Speckled throughout a light and fluffy whole-wheat cake are plump and bursting blueberries, whose tartness pairs excellently well with the sweet and crispy cinnamon streusel perfectly browned at the very top. A great centerpiece for company, to be served with coffee, tea or your favorite warm beverage, this blueberry coffee cake easily answers that craving beck for a fresh-out-of-the-oven cake-y tray bake.
“There are eyes, to be sure, that give no more admission into the man than blueberries.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
(Not So) Secret Tips for a Great Streusel
Streusel is essentially comprised of just three ingredients: flour, sugar and butter. Simple enough, right?
But what separates a good streusel from a great one boils down to one small detail: the coldness of the fat, or in this case, vegan butter.
Cold butter tends to pebble much more consistently when you cut it into the dry flour and sugar. This means when you’re ready to streusel up your blueberry coffee cake, it will be more of an even coating on top. Also, colder butter melts more gradually as is bakes, more so than a butter that is room temperature, and so your streusel will have a better texture overall.
The second (not so) secret to a spectacular streusel topping for this vegan blueberry coffee cake, or any other streusel topped baked goodie, has to do with the timing of it.
Since this blueberry coffee cake takes nearly three-quarters of an hour in the oven, it would be unwise to add the streusel from the very beginning of the bake. Unlike these blueberry muffins with streusel topping, this coffee cake is going to take longer to bake than the streusel will to brown. Therefore, removing the coffee cake halfway through its bake time – about 20 minutes in – and adding the streusel then, will ensure a golden brown and crispy streusel, rather than one that is over-caramelized and potentially burnt.
Helpful tip: For those who are unable to digest gluten, you can use a gluten-free flour mix for the streusel and for the coffee cake, and it should work well, too.
“I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill.”
– Fats Domino
To Flour or Not To Flour
It’s not at all uncommon to toss blueberries in a thin coating of flour before adding them to a batter. But what this does for the overall outcome of the bake, I’m not really sure.
At this point, I’m convinced that tossing blueberries in flour is more of superstitious thing than a practical one. Much like how people knock on wood, avoid walking under ladders or crossing black cats, the ritual of the pre-floured blueberry is a precautionary measure taken to ward off potentially bad circumstance more than anything.
That being said, if you do plan on baking this vegan blueberry coffee cake, and you’d like to do this to your blueberries, I won’t judge you. But if you do, maintain a consistency throughout the bake by flouring your blueberries in whole-wheat flour, same as that of the cake.
“He had a crush on a blueberry bush once.”
– Rick Riordan
Vegan Blueberry Coffee Cake Recipe
If you’re looking for a truly scrumptious blueberry coffee cake, then this is the one for you. The fresh bursts of juicy berry flavor from the blueberries compliment the cinnamon-y, whole-wheat-centric cake extremely well. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also fairly easy to make and not overly sweet.
So next time you see a bulbous batch of blueberries, don’t pass them up. Instead, use them to make this incredibly satisfying and wholesome vegan coffeecake that doesn’t disappoint.
“If I filled the Earth with blueberries, I would have the same number as atoms in a grapefruit.”
– Jonathan Bergman
I hope that you enjoyed this blueberry coffee cake recipe. If you did, leave me a comment and recipe rating before you go.
Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping
Equipment
- 8×8 baking dish
Ingredients
- ¼ cup vegan butter, melted
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup soy milk, or your favorite plant-based milk
- 1 tablespoon ground golden flaxseed
- 2 cups whole-wheat flour, or gluten-free flour mix
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Streusel Topping
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup whole-wheat flour, or gluten-free flour mix
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Dash of salt
- 3 tablespoons vegan butter, chilled
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, and lightly grease an 8×8 baking dish.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the melted vegan butter and brown sugar together until fluffy and smooth.
- In medium bowl, stir together the soy milk and ground golden flaxseed, and let sit for a couple minutes.
- Next, sift the flour, baking powder, salt and ground cinnamon into the bowl with the whipped butter and brown sugar. When the oven is preheated, add to that same bowl the soy milk and ground flaxseed, too. Begin gently folding the ingredient together with a flexible spatula.
- Halfway through folding, add the blueberries, and gently fold them into the batter, careful not to burst them by applying too much pressure. Once everything is fully incorporated, add the batter to the 8×8 baking dish, and spread it evenly throughout. Bake the coffee cake for 20 minutes to start with, and begin working on the streusel in the meantime.
- Make the streusel by combing the brown sugar, flour, ground cinnamon and dash of salt in a medium bowl, and then cut the chilled vegan butter into the flour mixture with a fork or pastry cutter until perfectly crumbly and pebbly. Store this in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- After the coffee cake has baked for the first 20 minutes, remove it from the oven briefly and top it evenly with the streusel mixture. Place the coffee cake back into the oven, and let it bake for another 25 – 27 minutes, until golden brown on top, springy when touched, and a toothpick inserted comes out relatively clean (no wet better sticking to it).
- Allow the coffee cake to cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting slices to eat.
Nutrition
May you have good food in good company,
That Vegan Nephew
Cameron, you had me at streusel topping! This looks delectable.
Thank you, Amy!
This is very good. With some plain So Delicious Yogurt Alternative on the side and a cup of coffee, it becomes breakfast. Peppermint tea with friends in the afternoon on my sunny deck and it becomes dessert. Versatile and delicious. Thank you Vegan Nephew.