Last month, I picked up a copy of Bryan Voltaggio’s new cookbook, Home, while he was making an appearance at a Barnes & Noble in Frederick. I’ve been to all of his restaurants often, and was looking forward to preparing some of my favorites at, well, home.

I assumed the first recipe I’d attempt would be his Chicken Pot Pie Fritters, but when a friend invited us to her 60th birthday party, I realized I’d have to start with something else, because fritters don’t travel. So I decided to whip up the Blueberry Cake with Peanut Streusel, which according to the cookbook photo is to supposed to turn out looking like this.

You’ll get to see how mine compares down below, but first, a few photos of what came before, starting with the streusel.

Here I am folding the blueberries into the batter, which put the entire cake off limits to my wife—she hates blueberries!

Into the springform pan goes the batter, making use of a spatula designed by Voltaggio and his son Thatcher which was sold to raise funds for the charity No Kid Hungry.

Here’s the batter with the streusel sprinkled on top, ready for the oven …

… and here it is 65 minutes later, ready to be glazed.

And here’s the cake, completed!

I’m afraid I went a little Jackson Pollock with the glaze, so it doesn’t have the elegance of Voltaggio’s as picture above. But hey, it tasted great regardless!

Would you care for a slice?

As you can see by the state of the pan when we left the party, it was popular choice.

Next up—those Chicken Pot Pie Fritters. Though I’ve got to admit, the Bacon-Wrapped Corn on the Cob sounds very tempting!