Blueberry Coffeecake with Cinnamon Streusel

Summer is the best season to enjoy the bounty of fresh berries and my favorite berries are definitely blueberries. I love using them to bake a lovely and easy cake like this blueberry coffeecake with cinnamon streusel.

This blueberry coffeecake is moist, and more importantly, very easy to prepare and bake. It has a generous amount of blueberries so every bite will be rewarded with juicy berries.

Outside of summer, I can also bake this cake with frozen blueberries. The sight and smell of this cake will sure to make me, and hopefully everyone, happy. :)

Ingredients for the cinnamon streusel and how to prepare it

A streusel is a crumbly topping of flour, butter, and sugar baked on top of cakes, muffins, bread, or pies.

For our streusel topping, we will be using sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, salt, and unsalted butter. If you wish, you can substitute the all-purpose flour with an equal amount of ground oatmeal for a healthier alternative.

To prepare the streusel, mix together sugar, all-purpose flour, cinnamon, and salt in a bowl. Cut butter into little squares, then add into the bowl. Use a fork/two knives/fingertips to rub with the sugar mixture until it reaches a crumbly state. Set aside.

Cake pan: which size and how to grease and line

I use an 8"x8"x3" pan to bake this cake. An 8"x8"x2" pan will work too since this is not a tall cake.

If you prefer a round shape cake, you can also bake this cake in a 9-inch round cake pan with a 2" depth. For an 8-inch round cake pan, you will need to use one with a 3" depth.

To help with removing the cake from the pan, I love making a parchment paper sling. A parchment sling is a piece of parchment paper that is long enough so as to cover the bottom of the pan and goes up and over the sides too.

Line the cake pan with a parchment paper sling once you grease the pan with butter. The butter should help the paper clings to the pan. If it doesn’t look secure, you can always secure the parchment paper sling with the help of binder clips to prevent it from moving around when pouring the cake batter.

To remove the cake, simply grab the paper overhang and gently pull the cake up. It’s a neat little trick to avoid having to turn the cake upside down when removing it from the pan.

Fresh blueberries vs. frozen blueberries

If possible, I want to bake this cake all the time with nothing but fresh bluberries. But more often than not, outside of summer, I am left with frozen blueberries to bake this lovely cake.

The good news is this cake is just as lovely with frozen blueberries.

The bad news is that frozen berries often bleed juice into cake batter and turning the supposedly golden-colored cake into a shade of purple-green. Not so great to look at, though if you close your eyes, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

To minimize this, you can rinse your frozen blueberries before using them.

Place frozen blueberries in a colander and rinse with cold water several times until the water is noticeably lighter when you drain the berries. Usually, it will start with dark blue and gradually reaches a light red.

Once it reaches that color, dry the berries well with paper towels. Now the frozen berries are ready to use and the color bleed should be very minimal.

Preparing the cake batter

We will need all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, unsalted butter, egg, vanilla extract, milk, and blueberries for the cake batter.

First, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt.

In a separate mixing bowl, beat together sugar, melted butter, egg, and vanilla.

Alternatively add the milk and the flour mixture into the egg/butter mixture, ending with flour. Add blueberries, stir only enough to blend.

Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle with cinnamon streusel topping over the batter.

Baking, cooling, and serving the blueberry coffeecake

Bake in the preheated oven at 190 Celsius (375 Fahrenheit) for 45-50 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean.

Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a thin blade along the cake edges, and gently remove the cake from the pan. Cut into serving sizes and serve.

Also, the best drink to serve with this cake is a cup of hot coffee. This is why we call this a coffee cake. :)

You can serve the cake as dessert, although this cake is perfect for breakfast too.

Making ahead

When I want to serve this cake for breakfast, I usually prepare the cake batter and transfer it to the pan. Cover the pan with a cling wrap plastic and put the whole thing in the fridge.

I also prepare the cinnamon streusel ahead of time. There is no need to put this in the fridge, so I simply left it in my kitchen counter.

The following morning, I remove the cake batter from the fridge, top with the streusel, and bake. It usually takes slightly longer, around 10 minutes longer to account for the chilled batter.