Very Berry Coffee Cake

1Steve's Note:

Simple to make and a good way to use up leftover sour cream as it only calls for 3 tablespoons of it. You can mix and match berries or use all one kind too. Recipe courtesey Killahevlin Bed and Breakfast Front Royal, Virginia

• Total Time: 55 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

For Cake

• 1 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup softened butter
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons sour cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cups fresh berries (frozen or thawed berries may be substituted ( try a combo of blueberries, blackberries, and raspberr)

Crumb Topping

• 3 tablespoons softened butter
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Spread solid shortening on bottom and sides of a 9-inch square pan.
2. Position oven rack in center of oven and preheat to 350 degrees.
3. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Set aside.
5. Cream butter and sugar with electric mixer.
6. Add eggs one at a time and beat until fluffy.
7. Add vanilla and sour cream and mix well.
8. Alternately, add flour mixture and milk to batter, beginning and ending with flour.
9. Spread half the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top.
10. Spread berries (well drained) on top of batter.
11. Cover berries with remaining batter and spread the top evenly with a spatula (some berries will show through).
12. For Crumb Topping: Combine all ingredients and pinch them with fingertips to make crumbs.
13. Spread on top of cake and bake for 30 to 35 minutes (metal pan) or longer if glass pan- or until a toothpick comes out clean and cake is golden brown.
14. Cool cake completely (in pan) on wire rack.
15. Refrigerate overnight and cut into squares.
16. Serve at room temperature.

Reviews

[Bev]

I made this cake this morning Steve, as soon as I read your response in "Request A Recipe". It looked just too good to resist. This coffee cake is just as fabulous as I thought it would be by reading the ingredients! Very easy to make with excellent results. I made this recipe using fresh blueberries and it tasted like a great big blueberry muffin.....only better! This will be a great coffee cake to make when we have guests or simply for my coffee cake cravings! Thank you so much, Steve for posting!

[LonghornMama]

Fantastic! Followed directions exactly and it was perfect. Used some huge fresh blackberries we picked that day. Refrigerated overnight then served at room temperature for breakfast the next morning. Cake was tender and buttery, streusel topping was just right, beautful and bursting with flavor of blackberries. So, so good. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

[michaluna]

Great coffee cake! YUM! I made some minor adjustments: since many reviewers said theirs didn't cook through or that the berries collapsed, I left out the milk, especially because I used all fresh berries and they have a higher juice conent. I used 1/4 cup sour cream... I still had to bake it an extra 20 minutes or so, but then it was just about perfect! Its a pretty thick cake so I am not surprised at the longer baking time...Since I was using unsalted butter, I added an extra 1/4 tsp over what the recipe called for. Finally, I added a touch of cinnamon to the cake for more flavor and next time will add 1/2 tsp to the cake.