Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

This blueberry cream cheese coffee cake is moist and tender. As an added bonus, the easy crumb topping is made from some of the cake batter!

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As someone who loves all things berry, blueberries hold a special place in my heart. Their inky blue-black color and sweet earthy flavor is always a lovely addition to baked goods. I eat them by the handful, when I’m not putting them in my homemade granola, baking them in a Swedish blueberry coffee cake, making a blueberry galette or blueberry pie or teaming them up with different fruits like my blueberry rhubarb pie and my grape blueberry pie.

Recently I’ve been playing around with various cream cheese coffee cake recipes, like my rhubarb strawberry buckle, and I came up with these lovely blueberry cream cheese coffee cake. The crumb topping is made from the cake batter, which simplifies the recipe, and makes it ideal for a casual treat for coffee, tea or a snack, while the cream cheese topping adds a moisture and richness without being too cloyingly sweet.

How do you make this coffee cake

First make the cake batter by mixing together the flour and sugar in a stand mixer. Then add in cubes of butter, mixing until the butter has broken down and been incorporated. The mixture should look a bit like damp sand.

Scoop out some of the mixture and set it aside. This will be the crumb topping!

Then continue making the cake batter by adding the leavening (baking powder and baking soda), as well as the salt. Mix to incorporate and then pour in a beaten mixture of sour cream, eggs, and vanilla. Beat to incorporate the liquid ingredients, then scrape it into a pan and spread it out. Sprinkle some blueberries over the cake batter.

Make the cream cheese layer by mixing cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon and a touch of cardamom into the bowl (no need to clean it) and mix until smooth. 

Now layer the cream cheese filling over the blueberries, and add more blueberries over the cream cheese. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the top and bake!

How to bring cream cheese and eggs to room temperature

Typically, most recipes tell you to bring cream cheese and eggs to room temperature before baking. This helps speed up the bake time, keeps the cake batter emulsified and well blended (as warmer eggs blend in better than cold eggs), as well as prevents the cake from baking with any cracks on top that occur because of uneven temperature. 

The easiest way to bring cream cheese and eggs to room temperature is to just take them out of the fridge an hour before making the cake. But if you’re like me, you probably don’t plan ahead. So instead, just fill two bowls with hot water from the tap. Then place the cream cheese (still wrapped in aluminum foil) in one bowl, and the eggs in the other bowl. Wait about 10 minutes, roughly the amount of time it takes gather all the ingredients together, prep the pan, and start making the cake. Once you’re ready for the eggs and cream cheese, the ingredients should be warmed up to room temperature. 

How to store this coffee cake

Because this coffee cake has cream cheese in it, I typically recommend it covered and stored it in the fridge. Covered, the cake will keep for 3 to 5 days. Bring the cake back to room temperature by leaving out on the counter or tabletop for 1 hour before serving.

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Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

This Blueberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake uses a scoop of the cake batter as the crumb on top, which simplifies the whole process. The cream cheese topping keeps the cake moist with a bit of tang. And the blueberries lend a fruit earthy juicy pop to each bite.

Course Breakfast, brunch, coffee time, Dessert, Snack

Keyword blueberries, cake, coffee cake, cream cheese, fruit

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Ingredients

Cake Batter and Crumb topping

• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour 465 g
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300 g
• 1 cup + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 1/4 sticks or 255 g
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream 360 g
• 2 large eggs room temperature (see note below)
• 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries (see note below), 225 g

Cream cheese topping

• 8 ounces cream cheese room temperature (see note below)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar 50 g
• 1 large egg room temperature (see note below)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom optional but recommended
• 1/2 cup blueberries (see note below), 75 g

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly coat a 9 x 13 x 2-inch baking pan with cooking spray. You can optionally add parchment paper to it if you’d like but I found it unnecessary.Place the flour and sugar in the bowl of stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Cut the butter into 1/2-inch cubes and add it to the bowl. Slowly mix the ingredients together, increasing speed to medium, until the butter has broken down and the entire mixture looks a bit like damp sand.

• Scoop out about 1 1/3 cups of the sandy mixture, about 175 g, and reserve it for the crumb topping. Then add the baking powder, baking soda and salt to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed for about 15 seconds to incorporate it in.

• Combine the sour cream, eggs, and vanilla extract together in a glass measuring cup or medium sized bowl. Add the liquid to the mixing bowl and mix on low speed, slowly incorporating it and increasing the speed to medium. Mix for a full minute to completely incorporate the buttery dry ingredients and the liquid ingredients together. Because the butter has been incorporated and coated the flour, you don’t have to worry about overmixing this batter. So mix until it’s fairly smooth. But if there are a few lumps here and there, don’t stress about it.

• Scoop the entire batter into the prepared baking pan, spreading it out so there is an even layer. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top of the cake batter.

• In the same mixing bowl (no need to clean it!) make the cream cheese topping. Place the cream cheese, sugar, egg, vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom in the bowl and then mix on low speed until mostly smooth. Since this is a layer of cream cheese on a cake and under a crumb topping, don’t stress if the batter has some small lumps in it.

• Spoon or pour the cream cheese batter over the blueberries and cake batter, spreading it out evenly on top. Then sprinkle the additional 1/2 cup of blueberries over the top of the cream cheese batter.

• Sprinkle the reserve crumb topping over the blueberries and cream cheese batter. Then bake in the oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown on the edges and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. If you have an instant read thermometer, the internal temperature of the center of the cake should be somewhere between 205 and 210°F.Let cool completely before serving.

Notes

1. You can use frozen or fresh blueberries if you wish. If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them. Just add them on top like the fresh blueberries and bake as directed.
2. If you need to bring your cream cheese and eggs to room temperature quickly, fill a large bowl of hot water from the tap. Then place the cream cheese (still sealed in its foil wrapper) and the eggs in the bowl. Let the ingredients sit in the water for 10 minutes to bring them to room temperature. This is roughly the amount of time it takes to measure and mix the flour, sugar and butter ingredients and reserve the crumb topping. So as long as the first thing you do is submerge the cream cheese and eggs in the hot water, you should be good to go!

Nutrition

Calories: 498kcal | Carbohydrates: 38.2g | Protein: 9.1g | Fat: 34.2g | Saturated Fat: 21.8g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 1481mg | Potassium: 662mg | Fiber: 3.5g | Sugar: 13.4g | Calcium: 311mg | Iron: 3mg

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