Description
This blueberry cream cheese crumb cake is a showstopper! Three layers of tender cake, tangy cream cheese, fresh blueberries, and buttery crumb topping make it perfect for breakfast or dessert.
Ingredients
- ½ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup whole milk
- 8 ounces cream cheese, softened (for filling)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (for filling)
- 1 large egg (for filling)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for filling)
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (for topping)
- ¼ cup packed light brown sugar (for topping)
- ¼ cup granulated sugar (for topping)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (for topping)
- ¼ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes (for topping)
- 1½ to 2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 350°F. Grease your 9×13-inch baking pan generously with butter or non-stick spray, then lightly flour it.
2. Make the crumb topping first: In a small bowl, mix together flour, both sugars, and cinnamon. Add cold butter cubes and work into the mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate while making the cake.
3. In your large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the softened butter, sugar, and cream cheese together on medium speed until light, fluffy, and pale in color, about 3-4 minutes.
4. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.
5. In your medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt to distribute the leavening evenly.
6. With mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions. Start and end with the flour. Mix just until no streaks of flour remain.
7. Pour half of your cake batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly with a spatula.
8. Make the cream cheese layer: Beat together cream cheese, sugar, egg, and vanilla until completely smooth with no lumps, about 1-2 minutes.
9. Carefully spread the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter in the pan, leaving a small border around the edges. Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the cream cheese layer.
10. Gently dollop the remaining cake batter on top and carefully spread over the blueberries and cream cheese. Scatter remaining blueberries over the top, then sprinkle your chilled crumb topping evenly over everything.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crumb topping is deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the cake portion comes out clean.
12. Let the cake cool in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before cutting. For cleanest cuts, cool completely and refrigerate for an hour first.
Notes
Your butter and cream cheese absolutely must be at room temperature for proper mixing. Set them out about an hour before baking.
When spreading the cream cheese layer, don’t worry about making it perfect or reaching the edges. Leave a small border to prevent bubbling over.
If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them first! Frozen berries go straight into the cake.
Toss blueberries with a teaspoon of flour before adding to prevent them from sinking to the bottom.
Chill the crumb topping before baking – cold butter creates big, crunchy clumps while room-temperature butter just melts.
- Prep Time: 25
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American