Blueberry season is almost upon us! Now of course we could go the normal route and simply eat the berries straight off the bush — trust me, there will be plenty of that, especially if my children are involved in the picking process — but personally, I love cooking with and baking with them. I fully intend to create some shortcake magic with roasted blueberries, and perhaps some homemade blueberry ice cream with bits of pie dough tossed in (can you imagine?!), but to get the party started, blueberry streusel coffee cake.

Coffee cake. When I hear those two words, I immediately think cake for breakfast. Add ‘blueberry’ to the forefront and suddenly the dish is healthy and providing a necessary serving of fruit! But the real reason I adore this cake? My family loves it.

Sharing food with loved ones has always brought me joy, but now being a mom and watching my children try new recipes — it takes on a whole new meaning. Like with each bite, they’re creating memories. Which dishes will stick out in their minds as childhood favorites?

After taking one bite, my oldest proclaimed, “Mommy, this is the best dessert you’ve ever made.”

But to be fair, he tells me that every day.

I would like to publicly apologize to my children’s future partners as they have grown accustomed to seeing new desserts appear daily, simply assuming this is a normal part of childhood.

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were?

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Yield: 10 servings 1x

Scale

Ingredients

For the jam layer

8 oz fresh blueberries
3 Tbsp blueberry jam
2 tsp cornstarch
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the cake

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
¾ cup sugar
½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
12 Tbsp (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, (cold, cut into ½” cubes)
1 cup sour cream or whole fat Greek yogurt
1 large egg, (room temperature)
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
2 tsp turbinado sugar

Instructions

To make blueberry purée

Combine blueberries and blueberry jam in a blender. In a small bowl, mix together corn starch and vanilla extract until paste forms. Add to blender, then purée until smooth. Set aside.
To make cake
Preheat oven to 375 F then line an 8” cake pan with parchment paper and coat with baking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together flours, sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Add cubed butter and break apart with your fingers or a pastry cutter until butter is the size of small peas. Remove and reserve ½ cup of flour mixture to crumble on top of cake.
In the large bowl, add sour cream or Greek yogurt, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix using a spatula until very well mixed.
Pour slightly more than half of the cake batter into prepared dish. Using slightly damp hands, gently push down the batter to form an even layer, pushing up slightly along the sides of the pan.
Pour the blueberry purée mixture evenly on top, leaving a roughly 1” border around the edge untouched. Carefully dollop the remaining cake batter on top. Dampen your hands again slightly, then gently spread out the batter as best you can.
Add turbinado sugar to the reserved ½ cup flour mixture, then sprinkle evenly on top. Bake until golden brown on the edges and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool completely before serving.