Blueberry Lemon Crumb Cake (142 Calories & LITE)… For My Birthday!

Today is my birthday, yet another year older, sigh!  Yeah, I am a GEM-IN-I, the Sign of the “Twins” which means I have dual personality… talkative yet shy, bubbly yet easily bored, intellectual yet quirky.  I love my sign and I love astrology! 

Yesterday I went over my sis-in-law and brother’s home and celebrated my birthday with my nieces, my parents, and my husband.  I decided to bake my own cake since half the people need to watch their fat intake.  I had fresh blueberries at home and opted to bake a cake my parents would enjoy as well.  I found a bunch of recipes online and created my own recipe once I had a general idea of the proportions.  After my family sang Happy Birthday to me, my nieces gave me this beautiful card filled with such heartfelt words… love you guys!  🙂

My thoughtful hubby surprised me with red wine and a card at midnight… I wonder what he has in store for me today… just kidding!  It really is the thought that counts and I am so touched with his midnight gesture, it’ll be a good day!

And now, my birthday cake!

MODIFICATIONS I MADE:

• Most crumb cakes contain about 6 tbsp of butter or more.  I lowered the butter by 50% and added 1 tbsp of Canola Oil. 
• I used 1 egg and 1 egg white, this saves about 5 grams of fat.
• I didn’t have buttermilk on hand, so I used milk and vinegar as substitution.
• For the streusel, I used 2 tbsp of butter and 1/2 tbsp of Canola Oil.  You will not be able to tell the difference. 
• In addition, I used 3/4 cup of Whole Wheat Pastry Flour and 3/4 cup of White Flour.  The Whole Wheat Pastry Flour will add some fiber to this cake.

APPROXIMATE NUTRITION PER SERVING (yields 16 squares)

• Calories: 142 cals
• Fat: 5.3 g
• Saturated Fat: 2.4 g
• Carbs: 26 g
• Protein: 2.1 g
• Fiber: .75 g

BLUEBERRY CRUMB CAKE (LITE) 
~ yields 16 servings @ 350 degrees

INGREDIENTS for Cake:

• Whole Wheat Pastry Flour – 3/4 cup
• White Flour – 3/4 cup
• Baking Powder – 1 1/2 tsp
• Baking Soda – 1/4 tsp
• Salt – 1/4 tsp
• Unsalted Butter – 3 tbsp (room temperature)
• Canola Oil – 1 tbsp
• Sugar – 2/3 cup
• Egg – 1 (room temperature)
• Egg White – 1 (room temperature)
• Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp
• Milk 1% – 1/2 cup (room temperature)
• Vinegar – 1 tbsp
• Lemon Zest – of 1 Lemon
• Blueberries – 1 1/2 cups

INGREDIENTS for Streusel: 

• Brown Sugar – 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp
• White Flour – 1/4 cup
• Cinnamon – 1/2 tsp
• Unsalted Butter – 2 tbsp (room temperature)
• Canola Oil – 1/2 tbsp

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly butter a square baking dish and set aside.
3. If you do not have buttermilk on hand, combine the milk and vinegar, this will take about 5 minutes to curdle.  Set aside. 
4. Sift the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a bowl.  Set aside.
5. In a separate bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the butter and oil until light and creamy. 
6. Now add the sugar to the butter mixture and whip on high until creamy and combined.

9. Add the dry mixture and milk to the butter mixture in thirds, starting with the dry and ending with the dry.  DO NOT OVERMIX!
10. Pour the batter into the baking dish.
11. Top with blueberries. 

For the Streusel:

12. Combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, butter, and oil into a bowl.  Mix until all ingredients are combined, this should form a crumbly mixture. 
13. Add the streusel on top of the blueberries.
14. Place the baking tray in the oven for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool and serve.

STREUSEL RATING: *****/5
I loved the streusel.  Considering I only added 2 tbsp of butter, it was really good.  The 1/2 tbsp of oil helped bind the ingredients together.  The streusel tastes sweet and cinnamony.

OVERALL RATING: ****/5

The Blueberry Crumb Cake was really good.  My family loved it and they are a tough crowd to please, my brother is my biggest critic.  The blueberry flavor is so intense in this cake… it helps that blueberries are in season at the moment.   
Texture: The texture of this cake was great and light.  It was crumbly and buttery without a ton of butter.
Moistness: I feel this cake could have been a teeny bit moister.  This is probably due to the lack of fat, however the milk and vinegar helps a great deal.