There are certain foods that just feel like Maine, and blueberries are definitely one of them. When blueberry season rolls around, I always want to find another way to use them beyond eating them by the handful. This year, that meant turning them into a buttery, tender coffee cake with plenty of cinnamon brown sugar streusel on top.
And let me tell you, this one was a winner.
This Maine Blueberry Coffee Cake is moist without being heavy, packed with fresh blueberries, and has little pockets of warm, juicy berries throughout. The blueberries add just the right amount of tartness, while the brown sugar and cinnamon streusel adds a sweet buttery crunch to every bite.
There’s also a little lemon zest in the cake, which might seem like a small addition, but it really makes the blueberries shine. And the best part? You don’t need anything complicated to make it.
A Little About Maine Blueberries
If you’ve spent much time in Maine during the summer, you’ve probably noticed that blueberries are everywhere once the season arrives. Maine is especially known for its wild blueberries, which are smaller than the large cultivated blueberries you typically find at the grocery store. They’re packed with flavor and have a wonderful balance of sweet and tartness.
They’re also a quintessential part of Maine’s food culture, which makes them especially fun to bake with. If you’re lucky enough to have fresh Maine blueberries, this is a perfect recipe for them. But don’t worry if you’re making this outside of blueberry season, frozen blueberries work, too. I used fresh blueberries from our garden so they aren’t wild but they are super tasty.
Maine Blueberry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
The Streusel Topping
- 6 tablespoons (packed) light brown sugar
- ½ cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into ½-inch chunks
The Cake
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled-off
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon (packed) lemon zest, from 1 lemon
- ½ cup milk
- 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen are ok but do not defrost)
Instructions
1. Make the streusel topping: Combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl. Using your fingers, mix until no lumps of brown sugar remain. Rub in the butter with your fingertips until it reaches a crumbly state. It will look kind of like wet beach sand. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Grease a 9 inch square pan with butter or nonstick cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl and beating well after each addition. Add in the vanilla extract and lemon zest.
5. Gradually add the flour mixture, alternating with the milk, mixing on low speed to combine. Add the berries to the batter and fold gently with a spatula until evenly distributed. You may want to add one cup at a time so you don’t smoosh the berries. Do not over mix.
6. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the streusel topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until golden brown around the edges and a cake tester comes out clean. Don’t be alarmed if you hit a blueberry when testing it,the berries become wonderfully juicy as they bake! (Watch the baking time. Ovens vary, and the amount of moisture in the blueberries can affect baking time. Start checking around 50 minutes.)
7. Let cool in the pan on a rack for about 20 minutes, then serve right from the pan.
Store leftovers covered at room temperature. If you somehow have leftovers, they’ll keep well for a couple of days. You can also warm individual slices slightly before serving.
This is one of those recipes that feels special enough for a weekend breakfast but easy enough to make just because you happen to have a couple of cups of blueberries sitting in the refrigerator. One of my favorite things about this cake is what happens to the blueberries in the oven. They soften and burst as they bake, creating little pockets of warm, juicy blueberry throughout the cake. Some bites are mostly tender cake and streusel, while others have that wonderful burst of blueberry flavor.
It’s exactly what I want in a blueberry coffee cake. And don’t forget the coffee!
