The search is over
This is THE BEST coffee cake recipe out there. The addition of plump juicy blueberries sends it over the top amazing!
One of the best things about summer and the bountiful sun-ripened fruit is adding them to baking, am I right? What is not to like about fresh blueberries added to cakes, muffins or pancakes? Top any of those things with buttery, sweet, crumbly streusel topping and you may just be in heaven.
Discard all your old recipes because this one is all you need from here to the end of time. All the old recipes except Grandma Helen’s crumb cake , you will want to keep that one. That is a crumb cake recipe, after all, not a coffee cake and so moist and delicious but, most importantly, reminds you of the good ol’ days.
Don’t know the difference between a coffee cake and a crumb cake? Read more to learn the few simple differences to distinguish these desserts.
Crumb cake: classic cake of German origin made from yellow cake base with dough like crumb topping (remember Entenmann’s?). Butterscotch flavored topping made from a combination of melted butter, flour, brown and granulated sugars. The distinguishing feature is the crumb topping made from melting the butter and making dough like topping rather than cutting cold butter into ingredients.
Buckle: simple cake with fruit added, most often blueberries, that when cooked the weight of the fruit crushes the cake so it “buckles” under
Coffee cake: no fuss cake piled high with streusel topping we are allowed to eat anytime of day!
Cobbler: dessert with a fruit base and topped or “cobbled” with cake batter.
Crisp: dessert with fruit as a base and topped with traditional streusel which does not include oats.
Crumble: dessert with fruit as a base topped with streusel topping which includes oats.
This recipe has it all!
The most difficult part of any coffee cake is getting the topping right, in my opinion. I have tested countless combinations of ingredients to perfect the streusel topping in search of the quintessential crumb: crunchy and sturdy on the outside, moist and tender on the inside. No doubt you will agree that the crumbly concoction atop this ultimate cake is a keeper. If, somehow, you have any leftover crumb topping, save it in an airtight container and freeze it until you get another pint of berries!
In the event you can’t find fresh blueberries where you live, frozen will work in this cake just as well. Remember to toss frozen blueberries with a 1-2 tablespoons of flour to absorb excess moisture from the berries and this will help keep the color from seeping into the cake and giving the whole cake a bluish tint.
I enjoy rustic, or fruit laden desserts, because I can indulge in them after a meal without the usual guilt associated with eating dessert. It’s still a pie or cake but my mind convinces me it is not that bad for me. “Look at all that healthy nutritious fruit”, and I believe it.
This simple moist cake can be made in a snap so go pick your blueberries, heat up your oven and whip up one these for tonight. Give this recipe a try and let me know that you agree that this recipe is, in fact, the ultimate and the only coffee cake you need.
Blueberry Coffee Cake
- July 25, 2020
- 8-10
- 1 hr 20 min
- Print this
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 c flour
- 2 t baking powder
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 c sour cream
- 1/2 c softened butter (1 stick)
- 3/4 c sugar
- zest from 1 lemon
- 2 eggs
- 1 T vanilla extract
- 2 c fresh blueberries
- Topping:
- 1/2 c flour
- dash of salt
- 1/3 granulated sugar
- 1/8 packed brown sugar
- 1/4 c butter, cut into small cubes
- 2 t vanilla extract
Directions
- Step 1
- Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9×9 baking dish.
- Step 2
- Sift flour, baking powder and salt together in medium bowl and set aside. In separate large bowl or mixer cream butter, sugar and lemon zest together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time then add vanilla and mix to combine
- Step 3
- Alternate adding flour mixture and sour cream to the batter, beginning and ending with flour, mixing well between each addition
- Step 4
- Fold 1 c blueberries into batter then carefully spread mixture into baking dish and sprinkle remaining blueberries over the top
- Step 5
- For streusel topping: combine all ingredients except vanilla in small bowl of food processor and pulse until mixture resembles crumbs, or use a pastry knife to cut butter into dry ingredients to make fine crumbs. Drizzle vanilla over crumb mixture and mix to distribute.
- Step 6
- Cover the blueberries with the crumb mixture and bake in the oven for 50 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
