BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE COFFEE CAKE – Sweet cheesecake and blueberries sit atop a buttery cake rimmed with a crunchy almond border. As the cake bakes the cream cheese batter and blueberries slightly sink into the middle and the edges rise up around it making for a very pretty cake.
This cake intrigued me not only because it combines three of my favorite things to eat in the entire world but because it uses the same method as a pie crust of cutting in cold butter making the cake almost like a sweet bread.
The cake batter is on the thick side – a good thing because it has to withstand all the weight of the cream cheese batter and the blueberries sitting on top of it. Otherwise it would be flatter than a pancake.
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Tell me one thing better than a buttery, dense cake topped with sweet cheesecake and oodles of blueberries and I’ll tell you it’s not nice to lie. There’s nothing better.
Not at this exact moment in time.
Where else can you find a blueberry pie, a cheesecake and a sweet bread all rolled into one?! The best of many worlds.
BLUEBERRY CREAM CHEESE COFFEE CAKE
Ingredients
- 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup apple juice or water
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup cold butter diced
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest just the yellow not the pith
- 3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt or sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 large eggs
- 6 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
Instructions
- In a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat bring blueberries and apple juice or water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until blueberries have released their juices 3 - 5 minutes.
- In a small bowl blend the cornstarch and 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon water. Stir it into the blueberry mixture and cook until it thickens about 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Butter a 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Meanwhile in a large mixing bowl whisk together the flour and 3/4 cup of the sugar. (You can also do this in a food processor to make the next step easier.)
- Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or pulse in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup of this mixture and set it to the side.
- If you used a food processor dump the flour mixture out into a large mixing bowl. Stir in the baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest.
- In a separate bowl mix the yogurt, vanilla, and 1 egg until blended. Stir this wet mixture into the dry just until incorporated.
- Spread the batter out in the prepared pan - it will be thick.
- In a bowl or in the food processor (no need to wash it out from earlier) beat on high speed (or whirl) the cream cheese, with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 1 egg and the lemon juice until smooth and creamy. Pour over the batter in the pan.
- Gently drop half of the blueberry mixture over the cream cheese mixture by the spoonfuls leaving about a 1 - 2 inch border around the edge.
- Stir the almonds into the reserved flour mixture and sprinkle over the outside edge of the cake making a 1 - 2 inch border. Spoon the rest of the blueberries into the middle.
- Bake 35 - 40 minutes until center of cake barely jiggles when pan is gently shaken and top of the cake is golden brown.
- Cool on wire rack 15 minutes then remove the rim of the pan. Serve warm or at room temperature.