As summer dwindles toward Labor Day, I’m on a mission to savor all the native peaches, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries before they disappear. You could bake this blueberry coffeecake any time of year using grocery store blueberries – no frozen berries, please – but with the fat, juicy, dark blue berries of August it’s what summer breakfast dreams are made of. Bake it on Saturday afternoon and make it the centerpiece of a lazy Sunday brunch, with scrambled eggs, bacon or sausage, a fresh fruit salad, and of course lots of steaming hot coffee.
This blueberry coffeecake has a buttery, brown-sugar crumb topping, but I’ve stopped short of calling it a “crumb cake”. When I think of crumb cake, I think of those New York-style cakes with the crumb layer that’s inches thick, heavy on the flour and dusted with confectioner’s sugar. I always wanted to love those cakes – the topping looks so sweet, over-the-top and decadent. But I find the reality disappointing, with the heaviness of the crumbs overpowering the softness of the cake, the topping so dry it’s sometimes literally hard to swallow.
The topping on this blueberry coffeecake is more of a cross between a crumb topping and a streusel. It’s got enough flour to form into small clusters that turn golden and a little bit crunchy on the top of the cake. But there’s no floury taste or dry texture to this topping – it’s all about the brown sugar and butter, spiced with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg.
Be sure to use a cake pan that’s deep enough to hold all the batter with room to spare – my pan is 9 inches in diameter and 2 inches deep. Cakes will overflow if they don’t have room to rise, and you don’t want this beauty crawling out of your pan and sprawling on your oven floor.
Unlike a plain cake such as for a layer cake that you’re going to frost, you can’t tip this blueberry coffeecake over into your hand to get it out of the pan, or you’ll lose the topping. I lay a piece of parchment in the pan and extend it out the sides to form handles. The cake will be very tender when it’s warm, but if you let it cool completely it will firm up nicely, and a gentle tug on the parchment handles will let you lift it right out and onto a cake plate for serving.
My last tip is to divide the blueberries. I fold 2/3 of the berries into the batter, and scatter the remaining 1/3 over the batter before adding the crumb topping. Berries will sink in cake batter, and if you mix them all into the batter you’ll end up with all the blueberry at the bottom of your cake instead of distributed throughout.
Making this ahead and what to do with leftovers:
- Blueberry Crumb Coffeecake can be made ahead. If I’m serving it for breakfast I’ll definitely make it the day before. It will keep for 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature.
- It also freezes well, securely wrapped in plastic wrap or freezer paper and then a freezer-safe zip-lock bag, for up to 2 months. (Use a 2-gallon sized freezer bag if you’re freezing the entire cake.)
For other ideas for showcasing fresh summer blueberries, you might want to check out these recipes:
- New York-Style Cheesecake with Blueberry Topping
- Blueberry Cheesecake Tart
- Blueberry Pie
- Blueberry Dirt Bomb Sweet Rolls
- Blueberry Bread Pudding
- Blueberry Croissant French Toast
Blueberry Crumb Coffeecake
Make sure to use a pan that's at least 2 inches deep so the batter doesn't overflow in the oven.
Ingredients
- ¾ cup (12 tablespoons/1½ sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature, divided, plus additional for the pan
- 2¾ cups (330 grams/11 5/8 ounces) all-purpose flour, divided, plus additional for the pan
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt, or 3/8 teaspoon Morton’s
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- ¾ teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1½ cups fresh blueberries, divided
- ½ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
Directions
- Step 1 Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2-inch deep, 9-inch round cake pan. Tear a strip of parchment paper about 3 inches wide and arrange it through the center of the pan, extending out both sides to make handles for removing the finished cake from the pan. Butter the parchment, then lightly flour the entire inside surface of the pan and the parchment.
- Step 2 Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter for the topping.
- Step 3 While the butter melts, combine 2 cups (120 grams) of the flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir well with a whisk to blend.
- Step 4 In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the remaining 8 tablespoons of room temperature butter with the granulated sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and beater.
- Step 5 Beat in the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl after each egg. Beat in the vanilla and lemon zest.
- Step 6 Add half of the flour mixture and beat on low speed just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Beat in the sour cream on low speed just until blended, then the remaining flour mixture. The batter will be very thick. Use a silicone spatula to give the batter a stir, making sure it’s evenly mixed throughout. Gently fold in 1 cup of the blueberries.
- Step 7 Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth it out to an even layer. Scatter the remaining ½ cup of blueberries over the batter.
- Step 8 In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Use a fork to stir in the melted butter, until the mixture resembles wet sand. Then add the remaining ¾ cup of flour, using your fingers to toss the mixture until all the flour is incorporated. Crumble the topping evenly over the batter.
- Step 9 Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a cooling rack. If you’d like to serve the cake warm, cool it for 15 minutes in the pan, then slice and serve directly from the pan. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, let it cool completely. When the cake is cool, carefully tug on the parchment handles until you feel the cake let go of the pan, then lift it out to a cutting board or serving platter. Pull on one side of the parchment to gently slide it out from under the cake.
