Mixed Berry Coffee Cake
This Mixed Berry Coffee Cake is loaded with blueberries and raspberries for a tasty morning (or night) treat!
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When I first got into baking bread, it was like a whole new world opened up to me. First and foremost, I was literally in awe at the fact that I could make a loaf of bread. And if you’ve ever eaten warm Italian bread right out of the oven (especially dipped in olive oil!), then you’ll understand how I could eat an entire loaf in one sitting. (Not that I’ll ever confess to doing that.) But in the learning process, I picked up a whole new repertoire of baking terminology. Crust, crumb, biga and poolish all sounded like another language at first, but they soon became household terms.
The same thing happened when I stumbled across a copy of Coolio’s cookbook. Yes, that Coolio. The rapper who hit fame in the mid-90’s with songs like Gangsta’s Paradise and Fantastic Voyage. Coolio has a cookbook. And it features recipes like “Tricked-out Westside Tilapia” and “Heavenly Ghettalian Garlic Bread.” Uh, say what?
Regardless of your affinity for rap, Coolio’s book is a hilarious read. For one of his recipes, he starts by saying “Light a fire under your frying pan and pour a little olive oil in there.” For the record, he also recommends rolling spring rolls “nice and tight like a blunt.” And the term ‘a dime bag of pepper’ might show up in his book, too. Don’t ask me how much pepper that is.
In total fairness, though, Coolio seems like a great guy. Sure, he’s a self-proclaimed ‘Ghetto Martha Stewart,’ but he refers to his mom quite a bit. And he always refers to her with respect. He describes her as a really, really great cook who inspired his interest in food. Oh, and in case you get bored, Coolio has expanded his cooking ventures into a YouTube cooking show.
Tender crumb. Streusel vs crumble. Cream together the butter and sugar. These are all terms and phrases I had to learn when I got into baking. While baking loaves of bread is probably still my favorite kitchen activity, baking cakes and other sweet treats isn’t far behind. Coffee cakes are an all-time favorite, and I’ve even been known to get a coffee cake for my birthday. No shame in my coffee cake game.
This Mixed Berry Coffee Cake is just a slight twist on the classic coffee cake. Basically we always have berries around our house lately thanks to a certain toddler who could probably eat his weight in berries every.single.day. So the other day, I decided to borrow some of Robbie’s blueberries and raspberries and turn them into this Mixed Berry Coffee Cake. I mean how can you go wrong with fresh berries + coffee cake? Oh, and streusel. The streusel is by far the best part of the coffee cake! My niece Blakely also loves coffee cake, except she just picks off all the streusel topping and leaves the actual cake behind. A coffee cake (even a Mixed Berry Coffee Cake) looks a lot sadder without streusel. Trust me.
I’m not sure if Coolio has ever baked a Mixed Berry Coffee Cake, but I sure would love to see how he describes it. I’m hoping it’s something along the lines of how he described an appetizer: “Seriously, if someone don’t like this appetizer, you gotta grab they scruffy a** by the back of their neck and throw them out on the lawn. I can’t help people like that.”
I can’t make this stuff up, folks. Enjoy the coffee cake!
Mixed Berry Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the streusel:
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1¾ cup all-purpose flour
For the Cake:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1¼ cups sour cream
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- 1 cup frozen raspberries
Instructions
For the Streusel
- Using a medium bowl, add sugars, cinnamon, ginger and salt; stir until well combined.
- Add the melted butter; stir until well combined.
- Add the flour; stir until well combined. Set Streusel aside.
For the Cake
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Grease and flour (or spray with nonstick spray) a 9”x3” round cake pan. Set pan aside. (See note below.)
- In medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined; set mixture aside.
- Using a countertop mixer, cream together the sugars and butter until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed).
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- Add vanilla, lemon juice and sour cream; mix on low speed until well combined.
- Add dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on low until just combined.
- Pour ~⅓ of the batter into greased cake pan. Crumble half of the streusel on top of batter. Spread blueberries on top of streusel. Pour ~⅓ of batter on top of the blueberries. Finally, spread raspberries on top and then pour remaining batter over raspberries. Crumble remaining Streusel on top of batter. (Tip: Leave some bigger chunks of Streusel on top!)
- Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Open oven and tent the top of the cake with a piece of tin foil to prevent the streusel from burning. Continue baking for another 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out mostly clean.
- Place cake on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before slicing.
Notes
It’s $10 worth.
Ok, thanks for the clarification there, Jeff. Although for the record, that’s a lot of pepper.
Hahah. Not if it were highly-prized Hawaiian pepper. I’ll bet it’s about a half-teaspoon. But enough about that, what about these mixed berries! Different species, cohabitating! It’s going to erode traditional foodly values! The sanctity of coffee cake and whatnot!
I’ve never pondered the true sanctity of coffee cake. Clearly I need to do that. *Throws today’s to-do list out of the window* 🙂
How did I not know Coolio had a cookbook?? That is amazing. At first I thought this recipe was FROM his cookbook and I was extra confused haha! But really, how could Coolio not be into this coffee cake?? It looks awesome!
Haha…no, this recipe is sadly not from Coolio’s cookbook. But I bet Coolio would love a slice of this coffee cake! I mean, it’s coffee cake. With fresh summer berries. How can you go wrong there?? 🙂 Thank you so much, Sues!
Coolio is a funny guy 😛 It would be so much fun to read his cookbook 🙂 I love coffee cakes! They are so good for breakfast and at times for dessert too :D! I have never added ginger to a streusel! I am sure that would just taste amazing.. Yummy cake 🙂
Yeah, I agree with you Deepika! I might have to grab a copy of Coolio’s cookbook just to read his hilarious commentary. 🙂 And I might just have to sit down with a nice slice of coffee cake while reading it! Thanks so much, my friend!
Nothing better than a slice of coffee cake to start the day and better yet one with streusel and berries!
I couldn’t agree more, Abbe! Load that cake up with streusel and berries, and I’m a happy camper! 🙂 Thank you so much for swinging by and commenting, my friend!
I’m not familiar with Coolio at all, but this book sounds like some good fun (Not sure about the recipes though). I noticed your love for coffee cakes long time ago, and finally, I’m get used to the fact that coffee cakes normally don’t have any coffee hah. Another beautiful “coffee” cake, David!
So Coolio had a career as a rapper in the mid-late 90’s. He had a couple of big hits (Google ’em), but I haven’t heard from him in years. Apparently he was writing a cookbook and starting a YouTube cooking show. Pretty hilarious! So, yes, this is yet another coffee cake without any coffee. But I did make a coffee cake with coffee in it one time! 🙂 Thanks, Ben!
Hi David. This coffee cake looks familiar my friend! 🙂 You know I love coffee cake and when I go to the store tomorrow I’m buying frozen berries! My son’s favorite fruits are berries so I’m going to pass this along to him…yes, he takes after his mama and cooks and bakes. He also is a streusel fanatic. I know how much pepper is in a dime bag (I was after all a teenager in the 60’s). I’m not a fan of rap music however I love Coolio, he is one down to earth, funny guy. I am going to find his cookbook.
This cake should look familiar! I just used my base coffee cake recipe, but I added a few more berries. 🙂 I mean, after all, you can’t ever have enough berries! So this cake seriously is amazing! I spent many, many days in the kitchen working on creating a good coffee cake recipe…and now I’m there. But that means now I get to play with the fillings and whatnot which is even more fun than coming up with a base recipe! If you read Coolio’s cookbook, please let me know how it is. It looks hilarious based on everything I’ve seen! Thanks, Dorothy!!
I became a Coolio fan when he was on Celebrity Cook-Off (or something like that). He’s hysterical! I want him to come and cook with me–he really does seem like a sweetheart. But I didn’t know he had a book. It’s definitely going on my Christmas list :). I’m loving the sound of this coffee cake; your niece is a girl after my own heart. The crumbs are always the best part!
I didn’t realize Coolio was on Celebrity Cook-Off. I need to go find that episode now. 🙂 Also, I want to cook with him, too! Maybe if we ask nicely, he’ll come and cook with us. Hey, it’s worth a shot, right?? Oh, and if you go stealing all the crumb topping off of my coffee cake like my niece does, then we’re not going to be friends anymore, Kelsie. I’m serious about my crumb topping on coffee cakes!
Yeah, bread is one my favorite things to make too and I love baking. This mixed berry coffee cake would something that I would love to make and to eat. I bet Robbie didn’t mind you borrowing some of his berries. I bet he loved the coffee cake!
Robbie was a little confused when I pulled the berries out, but he was quite happy with the result when this cake finally cooled off! (He was also confused why he couldn’t have any cake when it was right out of the oven.) Thanks so much, Dawn!
I’m laughing so hard at the Coolio cookbook quotes right now. Had to read them aloud to my hubby to explain why I’m cracking up over here! But in all seriousness, this coffee cake looks heavenly. I adore coffee cake and usually only make it when I have company around or am going to a gathering, because coffee cake is too yummy to just have one piece if it’s just sitting nice & pretty in my kitchen!
Haha! Coolio really is one hilarious guy! I mean his cookbook should probably be filed under both humor and cooking. 🙂 I’m like you with coffee cake, though, Nicole. I love, love, love it, but I only make it when we have folks around to help eat it. I know I would polish the whole thing off myself, so I just can’t make it until there is a good excuse! Thanks so much, my friend, and I hope you’re doing well!
Nothing like a great coffee cake recipe – like you, I really only make it when company is coming, because, like you, I find it a little too inviting. But thanks for the recipe!
My pleasure, Laura! While we might not make coffee cake every weekend (if only we could!), it is nice to have a good coffee cake recipe in your back pocket for when you have company over. I hope you enjoy this one! It’s quite tasty with all of the berries in it. 🙂 Thanks so much!
Hahaha! David – I’m beyond wide eyed at the fact that THE Coolio has a cookbook! Too cool! And thanks for sharing some of his lingo from that cookbook – too too funny!
Now – onto this decadent looking coffee cake – I began reading your post and thinking of whipping up some eggs for breakfast and now all I want is a slice of this coffee cake – am dusting off my drone and sending it your way! Oh dang – I just realized – Robbie might have polished it all off by now as you published this while Lil Shashi and I were gallivanting across Europe! 🙂
Yeah, I seriously laughed out loud a number of times when reading about Coolio’s book…such a ‘unique’ approach to cooking! Oh, Robbie absolutely did a number on this cake, but I would gladly make another one for you and lil Shashi! Did I mention the house down the street that’s for sale? Or the little cabin up on a private lake that our neighbors told us about? That’s for sale, too. 🙂 I’m really glad you guys had fun gallivanting across Europe! There’s seriously no where I’d rather be at any given time than gallivanting across Europe!