Blueberry Miso Crumble Cake

Profile picture for user Benito

To celebrate my 365 d fermented homemade red miso I decided to try something I’ve never done before.  For ages I’ve seen recipes that use some miso in desserts so I decided to make this crumble cake that uses miso in the crumble topping.  Instead of the white miso is substituted my red miso and because it is much stronger than white I used only 2 tbsp of it in the crumble topping.  

If you’re curious about how to make miso from scratch this is the link to my post from a year ago.

 

CRUMBLE

¾ cup (94 g) whole wheat flour

½ cup (packed; 100 g) light brown sugar

4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

3 Tbsp. white miso

CAKE

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted, slightly cooled, plus more for pan

1¾ cups (219 g) whole wheat flour, plus more for pan

1½ tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

¼ tsp. baking soda

2 large eggs

1 cup (packed; 200 g) light brown sugar

1 cup plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 pint blueberries

(Zest of 1 lemon - my addition)

 

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: A 9"- spring form pan 

 

CRUMBLE Mix whole wheat flour, brown sugar, butter, and miso in a small bowl to combine. Set aside.

CAKE Preheat oven to 350°. Butter pan, then lightly dust with whole wheat flour, tapping out excess. Whisk baking powder, salt, baking soda, and 1¾ cups whole wheat flour in a large bowl to combine. Whisk eggs, brown sugar, and yogurt in a medium bowl to combine. Add vanilla and 1 cup butter; whisk just to incorporate. Using a rubber spatula, mix in dry ingredients, being careful not to overmix, then gently fold in blueberries. Scrape batter into prepared pan and spread out evenly. Top with reserved crumble.

Bake cake, checking after 30 minutes and tenting with foil if crumble is getting very dark (some color is fine), until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, 60–70 minutes. Let cake cool in pan at least 2 hours (so it firms up and is easier to slice).

 

DO AHEAD: Cake can be baked 3 days ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature.

 

Image
C3C07354-51DD-4AD0-B9CE-E5444D750C48.jpeg
Image
2E227010-31F3-4E7D-A489-9EB481A558DC.jpeg

Hey Benny, that’s a beautiful looking cake. How does it taste? Does the miso add a lot of saltiness.

Please tell us more about how you made the miso. A year is a long time to wait for a fermentation!

-Brad

Hi Brad, thanks for your comments. I’ve outlined how to make miso in a blog post on TFL about a year ago.  If you look back to August 2020 you’ll find that post with all the details.

Benny

A very unusual bake I must say.  I really should have expected a closed crumb given the 100% whole red fife but it appeared even more so than I expected.  The flavour of this cake is excellent and my friends liked it and couldn’t guess the mystery ingredient in it.  They like the salty aspect to the crumble topping that nicely balances the sweetness.  If I was to make this again I’d probably substitute some of the whole grain for AP or pastry flour to lighten the crumb a bit.

Image
F8333A80-B28A-4B69-8788-4FC5E18D45EE.jpeg

Looks tasty!!

My approach to cake like things that come out a little too dense is to warm them up just a tad in the microwave, then top them with a little vanilla ice cream &/or whipped topping. 😉 

Mary