Blueberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

"The best cake I have ever had." said Jon. He ate 3 pieces of this yesterday!

I am making a cheesecake tomorrow and haven't used a springform pan before... So, I tried out this recipe I found in Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book (where all of my recipes have come from so far). She recommends making this in the summer time when Blueberries are fresh. I used frozen Blueberries and they tasted just fine. Also, the almond flavor is strong and I think it could be cut down to a 1/2 teaspoon...

My springform pan is 9-inches (not the 10-inches this recipe calls for), so I ended up having to bake the cake for almost 90 minutes... If you use a 9-inch pan as well, check it at the 55 minutes and use your judgment on how much more time the cake will need.

I am SO not a photographer (I say this over and over)!

Pastry layer.


Cream Cheese filling.


Blueberries.


Almond Steusel.


Finished!



Blueberry-Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
¾ cup (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup sour cream
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, at room temperature
2 cups fresh blueberries, cleaned
½ cup slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease the bottom and sides of a 10-inch springform pan and dust with flour.

In a large mixing bowl, mix the flour and ¾ cup of the sugar. With a pastry blender or fork, cut the butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture.

Add the baking powder, salt, sour cream, 1 of the eggs and the almond extract to the remaining flour mixture. Mix until a stuff dough forms. Press the dough over the bottom and 2 inches up the sides of the pan; it will be about ¼ inch thick on the sides.

In a small bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese, remaining ¼ cup sugar and remaining egg until well blended. Pour the mixture over the dough in the pan and spread evenly. Arrange the blueberries over the top. Mix the almonds with the reserved crumb mixture and sprinkle over the blueberries.

Bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until the filling is set and the crust is golden brown. Cool 15 minutes, then remover the sides of the pan and finish cooling. Serve warm.

Yields: 12 to 16 servings

Recipe found in Beatrice Ojakangas' Great Holiday Baking Book, pg. 119