Tuesdays with Dorie: Blackberry Crumb Cake

Some weeks, the Blueberry Crumb Cake from Baking would have been a no-brainer. Nuts, crumble, berries...This week, though, I really had to work up to it, and never made it all the way to really enthused, good as it was. First, you see, I'm always a little suspicious of coffeecake--too much butter for too little reward? Why not just skip the cake part, put the berries under the topping, and call it crisp? Or even 'krisp,' as the Moosewood Cookbook insists.

So yes, coffeecake lovers, I'm that girl. The girl who would dare to skip the cake part. But for all of you out there, I didn't. I made it like Dorie said. And it was very good.
First I spun butter and nuts and flour and spice in the blender to become a streusel topping.
Then I tossed frozen blackberries in some flour.A half recipe fit very neatly into my usual custard pan, a little blue oval number from Ikea. I didn't refrigerate the crumbs, nor work all that quickly, so by the time I got to them the crumbs were less crumby than mushy, which may have changed the texture of the topping, but it still made a different layer in taste and texture, and worked well. The berry/cake ratio was more or less as Dorie recommended, but blackberries are messier things than blueberries, so there was more mixing, and the final batter was pleasingly purple.