Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Sharing a Blueberry Coffee Cake recipe with almond crumble/streusel for crunch! It’s a breakfast dessert you never have to justify—because hey, it’s for coffee!

Slice of blueberry coffee cake showing soft crumb, juicy blueberry layers, and crunchy cinnamon streusel topping — moist homemade coffee cake recipe for breakfast or dessert!

Why do we call it coffee cake… when there’s usually no coffee in it?

Turns out, coffee cake didn’t start with coffee in the batter at all—it started as cake for coffee. In 17th-century Northern Europe, particularly in Germany, sweet breads and cakes, such as streuselkuchen, were served alongside coffee in the new coffeehouses.

Immigrants carried those traditions to the US, where by the 1800s, cookbooks started featuring ‘coffee cakes’ designed to be enjoyed with your morning cup. By the 20th century, it had settled into the classic cinnamon-spiced, crumb-topped cake we know today. I made mine with blueberries folded in—because honestly, fruit plus streusel is an elite combo.

If you'd like to bake along, here's the full recipe tutorial for a Blueberry Coffee Cake!

This recipe is inspired by Nagi’s famous “Bursting Blueberry Crumb Cake” from RecipeTin Eats. I’ve adapted it with a few twists – cutting back the sugar, swapping in almond extract, and using what I had on hand (kefir!) – to create my own version. It’s a blueberry coffee cake that travels well and tastes even better than it looks. Ready to bake?

Source: Adapted from Nagi Maehashi’s Bursting Blueberry Crumb Cake (RecipeTin Eats)

---

Ingredients

Almond Streusel Topping: (prepare this first)

• Flour: 85 g (2/3 cup) all-purpose flour

• Sugar: 80 g (scant 1/2 cup) granulated sugar (I reduced ~20 g from the original for a lighter sweetness)

• Cinnamon: 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• Salt: 1/8 tsp (a pinch)

• Butter: 60 g (4 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted

• Almond Extract: 1/4 tsp almond extract (instead of vanilla – a little goes a long way)

  
  

Lemon Vanilla Cake:

• Flour: 170 g (~1 1/3 cups) all-purpose flour

• Baking Powder: 2 tsp

• Salt: 1/4 tsp

• Sugar: 130 g (~2/3 cup) granulated sugar

• Lemon Zest: Zest of 1 lemon (about 1 tbsp)

• Eggs: 2 large eggs, at room temperature

• Butter: 90 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

• Kefir: 80 g (1/3 cup) plain kefir (or use yogurt or sour cream, room temperature)

• Milk: 80 ml (1/3 cup) almond milk (or any milk, room temperature)

• Vanilla: 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Blueberry Layer:

• Blueberries: 500 g (about 1 lb) fresh blueberries (you can use frozen; keep them frozen until use)

• Lemon Juice: 2 tsp fresh lemon juice

• Sugar: 1 tbsp granulated sugar (original uses 2 tbsp; I found 1 tbsp sufficient)

• Flour: 3 tbsp all-purpose flour

(This makes one 8-inch round cake or 9×5-inch deep loaf. I used a round springform pan for easy removal.)

Instructions

Step 1: Prepare the Streusel

1. Mix dry ingredients: In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt for the crumble.

2. Add butter and flavor: Pour in the melted 60 g butter. Add the 1/4 tsp almond extract. Use a fork to mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened. Do not over-mix – you want to end up with a lumpy, clumpy mixture (think pea-sized crumbs and larger). Those lumps will bake into crispy nuggets of goodness. If it’s too wet (no clumps), add a touch more flour; if too dry (won’t hold clumps when pinched), add a teaspoon of milk or a bit more melted butter.

3. Chill: Pop the bowl of streusel into the fridge while you prep the rest. Keeping the crumble cold (thanks butter!) ensures it stays chunky and bakes up crunchy.

   
   

Step 2: Toss the Blueberries

1. Lemon and dry coating: In a large bowl, combine the blueberries with 2 tsp of lemon juice. Toss to coat the berries – this little bit of liquid helps the sugar and flour stick.

2. Coat berries: Sprinkle 1 tbsp sugar and 3 tbsp flour over the lemony blueberries. Gently toss or fold with a spatula to coat. It will look a bit pasty – that’s perfect. (Not all the flour will cling; any extra in the bowl, we’ll use – don’t toss it out.) Set the bowl of blueberries aside.

   
   

Step 3: Make the Cake Batter

1. Prep oven and pan: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C). Grease and line an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper. (Using a springform is ideal for crumb cake so you don’t have to flip it out; you won’t lose any of that lovely topping.) Note: If using a loaf pan, line it with parchment sling as well.

2. Combine dry ingredients: In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

3. Mix wet ingredients: In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugar, vanilla, and lemon zest with the 2 eggs until the mixture is smooth and a bit frothy. (The sugar starts to dissolve and it’ll look slightly paler – 15–30 seconds of whisking by hand is good.) Now add the melted (but not hot) butter and the kefir. Whisk until everything is well incorporated. It may not be completely smooth (if the butter was a tad warm, the cold kefir might make it look slightly curdled – no worries, it will smooth out once we add flour).

4. Finish the batter: Add the dry ingredient mixture in three parts, alternating with the almond milk. So, add about 1/3 of the flour mix, stir gently, then half of the almond milk, stir, then next 1/3 of flour, then remaining almond milk, then final 1/3 of flour. Fold with a spatula just until the batter is smooth and no streaks of dry flour remain. Do not over-mix. The batter will be relatively thick.

   
   

Step 4: Assemble and Bake

1. Fill the pan: Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. It will seem like not a ton of batter for the pan – that’s okay.

   

   Mixing blueberry coffee cake batter with fresh or frozen blueberries in stainless steel bowl — simple homemade crumb cake recipe tutorial

2. Add blueberries: Give your prepared blueberries one more gentle toss. Then spoon them evenly over the top of the batter. Pour/sprinkle any excess flour-sugar mixture from the bowl over the blueberries. (This extra bit will absorb berry juices as the cake bakes, turning into a delicious jammy layer just under the crumb) The blueberries should mostly cover the batter in a single layer.

   

   a pretty color tbh

3. Top with streusel: Take the chilled almond streusel from the fridge and scatter it over the blueberries, aiming for an even blanket of crumb. I like to have some big clumps and some smaller bits. You should see some blueberries peeking through, but about 80% of the surface will be covered in crumb.

   

   put a good handful of almond crumble aka streusel! don't be shy with the topping

4. Bake: Bake the cake at 400°F (200°C) for ~60–65 minutes (if your oven runs hot, check at 55 minutes). Rotate the pan halfway through baking to ensure even coloring. The crumb topping should turn light golden-brown and the blueberries will be bubbling. To check doneness, insert a skewer into the center – it should come out mostly clean. If you hit a blueberry, you might get blueberry goo on it (that’s fine, just avoid judging by that). What you don’t want is wet batter. If the top is browning too quickly, tent with foil in the last 15 minutes.

   

   golden, crispy, and moist blueberry cake goodness.

   
   

5. Cool: Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for about 10–15 minutes. Then carefully run a knife around the edges and release the springform (or lift out your loaf with parchment). It’s wise to let it cool another 10 minutes before slicing, to let the fruit layer set a bit. (I confess, I often cut into it warm because who can resist?)

   
   

6. Serve: This blueberry coffee cake is fantastic slightly warm. Serve as-is or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream for dessert. For breakfast/brunch, it’s lovely with coffee or tea. The cake has a tender crumb with a hint of lemon, the blueberry layer is like pie filling, and the almond-cinnamon streusel is crunchy and aromatic – you get a bit of everything in each bite. Enjoy!

   
   

   

   Slice a big piece of the blueberry coffee cake, and of course, serve it on a plate too small.

Iski Note

Almond extract in the crumb: Swapping vanilla for almond extract in the streusel was a game-changer. It gives the topping an almost marzipan-like aroma that complements the blueberries so well. If you adore almond flavor, you could even add a drop (maybe 1/8 tsp) of almond extract to the cake batter itself (in addition to or instead of the vanilla). But be careful – almond extract is strong stuff. 1/4 teaspoon was plenty to perfume the whole crumble.

Sugar reduction: I trimmed about 20 g of sugar from both the cake and the topping compared to the original (reciperecipetineats.com). Honestly, you won’t miss it. The sweetness is more balanced, especially with so many natural sugars from the blueberries. The cake is sweet but not too sweet – perfect for enjoying a big slice (or two) without feeling overwhelmed.

Using kefir instead of yogurt: I used kefir because that’s what I had (and my bottle of kefir was crying to be used!). Kefir is basically a drinkable yogurt, and it worked like a charm. The acidity and moisture it provides are similar to sour cream or yogurt, yielding a tender crumb. If you use Greek yogurt instead, you might even loosen it with a splash of milk since Greek yogurt is thicker. Sour cream works 1:1 as well. The key is that bit of tangy dairy (or non-dairy) to keep the cake moist.

Alternative milks: Almond milk stood in for regular milk here. Full-fat dairy milk would make the cake slightly richer, but honestly, the difference is minor. So use whatever milk you prefer or have on hand – just ensure it’s at room temp. Cold milk or yogurt can firm up that melted butter in your batter (learned that the hard way before!), resulting in a lumpy batter. Room temp ingredients blend much more smoothly.

Berry overload: 500 g of blueberries is a lot of blueberries (about 4 full cups). It might look like overkill when you’re piling them on, but trust the process. The cake rises around them, and the flour coating creates a delicious jam. Every slice will be jam-packed (pun intended) with fruit. You can scale back to 300–400 g of berries if you prefer fewer, but why would you? If using frozen blueberries, use them straight from the freezer (do not thaw), and expect to bake ~10 minutes longer.

Traveling with cake: Yes, this cake can handle an adventure! I let it cool almost completely before wrapping it for travel. If you need to transport it, I recommend keeping it in the springform base or a solid plate, wrapped well with plastic wrap or foil. It actually tastes even better after a few hours because the flavors mingle and the moisture from the berries keeps everything tender. By the time we cut into it later, it was chef’s kiss.

Storage: Store any leftovers in an airtight container. It stays fresh on the counter for about 2 days. Because of the very moist fruit layer, I like to move it to the fridge after day 2. In the fridge it keeps well up to 5 days – just let slices come to room temp or warm them for 10-15 seconds in the microwave before serving. You can also freeze slices (wrapped tightly) for up to 2 months. They thaw nicely, or you can warm them in the oven. (Hint: I had a frozen slice a week later with my coffee and it was STILL fantastic.)