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This Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe is a great way to kick off the blueberry season in Oregon. It's one of the best blueberry coffee cakes you'll ever taste. The cake is tender, moist, loaded with fresh blueberries, and topped with a buttery cinnamon streusel. It's a great recipe for breakfast, lunch, or an afternoon snack with a cup of coffee.
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This is blueberry streusel coffee cake and is based on a classic coffee cake recipe. It's the perfect recipe for when you want something a little sweet. And if you love blueberries as much as I do check out my recipes for Fried Blueberry Hand Pies and Blueberry Crumble Pie.
Coffee Cake Ingredients
Below are the ingredient lists for this blueberry coffee cake with streusel topping. The streusel and cake use the same base ingredients - flour, sugar, butter, and spices. Each component plays a part, plus the recipe is versatile, so you can easily make certain substitutions. See the details below.
- Fresh Blueberries. Blueberries are the star of this classic recipe. Look for fresh berries that are plump and juicy.
- All-Purpose Flour. All-purpose flour provides the structure for the cake.
- Granulated Sugar. Sugar adds sweetness and moisture and helps the cake to brown.
- Light Brown Sugar. Adds sweetness and a hint of molasses flavor.
- Whole Eggs. Large eggs are used in this and all my recipes. A large egg weighs approximately 50 grams, so if you have different size eggs weigh them. You may need more or fewer eggs depending on their size.
- Buttermilk. Buttermilk contributes to the moisture and tang of the cake. Because I like the tang that buttermilk adds, I don't add baking soda to diminish it. You can also make this coffee cake with sour cream.
- Baking Powder. Is the chemical leavener for this recipe and provides the lift for this cake.
- Unsalted Butter. The butter provides moisture and fat.
- Ground Ginger. Ground ginger goes perfectly with blueberries and adds a touch of heat to the cake. Other spices like cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom can also be used.
Ingredients for the Streusel Topping
- All-Purpose Flour
- Granulated Sugar
- Light Brown Sugar
- Unsalted Butter
- Ground Cinnamon and Nutmeg
- Baking Powder
- Kosher Salt
How to Make Blueberry Coffee Cake
Start by making the streusel topping. It's easy to make and it adds amazing flavor to this blueberry coffee cake. It creates a delicious layer of butter, cinnamon, and sugar that you may just want to eat all by itself.
Make the streusel first so it's ready to spread across the cake batter. You can even make it up to one month in advance and refrigerate it.
Place the flour, granulated sugar, brown sugar, salt, and ground spices in a medium-sized bowl and whisk to combine. Use your fingers to break up in brown lumps of brown sugar. Add the melted butter and stir it into the dry ingredients until clumps of streusel start to form.
While the streusel is still warm press it into clumps and allow it to cool to room temperature before using it on the coffee cake. If not using the streusel the same day, place it in an airtight container and refrigerate it until ready to use.
This recipe works with frozen and fresh blueberries so you can make it any time of the year. If using frozen blueberries, add them to the cake straight from the freezer.
The coffee cake batter is thick which means the blueberries and streusel won't sink to the bottom while the cake is baking.
Place the dry ingredients - the flour, baking powder, kosher salt, and ground ginger in a large bowl and whisk to combine.
Place the butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and vanilla extract in the bowl of a stand mixer. With the paddle attachment cream sugar and butter, until they're light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in thoroughly after each addition. Beating the eggs in one at a time ensures that they are completely emulsified into the batter.
Add the flour mixture in three parts and the buttermilk in two parts alternately, mixing on low after each addition. The final batter should be thick and creamy.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan lined with parchment paper. Smooth the top with an offset spatula and scatter the streusel and fresh blueberries evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake the cake until the center of the cake is done. Test for doneness with a cake tester or check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. The temperature in the center should be 202°F. Since the bake time can vary from oven to oven start checking the cake at the 35-minute make.
Remove the cake from the oven, place it on a wire rack and cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the sides of the springform pan and finish cooling the cake to room temperature before adding the glaze.
Pro Tips for Making This Recipe
- Use a scale to weigh your flour to ensure you have the right amount. Too much flour will result in a dry cake and too little will result in a cake that rises then falls.
- Measure out all the ingredients before starting to make the cake. This step will ensure that you don't forget anything.
- The eggs, butter, and buttermilk should be at room temperature. Room temperature is 65 to 68 degrees F.
- Don't skimp on creaming the butter and sugar together. This step aerates the butter and ensures a fine crumb.
- After the flour mixture is added, mix on low speed to avoid overmixing the batter and making the final cake tough.
- Use a springform pan to ensure that you can remove the cake from the pan with messing up the topping. If you don't have a springform pan, create a sling the pan by folding parchment paper into a 4-inch wide sling to lift the cake when it's done.
Recipe - Frequently Asked Questions
If you don't have buttermilk you can make your own. Combine 3/4 cup of whole milk with 2 teaspoons of lemon juice or vinegar and let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it appears curdled. You can also replace the buttermilk with an equal amount of sour cream.
The cake is good at room temperature for 2 days and then refrigerated for up to a week.
Yes, you can freeze the coffee cake. After the cake is completely cooled cut it into individual slices and wrap each piece in two layers of plastic wrap. When ready to eat thaw it in the refrigerator.
Yes, you can use frozen blueberries for this recipe. Thaw out the blueberries and proceed with layering them on the cake as directed.
Yes, you can make the coffee cake ahead of time, especially since it tastes better the second day. After the cake has cooled to room temperature, cover it loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
This is a wonderful coffee cake and I hope you make it. It's a great way to treat your family or yourself.
More Related Recipes
If you looking for more breakfast treats or ideas for bakes to share with friends and family check out these delicious recipes:
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Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Streusel Crumb Topping
- 1 cup (130 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) unsalted butter melted
Coffee Cake
- 1-3/4 cups (248 grams) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1-1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons (175 grams) granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 grams) light brown sugar
- 9 tablespoons (127 grams) unsalted butter room temperature
- 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 (150 grams) large eggs room temperature
- 3/4 cup buttermilk room temperature°
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Yogurt Lemon Glaze
- 1 cup powdered sugar sifted
- 1 tablespoon plain full fat yogurt
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
Instructions
Cake Pan
- Melt a tablespoon of butter and brush the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Dust the sides and bottoms with flour. Line the bottom of the pan with parchment paper.
Streusel Topping
- For topping, melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan. In a bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking powder and salt. Add the melted butter to the flour mixture and mix together with a spoon until it's crumbly. Set aside.
Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- For the cake, place the all-purpose flour, kosher salt, baking powder and ground ginger in a medium bowl and whisk together.
- Place the granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand the mixer and beat on medium high until fluffy, 3-4 minutes. Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition until well combined. Add the vanilla and mix. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl.
- Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and beat on low speed until flour is just mixed in. Do not over mix. Add half of the buttermilk, beat until combined. Add half of the remaining flour and mix on low until just combined. Add the remaining buttermilk, mix on low and then add the remaining flour and mix on low until combined. Scrape the bottom and the sides of the bowl and mix on low speed for another 10-20 seconds to make sure everything is well combined.
- Place the batter in the pan and use an offset spatula to spread the batter evenly around the pan. Spread the streusel and fresh blueberries over the surface of the batter.
- Place pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. The temperature of the cake in the center should be about 202 degrees F. Remove from the oven and cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Remove the sides of the springform pan and let the cake completely cool before topping it with the lemon yogurt glaze
Lemon Yogurt Glaze
- Sift the powdered sugar. Add the yogurt and lemon juice and stir until the glaze is smooth. Drizzle the glaze over the top of the cake.
Storage
- The cake is good at room temperature for up to 2 days in a covered container. After 2 days keep it in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap so it doesn't dry out.
- This cake also freezes well. Cut the cake into individual servings. Wrap each one in two layers of plastic wrap. Thaw at room temperature for a couple of hours before eating.
Liz says
Hi Cheryl! Hello from Brooklyn, NY! The strawberry doughnuts brought me here, and now I'm in the middle of baking this blueberry treat! Skimming through your recipes and they all look delicious! Looking forward on trying most of your recipes!
Tatiana says
This recipe is perfection. I have made it twice in a week. Second time with huckleberries. I saved a cup of batter to top over the berries to sort of lock in the layer. They didn't sink too far. The ginger is a game-changer. I never print recipes I am printing this recipe. This is fail-proof.
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Tatiana
Thank you for visiting the blog and trying this recipe. I'm so glad to read that you enjoyed it enough to make it again and that you like that pop of ginger. And I like the idea of layering the fruit and the cake batter.
Elissa says
This cake sounds amazing. I went thru all the steps, except reading your blog. I did not use Parchment paper, as i thought? Why put Parchment paper over butter and flour??Put the whole cake together and put in the oven. After a few minutes, I smelt something burning.
Obviously, the cake leaked.
Note to self, read completely, don't jump to ingredients!
Note to author, write " do NOT skip!"
Cheryl Norris says
Hi Elissa
Thank you for trying this recipe. I'm sorry your pan leaked. I always use parchment paper as extra insurance to keep the cake from sticking. It also makes it easier to move the cake to a platter if I want. I think your pan leaking has more to do with the construction of the pan than the lack of parchment paper, though it is possible the parchment paper does offer help prevent that.