the good ones, you guys. It’s a perfect Sunday afternoon cake, or bake-with-the-kids cake, or just-because cake.

You know by now that I am always working hard to make recipes as simple and straightforward as possible. This is a great example, and here’s why:

It calls for the simplest ingredients: flours, (coconut) sugar, eggs, oil, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.

You’ll also need a little lemon juice, but the bottled stuff is fine if that’s all you have on hand. If you have a fresh lemon hanging out in your produce drawer, go ahead and add a little zest, too.

Oh, of course, you’ll need blueberries, but I’ll get to that in a second.

The ingredient list may appear long at first glance, but look a little closer and you’ll see several repeat ingredients.

The equipment you’ll need is minimal, too: a couple bowls and a few whisks to mix – although I usually use a fork in place of a whisk when I’m in a hurry – and a springform pan to bake.

I know what you’re thinking: do I really need that springform pan?

The answer is: you don’t NEED need it, but I highly recommend it. The springform pan breaks away from the baked and cooled cake without risking sticking and breaking.

The cake is prettier when it’s baked in the springform, and also easier to cut and serve.

Plus, a springform pan is a really reasonable investment. This is the one I have; it’s $12.99 on Amazon.

If you don’t want to buy a new pan or don’t have the room for more more baking gear, I get it.

Assuming, you’re not serving this to others and you don’t care about the look of it, you could use an 8″x8″ square baking pan instead, or even make these into cupcakes.

In either case, you’ll have to adjust the baking time. You’ll need less, but I’m not sure how much, exactly. I’d recommend starting with 30 minutes for the square pan and going in 5-10 minute increments from there, and starting with about 15-20 minutes for the cupcake pan. In either case, don’t forget to grease the pan well before adding the batter.

Next Question: Fresh or Frozen?

Before you have to worry about the baking pan, you need to procure some blueberries.

I wish I could tell you that I used handpicked wild blueberries but I actually used frozen blueberries from Whole Foods. (HA. There’s a little behind-the-scenes for you!)

I prefer frozen blueberries for this recipe because they hold their shape better as they are folded into the dough and baked. Fresh blueberries are delicate and will break down more easily.

But the downside of frozen blueberries is that they’ll turn your dough slightly purple-blue – though, I doubt you’ll even notice once the cake is baked.

tl;dr: I used frozen blueberries, but you can absolutely use fresh ones* if you’re lucky enough to have a ton of them lying around. They’ll work fine.

So, you know what that means, right? There’s no reason not to make this cake this weekend!

*I’ve been getting my fresh blueberries from Imperfect Produce, which delivers fresh organic and conventional produce to my door every week at up to half off grocery store prices. Want to give it a try? Use code “acleanbake” for 50% off of your first box!

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