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The Batter Thickens

A food blog balancing sweet treats & healthy eats.

Corn Blueberry Coffee Cake

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It’s always great to have family in town, but it’s especially nice when I need or want to bake. I’ve been meaning to work on my coffee cake entry for the State Fair, but making coffee cakes one after the other would really add up in the whole “cake for breakfast” department. So making one to share with my family made at least one of them disappear faster! And I knew that Corn Blueberry Coffee Cake was going to be a hit with them.

And it’s a good thing I practiced this one, because my first attempt didn’t work out great. I mean, it was delicious. But it didn’t bake through properly and it was too loaded with jam and crumb that it sagged down in the middle. It was also a bit sweeter than I would want for a coffee cake. It was a delicious mess. I believe my dad used the phrase “symphony of flavors” to describe it.

All this to say, I knew I was on to something with the flavors and the concept, but I also knew it wouldn’t work for the State Fair entry.

I used the corn cake recipe from All About Cake that I know is very very good. But it’s too light, and too sweet, which led to the aforementioned issues.

So I retooled it and made something that I figured would be a bit more the right texture and consistency. I used a cornbread recipe and substituted in corn powder for the cornmeal, to boost the corn flavor and get rid of the cornmeal texture. And it worked!

Corn Blueberry Coffee Cake

The only issue now is that it doesn’t look the greatest… I may up the amount of blueberry powder in the hopes of making the crumb look a bit less gray.

I’ve got a few more ideas for coffee cakes, so I may have to chose one that looks more appetizing, regardless of taste. But this is a good recipe to have!

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Corn Blueberry Coffee Cake

  • Author: Audrey
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Ingredients

  • 1 stick butter
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup buttermilk
  • 1/3 cup vegetable oil
  • 3/4 cup cake flour (or, 3/4 all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon cornstarch)
  • 1/2 cup + 3 tablespoons corn powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the crumb:

  • 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup ground freeze dried blueberries
  • 1/4 cup packed light or dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  1. Make the streusel topping: using a food processor, grind up the freeze dried blueberries into a powder. Put the powder through a sieve to get out any seeds, and then measure out what you need for the recipe.
  2. In a small bowl, add the melted butter, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, ground blueberries, 1/4 cup packed brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt. Stir with a fork until evenly moistened and a variety of crumb sizes form. Do not mix into a paste of uniform consistency. Refrigerate while you make the cake.
  3. Make the cake: Heat the oven to 350°F. Pan-spray a 9×9 pan and line it with parchment paper, or line it with a silicone baking mats.
  4. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium-high for 2 to 3 minutes, until light and fluffy, Scrape down the sides of the bowl halfway through this process, and again at the end of it.
  5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating on medium-high for 1 minute after each addition. After you add the last egg, scrape down the sides of the bowl, then beat on high for 4 more minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.
  6. Combine the buttermilk and oil, and with the mixer on medium speed, stream them into the batter very slowly. It should take you approximately 3 minutes to add these liquids. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, increase the mixer speed to medium-high, and paddle for an additional 2 to 3 minutes, until the mixture is practically white, twice the size of your original fluffy butter-and-sugar mixture, and completely homogeneous. Don’t rush the process. You’re basically forcing too much liquid into an already fatty mixture that doesn’t want to make room for that liquid. There should be no streaks of fat or liquid, Stop the mixer and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
  7. Whisk together the cake flour, corn powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
  8. With the mixer on very low speed, slowly add the dry mixture and mix for 45 to 60 seconds, just until your batter comes together. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then mix for an additional 45 seconds to make sure no lumps of flour or powder get left behind.
  9. Spread cake batter evenly into the pan. Crumble the streusel topping over the batter.
  10. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pans front to back halfway through baking.
  11. The cake will rise and puff, doubling in size, but will remain slightly buttery and dense.
  12. At 30 minutes, gently poke the edge of each cake with your finger: The cakes should bounce back slightly and the centers should no longer be jiggly. If they don’t pass these tests, leave the cakes in the oven for an additional 3 to 5 minutes.
  13. Let the cake cool before enjoying.

Notes

Cake adapted from All About Cake, Streusel adapted from the Kitchn

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