Blue Snowflake, Blueberry Crumble Cake

Hello again, everyone!  Today I'd like to show you another cross-stitched Christmas ornament that I made last year.  It's a flat ornament, which made it easy to slip inside a Christmas card.  Here is the front of the ornament...

Supplies: embroidery floss from DMC, perforated paper from Mill Hill, ribbon from my stash.

And here is the back...

Additional supplies: striped paper from American Crafts, mitten tag from Bo Bunny, pen from Zig.

It was fun to be able to use some scrapbooking supplies in an embroidery project.  The pattern for the snowflake came from a back issue of PieceWork magazine.  (Side note: I'm sure that no one will be surprised when I mention that I checked out this back issue from the library.)  The snowflake motif was actually part of a larger, more complex pattern, but I chose to use just the snowflake shape on my ornament.  In fact, I hardly ever stitch patterns just exactly as they are printed.  I change the colors, or I stitch just part of a pattern, or I combine different patterns.  I guess you could say that I view cross-stitch patterns as suggestions, not as hard and fast instructions.

Now that I've shared a blue ornament with you, I thought I'd share a blue (well, blueberry) recipe with you.  This blueberry crumble cake recipe comes from the British YouTube channel of "Cupcake Jemma."  If you cook using British measurments, you can simply follow the instructions in the video.

And here is my "translation" of the recipe, using American measurments: 

Streusel topping: 3-1/2 Tbsp MELTED BUTTER + 1/2 c. BROWN SUGAR + 1/2 c. FLOUR + 1tsp CINNAMON.

 Wet ingredients: 3/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp SUGAR + 4 Tbsp CANOLA OIL + 1 EGG + 1/2 c. MILK. 

Dry ingredients: 2 c. FLOUR + 2 tsp. BAKING POWDER + 1/2 tsp. SALT + 1 tsp. CINNAMON (my addition). 

Blueberries: 8-oz. package FROZEN BLUEBERRIES.  No need to thaw first--just fold the frozen berries gently into the cake batter.  If you have access to fresh berries, by all means use them in place of the frozen berries. 

Drizzle ingredients (I used this in place of the cream that Jemma used): 3/4 c. POWDERED SUGAR + 1 Tbsp MILK + 1/4 tsp VANILLA. 

See video (linked above) for assembly instructions.  Bake cake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 50-55 min., or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

My husband is gluten-intolerant, so I used gluten-free flour, and the cake turned out delicious. 

I can say from personal experience that this cake tastes great accompanied by coffee, tea, milk, or juice.  (In this photo I had coffee in my cup.)  Since I'll be linking this post up with the T Stands for Tuesday blog hop, I want to wish you all a Happy T Day!  :)