Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

This easy-to-make Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe is great with a dollop of whipped ricotta cheese. The lemon zest gives this blueberry cake such a refreshing flavor making it ideal to serve for brunch, tea time, or an after-dinner treat. 

Jump to:

• Introduction
• How to make coffee cake
• Tips
• FAQ
• How to serve?
• Variations
• Recipe inspiration
• Recipe

Introduction

Blueberry lovers are always on the lookout for new recipes that use their favorite fruit.

Like me, if you are one of them, you love to use fresh blueberries in fruit salads. You most likely already have a healthy blueberry muffin recipe and a recipe for blueberry scones that you make regularly. 

Today I am sharing a blueberry coffee cake recipe that will quickly become another favorite in your household. Not only is it easy to prepare, but you will love the delicious combination of juicy blueberries, lemon zest and almond extract. There is also no need for any special kitchen equipment or fancy ingredients to make this treat.

With just a handful of ingredients, a bowl, and a whisk, you can create this blueberry sour cream cake that mimics the taste of the classic recipe.

The idea of the coffee cake comes from Europe. It is commonly associated with German and Dutch settlers to the eastern part of the United States. By definition, it is “a sweet rich bread often with added fruit, nuts, and spices that is sometimes glazed after baking.” [source]

In this version, we are using blueberries and a lightly sweetened cinnamon walnut combination to become a delicious jammy nutty center. The addition of sour cream creates just the right amount of richness.

Let me show you how easily this cake comes together. 

How to make coffee cake

Preheat the oven to 350℉ (175°C). Set the oven rack to the middle position.

Grease and flour (or use non-stick cooking spray) a 9 x 9-inch square pan. Set aside.

Prepare the streusel topping: In a small bowl, combine ¼ cup of brown sugar with ¼ teaspoon of ground cinnamon and ¼ cup of chopped walnuts. Set aside for now. 

In a medium bowl, sift or whisk together 2½ cups of all-purpose flour (350 grams), 1 teaspoon of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of baking soda. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 scant cup of brown sugar with the ⅔ cup of vegetable oil.

To this, add one lightly beaten egg, 1 cup of sour cream, ½ teaspoon almond extract and 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest, preferably organic. Whisk to combine properly together.

Add dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Do not over mix.

Spoon about half the batter into the prepared pan and spread with an offset spatula. 

Sprinkle half of the streusel topping evenly over the batter, followed by 1 cup of the blueberries. Press the blueberries gently into the batter. 

Spread the remaining cake batter evenly over the layer of blueberries. Once again, sprinkle the remaining sugar-cinnamon walnut mixture evenly over the top of the batter, followed by the blueberries. Press the blueberries gently into the batter. 

Take a look at the quick video tutorial to see how easy this is. 

Bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes until golden and the cake tester comes out clean.

Place on a wire rack where it can cool down for about 15 minutes.

After this short period, carefully remove the cake from the pan and place it on the wire rack, where it will continue to cool down. 

Serve cake at room temperature with a dollop of sweet ricotta and a sprinkling of powdered sugar (optional).  

Tips

• Sift the dry ingredients together to better distribute all the individual ingredients throughout the dry mixture. As a result, this process also aerates the flour mixture making the final product lighter in texture.
• Do not overmix the batter as this will result in a tough cake.  
• The sour cream creates an extra moist cake crumb. 
• Use room temperature ingredients. This creates a smoother batter that results in a cake with a uniform texture. Take out your ingredients one hour before beginning.

FAQ

How to serve?

You can serve this blueberry coffee cake as is or with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. As a healthy alternative, consider this sweet ricotta cream instead. It offers a light and velvety texture that tastes great as a topping for baked goods or just a bowl full of berries.

Variations

• You can replace the blueberries with strawberries. 
• Incorporate the blueberries into the batter rather than creating a layer. Tossing them in 1 tablespoon of flour prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the cake.
• Replace the almond extract with 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. 

Recipe inspiration

I recently cleaned out my fridge and realized I had sour cream that was about to expire. 

I had a couple of options. One was to replace the buttermilk with sour cream and use my frozen rhubarb to make a variation of this delicious rhubarb cake. 

Another option was to make a sour cream variation with my pint of blueberries that were beginning to look a little sad.

As you can see, I opted for choice number two with a couple of modifications. 

If you have ever baked coffeecake before, you know that one of the main attractions is a rough crumb topping made with generous amounts of sugar, butter, flour, and cinnamon. This is called streusel, and coffee cakes are sometimes called streusel cakes, too.

I created a healthier streusel topping for this blueberry coffee cake by combining walnuts, a small amount of brown sugar, and cinnamon. 

Unfortunately, I tried to reduce the total brown sugar in the original rhubarb cake recipe to ¾ of a cup, but the texture came out a little too dense. I found that lightly packing the brown sugar and using a scant cup provided the perfect texture. 

Enjoy!

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Ciao for now,

Maria

★★★★★ If you have made this sour cream blueberry coffee cake, I would love to hear about it in the comments below and be sure to rate the recipe!

Recipe