Sugar-Crusted Blueberry Cake with Sour Cream Glaze

Have you ever had a recipe “fail” turn into one of your best recipes ever? That is exactly what happened with this cake. My plan was to bake a blueberry buckle, but then realized I didn’t have the requisite springform pan. I thought I’d improvise and add the streusel topping to the bottom of the pan first, with the intention of turning it into an upside-down blueberry cake, but then I waited too long to flip it after taking it out of the oven. Some of the topping stuck to the pan, which made the cake look awful, even though it was still perfectly edible.

I probably would’ve simply just cut it up and served it as-is to my own family, but since I was planning to take it over to some friends, I knew I needed to do something to make it look pretty. I scraped the stuck portions of crust back onto the cake, then back right side up onto the plate, so that the streusel topping was now a sugar crust, then whipped up a quick sour cream glaze to spread over top.

I was a little hesitant to bring it, but apparently 2 wrongs do sometimes make a right, because both our friends AND my normally non-dessert-loving husband raved about the perfect combination of the tart blueberries, sweet crunchy crust and cool sour cream topping. I really knew I had struck gold when Princess–who doesn’t even like blueberries–asked if I would make it for her birthday cake. Apparently this is one “mistake” that will be repeated a lot more often!

Here is what you need:

Step 1: Preheat oven to 375 degrees; liberally grease round cake pan with butter.

Step 2: Beat 1/2 stick butter with 3/4 cups sugar until fluffy, approximately 2-3 minutes. Add egg and beat 1 minute more.

Step 3: Mix together 2 cups flour, salt, & baking powder.

Step 4:  Add 1/2 of flour mixture and half of milk to egg mixture; mix just until blended. Add remaining flour and milk; mix again, just until blended. Batter will be thick.

Step 5:  Add blueberries to batter and carefully mix in with a spatula, being careful not to mash the berries.

Step 6: Blend remaining half stick of butter, 1/3 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in small bowl until crumbly. Layer crumb mixture at bottom of the pan.

Step 7:  Pour blueberry batter carefully over crumb mixture, then spread out evenly with spatula. Tap pan gently on counter to release air bubbles. Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes, until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Step 8: Remove from oven. Loosen sides with knife, then invert cake immediately onto plate. Let cool upside down for 10 minutes.

Step 9:  In small bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, & 1/4 teaspoon baking soda to make glaze. Flip cake again onto serving plate, then carefully spread glaze over top of cake. Serve warm, if desired, or refrigerate and serve chilled. (We liked it best chilled!)

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Have you ever had a recipe fail? How did you salvage it?