BLUEBERRY STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE
About the Recipe
Back to basics. This recipe is a simple variation on my sour cream coffee cake that incorporates mixture of walnuts or pecans, sugar and cinnamon as the filling. This version, bursting with the flavor of seasonal berries is both sweet and tart and absolutely great. I dare anyone not to love it. IF you don't like blueberries, replace them with raspberries or blackberries. Or in winter, even diced very ripe pear does the trick.
This coffee cake, warm or at room temperature, is ideal at breakfast or brunch. However, no one has ever complained when I've served it for dessert. A la mode is great with vanilla or berry ice cream. And to really gild the lily, bake extra streusel (sprinkled on a baking sheet) until golden. Cool and use to garnish the ice cream (with or without the cake)!!! Cooked streusel will keep for several days in an airtight container or freeze--well-wrapped-- for longer storage. Rich and crunchy streusel is surprisingly useful to have on hand to garnish custards, ice creams, oatmeal, certain baked goods, or (I hate to admit it) just to eat by the handful.
In any case, this month, with local blueberries at their peak, do try this recipe. Sometimes basic and traditional can't be improved upon.
Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
* All ingredients should be at room temperature
FOR THE CAKE:
½ pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
½ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups CAKE flour (if you don’t have CAKE FLOUR, use white all-purpose flour but replace 2 tablespoons of it with CORNSTARCH)
FOR THE FILLING:
3-4 cups blueberries (I like LOTS but you may prefer fewer)
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of fine sea salt
FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING:
¼ cup flour
¼ cup sugar
Large pinch fine sea salt
4 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 4 pieces
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 10-inch springform pan
Make the streusel topping - pulse the flour, sugar, salt, and butter in the food processor until the butter is broken down into irregular lumps about the size of large peas. Set aside.
Cream the butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time and beat well--scraping down the sides of the bowl often--for about 5 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and then the sour cream. Beat well, at least 5 minutes more. Batter may separate a bit. Ignore that.
Meanwhile, sift the 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ½ teaspoon salt and 2 ½ cups flour together and add to the batter. Mix just until combined. GENTLY fold in the blueberry mixture.
Pour the batter into the pan and smooth top. Sprinkle evenly with the streusel.
Bake until done, approximately 45-60 minutes. Test with toothpick or skewer after 40 minutes but will probably take closer to an hour. Cool.
NOTE: This same batter and procedure makes great muffins. For muffins just bake 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.