Prized for their taste and nutrition, blueberries are a favorite for eating by the handful and as an ingredient in cooking and baking. This bundt cake is full of those beautiful berries with a lemony highlight and a sweet glaze.–Cynthia Graubart
Blueberry Coffee Cake with Lemon Glaze
Equipment
- 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan
Ingredients
For the cake
- Baking spray or oil, for the pan
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the pan
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Zest of 2 lemons (about 1 tablespoon), preferably organic
- 1 cup firmly packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 4 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream, preferably full-fat
- 2 cups (11 oz) fresh or frozen blueberries*
For the glaze
- 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar, plus more if needed
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- Water, optional
Instructions
Make the cake
- Set an oven rack at the lowest level of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C). Spray or coat the inside of a 10- to 12-cup Bundt pan with oil and dust with flour.
- In a large, deep bowl, use your fingers to rub the granulated sugar and lemon zest together until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the brown sugar.
- Add the butter and use an electric to beat until light in color and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at time, beating after each addition until incorporated. Mix in the vanilla.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt until thoroughly combined, at least 30 seconds.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with half the sour cream, beating until combined and scraping the bottom of the bowl between each addition. Gently fold in the blueberries.
- Spread the batter in the prepared pan. Tap the pan on the counter once or twice to remove any air bubbles. Move the pan to a baking sheet and place in the oven.
- Bake until the cake is golden brown on top, begins to pull away a bit from the sides of the pan, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (avoiding a blueberry), 60 to 70 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack for 1 hour.
- Invert the cake out of the pan and onto the rack to finish cooling for at least 1 hour more. The cake can be frozen and glazed after thawing. To freeze the cake, wrap the unglazed cake well and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Glaze at serving time.
Make the glaze
- In a medium bowl, stir together the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice. If the glaze is too thick, add a little water until the desired consistency is achieved. Alternatively, if the glaze is too thin, add a little more confectioners’ sugar.
- Place some paper towel or a baking sheet under the cake to catch any drips. Drizzle the glaze over the cooled cake, move to a serving platter, slice, and enjoy.
Notes
*How Do I Keep Blueberries Suspended in Cake Batter?
First, it depends on the blueberries you use—we’ve heard that frozen blueberries are less likely to sink than fresh. Just make sure to stir them in straight from the freezer, otherwise, they’ll lose a lot of moisture and dye the cake blue. If you go with fresh berries, just hold back 2 tablespoons of flour from the batter and add it to your 2 cups of berries. Make sure all those berries are coated with flour and then dump the whole thing into your batter and fold gently. The coating of flour adds enough friction to the smooth blueberries, keeping them from sinking too much.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This blueberry coffee cake with lemon glaze is heavenly. I had all of the ingredients on hand and it was easy to put together. The note to rub the lemon zest and sugar together with my fingertips is genius. It infused the cake with a lovely lemon flavor throughout. The lemon glaze has just the right amount of lemon juice to perfectly accompany the lemon in the cake. The only change I would make is to allow the cake to cool a little longer so the glaze doesn’t run off so much. I let it cool for an additional 30 minutes after the initial hour once removed from the oven, but I think a full hour would have been best.
This blueberry coffee cake with lemon glaze is a moist and flavorful cake–“lemon-forward” as the recipe states. The directions were easy, and it’s similar to other recipes I’ve re-created, including a lemon quick bread from an old Terence Janerico cookbook dealing with breakfasts and brunches.
While still somewhat warm, I had a generous slice of this delicious cake with a cup of coffee. A delicious treat!
This blueberry coffee cake with lemon glaze came out moist on the inside and lightly browned with a little crunch on the outside. The sweetness of the cake and blueberries is complemented by the lemon in the batter and glaze. The batter came together easily and was thick. This cake is rich and dense so just a small piece was satisfying.
I used fresh blueberries and they held up nicely when folded into the batter and with baking. The glaze was quite thin so I added an additional 1/4 cup of confectioners’ sugar which thickened it up some. The recipe said to transfer the cake from the cooling rack to the serving platter before glazing (although the photo shows the glaze going on while still on the cooling rack) which I did. The glaze pooled on the cake plate around the edges and in the center. I transferred the cake back to the cooling rack to finish the glazing, cleaned the cake plate, and transferred the cake back. Fortunately, the cake held up well with all this moving around.
This recipe for blueberry coffee cake with lemon glaze makes a moist, delicately flavored cake that is packed with blueberries. There are hints of sour cream and lemon zest in every bite. It came together easily and baked in 60 minutes in my convection oven. It certainly serves a crowd, and keeps for a few days wrapped in plastic wrap. It has been wonderful with morning coffee. I made the glaze a bit on the thin side as I am not a fan of confectioner’s sugar (sugar in general, for that matter); I used 7/8 cup of confectioner’s sugar and the full 1/4 cup of lemon juice and got the punch of lemon that I was hoping for. I can think of many occasions where this cake will be a hit.
I love a Bundt cake and with blueberry season in sight I was excited to make this blueberry coffee cake with lemon glaze. It was easy to put together and the recipe was straight forward. With a few tweaks it could be a family favorite as I thought the cake could use more blueberries. Overall it was moist and tender and had a great flavor. It is a simple cake that would be great in the morning or for a snack.
I put it in a bundt pan for 75 mins.
Toothpick cane out clean
Thanks, J. I had thought you might be trying the 9-by 13-inch variation that another reader had suggested. Enjoy the cake!
I absolutely love the combination of blueberries and lemon and this Bundt cake does justice to that marriage of flavors! The cake is so moist and tender; rubbing the zest into the sugar bumps up the lemony goodness. I added a soaking syrup consisting of 1/4 cup sugar melted into 1/4 cup lemon juice, poking holes in the warm cake and pouring carefully while still warm in the pan to really take it over the top with lemon flavor. This recipe is a keeper!
Oh, my Sasha, that is a gorgeous photo!
Can this be baked in a 13″ X 9″ pan? If so, how long?
Carolyn, we didn’t test it in a 9-by 13-inch pan, so we can’t say how long it would take. Definitely less than the time specified in the recipe. I’d start checking it around 40 minutes.
I’ve had it in oven for 40 mins and it still isn’t quite done. I covered it with foil and am trying another 5 minutes.
Thanks, J. Do let us know the final timing for a 9-by 13-inch cake.