Buttermilk berry crumb cake

This coffee cake is relatively low-fat with some of its classic butter content being replaced by the mashed banana. It's these everyday sorts of cakes I like in my back pocket for cooking and non-cooking days alike.

BUTTERMILK BERRY CRUMB CAKE // Serves 8-10

Loosely adapted from 101Cookbooks

For the sake of substitutions, I think you could replace the buttermilk with non-dairy milk and a tablespoon of lemon juice. As for making it gluten-free, I would try a blend of almond meal, oat flour, and flax meal but I hesitate to given proportions without trying it myself first. I am sure an all-purpose GF flour would be worth a shot as well.

I still don't completely trust the oven at our new place so you'll have to report back if you try this and come up with different baking time. My oven and thermometer say different things and I don't exactly trust either. Bare with me. One day I will fix its uncertainty or my lack of faith. 

• 3/4 cup buttermilk


• 1 1/2 medium ripe bananas, mashed


• 1/4 cup/half stick unsalted butter, melted


• 2 eggs


• one teaspoon vanilla


• 1 cup white whole wheat flour


• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour


• 1/2 cup muscovado sugar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder


• scant 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt


• little grate of fresh nutmeg


• 2 cups mixed berries, chopped small, divided
  


• / crumble /


• 1/4 cup/half stick unsalted butter, softened


• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats


• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour


• 1/4 cup natural cane sugar


• 1/4 cup muscovado sugar


• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon


• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger


• pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 325'. Line a springform pan with parchment and grease the bottom and sides. 

In a large mixing bowl, combine the buttermilk, mashed bananas, melted butter, eggs, and vanilla. Mix well to combine and set aside. 

In another bowl, mix the white whole wheat flour, all-purpose, muscovado, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg and stir to mix well. Add one cup of the berries to the dry mix and toss to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to combine in as few stirs possible. Being careful not to overmix to keep the cake tender.

In another bowl, make your crumble. Mix the softened butter, oats, flour, cane and muscovado sugars, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together and mash everything with the back of a fork to combine. It will be sandy in texture. 

Pour the batter into the pan and sprinkle the remaining berries on top. Distribute the crumble on top of the berries. Put the springform on a baking sheet (just in case it leaks, I prefer to play it safe) and bake on the middle rack for 55-60 minutes until golden on top and you insert a toothpick and it comes out clean. The cake is fairly low in fat, be careful not to overbake and dry it out.