My childhood friend Irene and I starting making this recipe when we were in our early teens.  I can’t imagine how many of these I have made. It came from a Pillsbury Booklet. The story goes that in 1954 a 15-year-old Chicago girl named Renny Powell submitted a blueberry coffee cake recipe to the Pillsbury $100,000 Recipe & Baking Contest (precursor to the Pillsbury Bake-Off). She came in second place in the youth division for her creation. She gave it the special name, Boy Bait, in honor of its powers with the opposite sex.  This past weekend I brought out the recipe and it taste just as good today as my memories of times past. There are several adaptation of this on the internet, but none could possibly be as delicious as this. The secret to its lightness is the whipped egg white that must be gently folded into the batter.  Do not over mix the batter!

Once the batter is spread in a 9 x 13-inch pan, I drop as many blueberries as possible on top.  The picture below shows how it should look.  Once you put the blueberries on top, sprinkle the reserved topping over the batter.

Blueberries on top of batter

Topping sprinkled on top of berries

Finished Coffeecake

Blueberry Boy Bait

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1¹⁄₂ cups granulated sugar
²⁄₃ cup unsalted butter
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup milk
2 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1-2 cups blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift together flour, sugar; cut in 2/3 cup butter until particles are small. Reserve 3/4 cup of this mixture for topping.

3. To remainder, add sea salt, baking powder, vanilla, milk, & egg yolks; blend well.

4. Beat egg whites until stiff, but not dry; fold gently into batter. Spread in a well-greased and lightly floured 9″ X 13″ baking pan.

5. Arrange drained blueberries over batter. Sprinkle reserved ¾ cup crumb mixture over top.

6. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until tester come out clean.