Royal Berry Coffee Cake

So, it’s springtime… but not quite berry season yet. Never mind–frozen berries work just fine in this fluffy, light coffee cake that features not just one but two kinds of delicious berries for your enjoyment. Drool! Raspberries and blueberries pair perfectly in this indulgent breakfast-y dessert treat. There’s just something so special about raspberries, huh? I think so, anyway.

Royal Berry Coffee Cake was the product of a recent Saturday night baking experiment. Those are the best! I started the tradition in high school when I’d bake at night after getting home from running at a cross country or track meet, watching classic TLC shows like “Trading Spaces.” Sometimes friends would be over baking with me, other times it’d just be me and the pets. Now, it’s me and the kitty… with Ben someplace nearby.

The recipe originally was my mom’s, pulled from a newspaper or newsletter of some sort [the credit goes to a woman from at Purdue… just googled her, apparently she’s a chef at at dining hall]. My mom had noted that it was delicious in August 2006, and I am happy to report that it was absolutely phenomenal in April 2012. 🙂 Sweet!

The main change I made to the original recipe was doubling it and baking it in a Bundt pan instead of a 9×13 pan. I did not double the amount of berries [because I wouldn’t have had enough otherwise], so feel free to halve the recipe if that works better for you–just bake it for about 30 minutes instead.

However you make it, this springtime cake is sure to satisfy. Each bite of vanilla cake is dotted with berries, and looks impressive when it’s really a cinch to make. The hardest part is waiting for it to bake… the smell is just incredible, and it tastes even better! Make this now!!

What are you baking this spring?

Royal Berry Coffee Cake [adapted from Grace Brutsman, Hillenbrand Hall]
click to print

Ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 2/3 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 cup frozen red raspberries
• 1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan, then set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Stir together flour and baking powder. Set dry ingredients inside.

Then, cream butter in a stand mixer, incorporating sugar gradually, beating well after each addition until mixture is fluffy and light. Stir in eggs one by one, beating for 1 minute to combine.

Stir vanilla into milk in a measuring cup. Then, alternate adding dry and wet ingredients into bowl of stand mixer, beating well after each addition.

Place half of each type of berry in bottom of prepared pan. Cover with half of cake batter, add rest of berries, and top with remaining batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 65-75 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean. Cover with foil after about 45 minutes if the cake starts to get dark.

Cool for 15-25 minutes before inverting on cooling rack, loosening edges with plastic knife if necessary.

Time: 85 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: 16-20 servings.