Loaded with juicy blueberries and soft floral notes, you can make this Lavender Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee cake for home or a potluck. A walnut streusel topping gives it a little crunch!
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Blueberries and cake! A soft and lightly sweet treat that is one of our favorite breakfast treats. (We're also partial to this Cherry Chocolate Coffee Cake!) It's also very nice as an afternoon snack with a strong cup of coffee!
This Lavender Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake pairs the velvety flavor of blueberries with a floral touch of lavender, and the two are really lovely together.
Why you'll love this recipe
This is a treat that will be perfect to bring to a breakfast or brunch gathering, for your family for a weekend breakfast, or to bring out when friends drop by!
The cake batter comes together fairly quickly: mix it, bake it up and it's done. You can make it the night before to be ready for serving the next day.
I love to use fresh blueberries in this cake, especially when they're in season and available from local growers. If good fresh berries are not to be found, you can use frozen blueberries instead!
🔪 How to make Lavender Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Step 1: Make the lavender sugar
Grind the lavender buds together with the granulated sugar in a food processor or mini chopper.
Step 2: Make the batter
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Mix the dry ingredients together in one bowl. Cream the lavender sugar with butter, then add eggs and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients and the sour cream, and then add in the blueberries. Spread the batter in a long baking dish.
Step 3: Make the streusel
Toast walnuts in a small skillet. Stir them together with brown sugar, flour, and melted butter. Spread this streusel over the cake batter and bake.
Step 4: Cool, then slice
Let the cake cool for an hour or so, slice it into squares, and serve.
Tips
- Look for lavender in the bulk spice section of your grocery or health food store. If it's not available locally find it online, but be sure you're getting culinary lavender. (Not a variety meant for soap and candles!)
- If you have lavender already, smell it and make sure it's fresh - the scent should be very strong. If yours has faded, toss it and buy some new.
FAQs
Grinding the lavender with the sugar allows the spice to be dispersed finely in the cake without the chewy lumps that you would get if the lavender buds went in whole.
Many people assume that coffee cakes are made with coffee actually in the batter. (An understandable conclusion!) However, that's almost never the case. These cakes got their name simply because they're so delicious to enjoy alongside a hot cup of coffee or tea.
Sour cream is a favorite ingredient in coffee cakes for a couple of reasons. First, it helps create a beautifully moist texture. Second, sour cream helps activate the baking soda in the batter to help the cake rise and bake up with a light texture.
The Lavender Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe is below, and here are a few other treats for breakfast, brunch, or snack!
💬 Well, how do you like this coffee cake? Leave a comment below!
📖 Recipe
Lavender Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe with Toasted Walnut Streusel
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Ingredients
Streusel
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
- ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, unbleached
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar
- Pinch of salt
- ¼ cup butter, unsalted
Cake batter:
- 1½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 teaspoon culinary lavender buds
- 2½ cups cake flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup butter, unsalted and softened
- 3 large eggs
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 3 cups blueberries
Instructions
Make the streusel:
- Toast the chopped walnuts in a small skillet over medium heat - just for a few minutes, stirring constantly until they are fragrant.
- Mix the toasted walnuts together with the ⅔ cup all-purpose flour, brown sugar and pinch of salt in a small bowl. Melt the ¼ cup of butter in a small dish in the microwave, and then stir it into the dry mixture until everything is moistened and combined.
- Hold this streusel aside.
Make the batter:
- Preheat the oven to 350° F. Spray a 9x13-inch baking dish with nonstick spray, and then flour the pan as well.
- Place the granulated sugar and lavender buds in a mini chopper or food processor. Grind them together until the lavender is thoroughly pulverized and finely dispersed in the sugar.
- Whisk together the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl.
- Put the lavender sugar and 1 cup of butter in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat them together on high for about 3 minutes until the mixture is fluffy. Add in the eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Mix in the dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream, and scraping the sides a few times until the mixture is smooth. Mix in the blueberries. Spread this batter in the prepared baking dish.
- Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the cake batter.
Bake the cake:
- Bake the coffee cake for about 60 minutes, until a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove the pan to a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least an hour.
- Slice the coffee cake into 15 pieces and serve. Leftover cake can be kept tightly covered at room temperature for up to three days.
- Makes about 15 servings.
Notes
- Look for lavender in the bulk spice section of your grocery or health food store. If it's not available locally find it online, but be sure you're getting culinary lavender. (Not a variety meant for soap and candles!)
- If you have lavender already, smell it and make sure it's fresh - the scent should be very strong. If yours has faded, toss it and buy some new.
- Grinding the lavender with the sugar allows the spice to be dispersed finely in the cake without chewy lumps that you would get if the lavender buds went in whole.
Christina O'Brien
I made this coffee cake today for a ladies brunch it stole the show! Absolutely divine. The blueberries tartness coupled with the floral hint of lavender was just delicious. Will make again!
Nancy Mock
Christina, I am thrilled that you and your friends enjoyed this cake! I love the way lavender enhances the flavor of fruit in sweets like this one. Thank you so much for sharing your feedback with me! Have a wonderful day. 😁