Blueberry and White Chocolate Coffee Cake

Sometimes, the best part of a coffee cake is the crumble topping that sits on top of it. Other times, the cake itself is so tasty that the coffee cake actually needs no topping at all to be good. I would put this Blueberry and White Chocolate Coffee Cake into the latter category. It is a moist, tender and flavorful cake that, despite the fact that it has only a sprinkle of sugar to top it off, is definitely the perfect accompaniment to a good cup of coffee.

This cake includes fresh blueberries and white chocolate chips, which pair together very well. The sweetness of the berries is only enhanced by the sweet vanilla flavor of the white chocolate. You can use fresh or frozen berries in this coffee cake, but prefer to use fresh berries because they don’t “bleed” into the cake as defrosting, frozen berries do, resulting in a much prettier finished product. If you do use frozen, simply toss the still-frozen berries in about a tablespoon of flour before folding them into the batter to minimize the purple “bleed” of the berry juice.

The finished cake is sweet, with a great combination of almond, vanilla and buttermilk flavors in the batter, setting off the bright blueberries scattered throughout. The white chocolate chips (or use chopped up chunks of your favorite good-quality white chocolate) almost melt into the cake, adding another layer of creamy vanilla flavor. A sprinkle of sugar on top of the cake gives it a slightly crisp crust, rather than adding more sweetness to it. The cake keeps extremely well when stored in an airtight container, so it can be made a day before you intend to serve if you you’re planning to bring it out for brunch. Don’t forget the coffee!

Blueberry and White Chocolate Coffee Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
1 1/2 tbsp coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth. Stir in about one half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir only until just combined. Fold in berries and white chocolate chips to evenly distribute them. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Cool completely before slicing.

Serves 9