swirled blueberry lemon coffee cake with gingered streusel

When there’s eggs and butter in the kitchen, you know something’s gonna be bitchin’.

I could have named this Bitchin’ Blueberry Coffee Cake, probably, but at least in the title I can pretend to be polite. However you slice and dice it, this coffee cake is the stuff of afternoon fika dreams. Tendrils of blueberry jam, tender and crumble lemon-laced cake, and big handfuls of gingered butter streusel comprise the personality of this here delight.

As a wee lass, we bought those refrigerated Sara Lee coffee cakes fairly often. Whenever I’d sight one on the counter, I’d pounce immediately, and between the three kids the thing would be obliterated in two days. Sometimes at work we sample random items that expire soon or break in some fashion, and whenever the coffee cake appears on a slab of parchment, I’m a happy gal.

Then I figured, why wait for a broken shell of a cake to enjoy this treat? Why not just, you know, make it?

I chose to sweeten the cake with a mixture of light brown sugar (to alter the cake color as little as possible) and honey and omitted white sugar completely. This resulted in a very soft crumb that near melts on your tongue, and I find the slight bitterness of honey pushes the lemon facet into the lemonlight. Why do limes get all the light?

Fatten up the batter with butter and full-fat Greek yogurt, fluff it with three eggs, and tang the whole ordeal with both lemon zest and juice. Makes the whole burning hands from suddenly-discovered nicks and slices while working with citrus well worth the pain.

Once you’ve got the batter fixed up, pour half of it in a parchment-lined baking pan. Dollop blueberry preserves and spread gently until more or less evenly covered, then finish off the batter with a big splosh and spread over the preserves. It’s okay if some of the preserves lift onto the second layer of batter. It’s especially ok if you lick the spatula when you’re done.

Streusel last. Melted butter, light brown sugar, flour, a bit of cinnamon, and a generous bit of ginger. Ginger and lemon are a famous pairing and hold hands so beautifully when sugared up and sprinkled over cake. Could almost make you tear up from the romance.

Coffee cake is great warm, but it does require some patience so it doesn’t totally collapse when sliced. A good 20 minutes of cooling overall ensures a set center, but I’d leave it an hour to be real safe. Some of you like a bit of danger in your baking, though. I’ll leave you to it.

Tried this recipe out? Leave a comment with your thoughts, and don’t forget to come say hi on Instagram and show me what you’ve made!

Why not have a Very Blueberry Day with a Balsamic Blueberry Basil Smash?

swirled blueberry lemon coffee cake with gingery streusel

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Fluffy, tangy lemon coffee cake ribboned with sweet blueberry jam and topped with the most buttery ginger-infused streusel. An afternoon cuppa's new best pal.

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 45 mins

Total Time 1 hr 5 mins

Servings 12 slices

Ingredients

  

• 1/2 cup butter, soft
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup plain full-fat Greek yogurt
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp lemon zest
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3/4 cup blueberry preserves

gingered streusel

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 6 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
• 1 tbsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Instructions

 

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a 9 x 9 inch cake pan with parchment with about two inches overhanging the edges.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream butter and brown sugar for 2 minutes until fluffy. Beat in honey, Greek yogurt, vanilla, lemon zest, and lemon juice. Whip eggs into the mixture one at a time.
• In a separate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
• In three turns, alternate flour mixture and milk, beating until mostly mixed in between. So, you'd do one round of flour mix, one round of milk, one round of flour, one round of milk, then the final round of flour and the final round of milk.
• In a third small bowl, whisk together the streusel ingredients. Mix briefly with hands to create larger crumbs.
• Pour half of the cake batter into prepared baking pan. Dollop blueberry jam across the top and spread with a spatula until evenly distributed. Clean and grease the same spatula or a new one and spread the remaining cake batter over the jam. Sprinkle streusel until the cake is fully covered.
• Bake 45-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then grab the parchment and transfer to a wire baking rack to cool completely. Slice into 12 pieces and serve with a hot mug of coffee!