The Best Blueberry Coffee Cake
I don’t know exactly what the magic ingredient is but this is truly the best Blueberry Coffee Cake I’ve ever had!
I love this blueberry coffee cake. The cake is light and delicious, it’s filled with double the berries of most and the crumb topping is the perfect blend of a sweet and spicy crunch. The original recipe was handed down to me on a scrap of paper from my friend Stacy Hatch.
Stacy and I met when we were both members of a local Chamber of Commerce and we shared several interests including our love of cooking, entertaining and organizing events. While I loved the cake that Stacy made I have to tell you that now I absolutely think that The Best Blueberry Coffee Cake has an extra little touch!
Each summer I would hold a Girls Nite In in my backyard for my Chamber friends; I made the cocktails and everyone brought a dish to share. This might seem an unlikely addition to such an event but one summer we decided to make it a slumber party and we all wore our jammies (even if everyone wasn’t spending the night) and Stacy brought this coffee cake to share.
I’ve made some changes over the years; I like a bit more robust topping than the original which was just sugar and butter and this year a new addition has upped the ante even more.
The folks with Crown Royal asked if I would like to sample some of their new Crown Royal Maple Finished Whiskey. Seriously? A whiskey with maple?
This new flavored whiskey brings together the traditional Crown Royal Whiskey along with natural maple flavoring and a “maple toasted oak finishing process.” The finishing process involves soaking the whiskey with American oak wood staves and chips that have been toasted to enhance the natural maple characteristics of the wood. The aroma that wafted to my nose upon opening the bottle was clearly maple and it took a lot of willpower to not sip it straight from the bottle. This is a great match…for both sipping and baking!
One tip? As much as I love cooking with booze; it can get pricey if you think you have to buy a full bottle just for one recipe so think airplane size bottles. Most liquor stores have a section where they carry smaller sizes and this blueberry coffee cake is a case in point.
One small bottle would be the perfect size; measuring a bit more than 4 tablespoons or about 1/4 cup. The scent while this cake was baking was intoxicating in more ways than one.
The difference is subtle; as it should be but it’s also evident. I love whiskey in baked goods…adding some maple too? How can you go wrong?
The method for making the coffee cake is simple:
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8″ or 9″ square pan. Cut a square of parchment paper for the bottom and grease it too.
- Cream sugar and softened butter in a mixing bowl. Add the egg and beat until blended.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and add the whiskey to the milk.
- Alternate adding the flour mix and milk mix to the butter mixture, starting with the flour and ending with flour.
- An important tip for this or any fruit dessert? Put the clean berries in a bowl; sprinkle with a bit of flour and gently mix to have all berries covered. This will help to keep them spread throughout the batter and not sink to the bottom of the pan.
- Fold the blueberries into the batter with a large spoon and put into the pan.
- Mix the topping ingredients together with a pastry blender or in a food processor until coarse. Sprinkle on top of the batter.
- Bake the coffee cake for 45-55 minutes depending on the size of your baking pan; the larger pan will need a shorter the baking time. Check with a toothpick; it’s done when there is no batter on the toothpick. Crumbs are fine; batter is not.
- Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, run a knife around the outer age, then invert the coffee cake onto a cookie sheet, cover with a plate and flip it over so the the top is back on top again.
- Serve warm or cooled to room temperature. It’s great with coffee in the morning and we love it with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for dessert at night.
Saturday was the perfect day to have made this coffee cake. My daughter was here helping with yardwork, my realtor and his kids dropped by and my neighbor Karen stopped on the way home from the grocery to visit for a few minutes. I loved having something so scrumptious on hand to to serve folks and I’m thinking they did not mind either!
The Best Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- ¾ C sugar
- ¼ C soft butter
- 1 egg
- ½ C plus 1 Tbsp. milk
- 4 Tbsp Crown Royale Maple Finished Whiskey optional
- 2 C blueberries
- 2 C flour plus additional to coat berries
- 1 ½ tsp. baking powder
- ½ tsp. salt
For the Streusel Topping
- ¼ C butter
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp nutmeg
- ½ C flour
Instructions
- Cream sugar and softened butter in a mixing bowl. Add the egg and beat until blended.
- Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease an 8" or 9" square pan. Cut a square of parchment paper for the bottom and grease it too.
- Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and add the whiskey to the milk.
- Alternate adding the flour mix and milk mix to the butter mixture, starting with the flour and ending with flour.
- Fold the blueberries into the batter with a large spoon and put into the pan. (See Notes)
- Mix the topping ingredients together with a pastry blender or in a food processor until coarse. Sprinkle on top of the batter.
- Bake the coffee cake for 45-55 minutes depending on the size of your baking pan; the larger pan will need a shorter the baking time. Check with a toothpick; it's done when there is no batter on the toothpick. Crumbs are fine; batter is not.
- Let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes, run a knife around the outer age, then invert the coffee cake onto a cookie sheet, cover with a plate and flip it over so the the top of the cake is back on top again.
- Serve warm or cooled to room temperature. It's great with coffee in the morning and we love it with some vanilla ice cream or whipped cream for dessert at night.
Notes
- Put the clean berries in a bowl; sprinkle with a bit of flour and gently mix to have all berries covered.
- This will help to keep them spread throughout the batter and not sink to the bottom of the pan and most importantly helps to keep juices from seeping into the mixture while folding. No purple cake!
Nutrition
I was provided with a sample of Crown Royal Maple Finished for review however all commentary is my own.
I made this last night, and it turned out amazing!! The only thing I altered was using 1/2 cup of sugar instead of 3/4, and I had frozen blueberries instead of fresh. I left them in the freezer until the last minute, floured them well before adding to the batter, and it worked! It didn’t turn the whole thing purple! Thank you!
I plan on making this this weekend.. I live in high elevation. Any changes because of my location? Thanks!
Sorry I didn’t get back sooner; in the process of selling my home and haven’t been able to keep up with comments for a couple of days. I’m at high elevation and what I did was eliminate about a quarter teaspoon of the leavening, uppped the temp for baking by 25 degrees and then cooked it for a shorter time; pretty much what I do for everything! Since it’s baking at a higher temp, which allows the dough to set quicker since it’s also rising quicker, you do have to compensate with a shorter baking time; start testing at 40 minutes for doneness.
I adore blueberry coffee cake and would happily have dropped by for a piece! Mmm, I’m thinking about that streusel topping now.
Isn’t it fun looking at our older photos and seeing just how far we’ve come? It’s especially fun if you are nibbling on a piece of this coffee cake!! Will definitely be making for the boys since they LOVE blueberry coffee cake!! Ummm… scotch with maple undertones?? Sign me up!!!
This is definitely not my mother’s coffee cake! Wow, it looks scrumptious Barb and the addition of the maple flavoured whiskey must be wonderful. That is the most beautiful looking streusel topping I’ve ever seen.
Wow! I never thought of using booze in a coffee cake but this maple whiskey sounds fabulous and what a luxurious treat for a brunch! And great recipe – love making berry coffee cakes for the family!
I happen to have one of those airplane sized bottles of Jim Beam with honey and this has totally inspired me!
I’ve been hearing a lot about this Maple flavored Crown. Now, I MUST try it. I love a good coffee cake and add booze, I certainly can’t resist.
B, I am going to make this for The Big Lug for Super Bowl Sunday Breakfast! He loves anything blueberry and anything with a terrific streusel topping–coffee cakes, muffins and rolls. It looks just divine and I loved reading the story of how you received and tweaked the recipe. Thanks SO MUCH for sharing! xoxo
Your coffee cake looks so tasty, I love the streusel topping!
I believe it was at the JW Marriott where I had fried chicken and waffles served with a maple Stranahan’s syrup. My mouth is still watering. This sounds great!
What a lovely coffee cake and I must find some of that maple whiskey, very interesting!
Another beautiful photo and a delicious coffee cake too– I always appreciate seeing your older photos as it gives me encouragement and shows me that I have a long way to go in photography but that I can make improvements. At least I am going to eat my way through the process as I take photos of food along the way!
Gorgeous cake Barb!
Ha ha! I cringe every time I look at some of my first photos. But it’s also a reminder of how far I’ve come and clearly the same for you! This does look amazing- you know I’m a whiskey girl and I also have an affinity for all things maple. Looks like a trip to the liquor store is in order!
I recently purchased a bottle of CR Maple but haven’t tried it.
I’ve been wanting a coffee cake and this looks like a good place
to start. The blueberries from Chile have been pretty good too,
luckily froze some local berries this past summer. I’ll see what
I can do.
I miss my mom’s coffee cakes.
What a brilliant addition to coffee cake! It seems that maple and whiskey could elevate almost any dessert.
Crown Royale must have heard you were the maple bourbon girl. This cake looks delightful. Just perfect for all of your visitors.