Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

When I was invited by Joyce from Kitchen Flavours to join The Home Bakers a few weeks ago, I was elated! I wanted to start immediately! Since they have just started baking from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas, I figure I wanted to at least bake some of the previous recipes before starting with the current - Pear Pinwheel and Hazelnut Cake. So I will start with Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake first.

I was happily making mental notes for baking Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake to kick off my first bake with The Home Bakers. So happy I was, thinking of the fresh blueberries and butter sitting in the fridge, when all of the sudden, the weather turned scorching hot and the household was down with cough and sore throat. I had to postpone or eating the cake would literally make us very ill. Thankfully it rained for the past two days and the heatwave got considerably bearable, so I took out my baking stuffs again, and got the recipe from Chaya's Bizzy Bakes.

This is my Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake. I love the cinnamon smell permeating through the house when I baked this cake. The smell was wonderful, homely and makes everything nice. I have a soft spot for streusel toppings, so I love this as much as I love my ginger cat. Okay, that doesn't sound right: I love my cat more than any baked goods, but don't let him know or he will demand for more fish and less hugs.

Friday says, "Give me food, you puny human!".

Here's a photo of my cat. His name is Friday. We picked him up on a Friday evening almost four years ago. He has his own Facebook page and a small group of cat lover fans.

Looking at all the wonderful Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake baked by fellow Home Bakers, I decided to bake mine in a round cake tin as well. I halved the recipe for the cake but still used the original amount of streusel, and the result cake have a rather thick, crunchy layer of streusel, which we all loved so much. I also reduced the sugar, and used two tablespoons of the sugar to macerate and froze the blueberries before mixing it in. Also, to prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom, I did not fold in the berries with the batter. Instead, I arranged the berries gently onto the surface of the cake before layering the streusel onto it. The result is satisfactory: the blueberries did not sink to the bottom, they were suspended in the middle of the cake nicely. 

This is my first bakes from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas. I am submitting this to The Home Bakers. I hope you enjoy this cake as much as me, JBoy, MommyC and BlurSis did. They all loved the crusted streusel toppings!

Looking forward for many bakes with The Home Bakers. 

I'm also sharing this with : Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Update: I am including the recipe (with my own modifications) here for MommyC as she wanted to bake this at home as well. I hope fellow Home Bakers wouldn't mind.

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake
adapted from "Coffee Cakes" by Lou Seibert Pappas
Ingredients
Butter and flour for the baking tin
Streusel topping:
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup (or less) firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (I used 1/2 teaspoon)
1 cup (4 ounces) walnuts, chopped
Cake:
1/2 cup oil (I used coconut oil)
1 cup (or less) granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (ommited)
2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup  plain yogurt or buttermilk
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, or mixed blackberries, blueberries and raspberries

Baking Temperature: 180C/350F
Baking Time: 35 - 40 minutes

Directions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Lightly butter and flour a 9-inch springform pan.

To make streusel topping: 

1. In a medium bowl or a food processor, combine butter, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. 
2. Cut butter in with your fingers or process until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. 
3. Stir in nuts and set aside.

To make the cake: 

1. In a large bowl, combine oil, sugars, eggs and vanilla, and beat with a wooden spoon or electric mixer until smooth. 
2. In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir to blend. 
3. Add the flour mixture into the creamed mixture, alternating with the buttermilk or yogurt. Beat until smooth. 
4. Pour into the prepared baking pan and arrange berries on top of the cake batter gently.
5. Sprinkle evenly with streusel topping.
6. Bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack 10 minutes, then remove the pan sides and let cool completely. Cut into wedges to serve.