Three Berry Crumb Cake is a recipe I found flipping through Woman’s World Magazine on an airplane. I asked the pilot to please turn the plane around so I could go home and make it right away.
That didn’t really happen, but I did not forget about the recipe and made it when I got home. As you can probably tell, it is baked in a 9 inch springform pan. What you can’t tell from the picture is that the secret ingredient is cake mix! I love scratch cake (of course) but I grew up on cake mix cake and like mix cakes as well — especially when they are doctored with other ingredients. For this cake, you combine Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Yellow with 3 eggs, a stick of butter, lemon zest and buttermilk in place of the liquid.
The cake is excellent made with cake mix, but it would be fun to try the recipe with a scratch buttermilk cake. So one of these days I’ll test it again using Olive Oil Upside Down Cake recipe.
Notes From When I Made This
- I used salted butter in the cake and topping. This is a recipe designed to appeal to the masses so of course they use salted butter. If you use unsalted, it’s a good idea to add 1/4 teaspoon of salt to the topping mixture.
- I used frozen berries which added some not-unpleasant extra moisture to the topping. If fresh berries are available, you can use them. Both types work.
Woman’s World Three Berry Crumb Cake
Cake:
1 (18.25 oz) box yellow cake mix, I used Betty Crocker Butter Recipe Yellow
8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), softened
3 eggs
1 teaspoon lemon zest (yellow part of peel)
Buttermilk — measurement given for whatever type of liquid is on cake mix. I used 1 1/4 cups buttermilk.
Topping:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
12 tablespoons butter, melted – I used salted
1 ½ cups (more or less), fresh* mixed berries – strawberries, blueberries, blackberries
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 9 inch springform pan with flour-added cooking spray.
In a mixing bowl, mix together cake mix, butter, eggs, lemon zest and buttermilk. Beat for 2 minutes, using high speed of electric mixer. Pour into pan, spread to edges of pan and bake for 45 minutes.
Prepare topping. In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter. Crumble it up.
Sprinkle some of the crumb mixture over top of cooked cake. Lay some fruit over the crumb mixture, then top with remaining crumb mixture. Return to oven and bake for another 25 minutes. Let pan cool on a wire rack.
Serves 10
Debbi
I find it interesting that when you eat a cake with fruit on it, it is easier to tell yourself that it is healthy!! Not really so but this cake is delicious. Yum, yum, yum. I made mine in a 9 x 13 glass pan and cut the time by about 10 minutes for the beginning. I used a yellow cake mix with pudding so I don’t know if it was that or the buttermilk but the cake was super moist and fluffy. I used some frozen mixed berries that I had here. Blueberries, raspberries and blackberries. Very good but I would prefer strawberries in the mix as the recipe calls for. The frozen berries added a LITTLE moisture but not a whole lot. There was plenty of crumb topping, which I liked, I’m not a frosting fan so this was perfect. I will certainly be making this again. Thank you so much again for a super recipe.
Pam227
Actually, I just made some muffins last week with Ener-G Egg Replacers, and they worked quite well. I haven’t been successful with brownies, though. I would think they should work in this cake so I will give it a try. The recipe looks great!
Anna
Pam, I wish that were the case. There are eggs, though. I left them out by accident! Thanks for catching that.
Have you tried using Ener-G Egg Replacers?
Pam227
Am I reading the recipe correctly that the cake doesn’t contain eggs? I’m allergic to egg whites so it caught my eye. Oh, I’m hoping so…
Anna
Claire, if I went to Sunday School, I would TOTALLY take this.
Jami, thanks. My gift, along with a hand-painted plate, was some real bath bombs. I guess I don’t have to make my own now.
Debbi, the nice thing about the frozen berries was the extra moisture seeped into the cake and it stayed moist for a long time….moist in a good way.
Debbi
This is perfect. I have to make something this week and this will do nicely. I already have everything but for the buttermilk. I’ll use some frozen mixed berries that I have, I like the idea of it being more moist on top. I’ll let you know how it turns out, thanks!!
Jami
Happy Mothers Day Anna!!!!!!! Jami
Claire
This looks so good…nice and summery. It’ll be a great Sunday School breakfast treat sometime!