Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
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If you’re looking for a delicious, seasonal, berry cake recipe to add to your morning-treat repertoire, this buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake is perfect! The batter can be made ahead of time and stashed in the fridge, allowing you to bake the cake off in the morning. What’s more? It freezes beautifully!
Buttermilk is magic. It turns everything into gold: super-moist, super-delicious gold.
This morning I awoke needing a simple, summery, cake-like-but-not-dessert-like breakfast treat. One of Ben’s friends had crashed here last night, and I thought it only appropriate to treat him to a proper breakfast.
In other words, I was craving sugar and carbs. The truth is I’ve been craving sugar and carbs and a cake like this for months. But seriously, who doesn’t need a good, seasonal, berry cake recipe in their morning-treat repertoire?
Nobody. And I think I’ve found the recipe that fits the bill: buttermilk blueberry breakfast cake. On an old photocopied sheet of paper in my mother’s hand writing, I spotted a note: “Baby Boy’s Favorite.”
Oh Baby Boy. Baby Boy is my younger brother, my parents’ favorite child, and one of the most satisfying people to cook for. If it was Baby Boy’s favorite cake, it would soon be mine, too. This cake is delectable! I think you’ll like it, too.
(And if you’re looking for more fruit options, this cake is so good with cranberries.)
PS: Divine Lemon-Blueberry Muffins
Five Favorite Recipes Made with Buttermilk
- One-Bowl Buttermilk Birthday Cake
- Buttermilk Panna Cotta with Simple Rhubarb Compote
- Tartine’s Buttermilk-Blueberry Scones
- Joanne Chang’s Buttermilk Biscuits with Maple and Sea Salt
- One-Bowl Buttermilk Pancakes
Bonus: Favorite Buttermilk Dressing for Slaw
How to Make Buttermilk from Scratch
Scale this recipe up as needed.
- Place 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
- Fill cup with milk (2% or whole is best) until it reaches the 1/2-cup line.
- Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 12 to 16 pieces
Description
This cake is a long-time family favorite. My mother made it for my siblings and me when we were young, and every time I pull it out of the oven, clichè as it sounds, I am reminded of summer mornings in my childhood kitchen. It’s simple, adaptable, and make aheadable 🙂
Over the years, many questions have been asked, which I’ve answered as best as I can in the comments. I’ve answered a few FAQs in the notes below the recipe as well.
Also, if you’re new here, welcome! You’ve landed on one of the two most popular recipes on Alexandra’s Kitchen, the other being My Mother’s Peasant Bread, which led to the creation of my cookbook, Bread Toast Crumbs, which includes 40 simple bread recipes and 70+ recipes for eating them up. (If you love baking, you’ll love this no-knead bread.)
Ingredients
- ½ cup (8 tablespoons | 4 oz | 113 g ) unsalted butter, room temperature
- zest from 1 large lemon
- 1 cup (214 g) sugar (set aside 1 tablespoon for sprinkling)
- 1 egg, room temperature
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 2 cups (256 g) all-purpose flour (set aside 1/4 cup of this to toss with the blueberries)
- 2 tsp. baking powder
- 1 tsp. kosher salt (I like 1.25 tsp)
- 2 cups fresh blueberries, picked over
- ½ cup buttermilk, see FAQs below
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Using a stand mixer or hand-held mixer, cream the butter with the lemon zest and the 1 cup minus 1 tablespoon of sugar until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries with ¼ cup of flour, then whisk together the remaining flour, baking powder and salt.
- Add half of the flour mixture to the batter, and stir with spatula to incorporate. Add all of the buttermilk. Stir. Add remaining flour, and stir until flour is absorbed. Fold in the blueberries. (Leave excess flour from the blueberry bowl behind.)
- Grease an 8- or 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar—I prefer this 8-inch pan because I like the thicker pieces) with butter or coat with non-stick spray. If you have parchment paper on hand, line the pan with parchment on top of the butter. Spread the batter into the pan. Sprinkle the batter with the remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes — a 9-inch pan will be done in closer to 35 minutes; an 8-inch pan usually needs 40 to 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. (Note: Baking for as long as 10 minutes more might be necessary, especially if you’re using a smaller pan such as an 8×8-inch. It’s not unusual for this cake to take 50 minutes, so just be patient.) Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
FAQs
- Can this be made ahead of time? Yes. Prepare the batter, spread it into the prepared baking pan, cover it with plastic wrap, and store in the fridge. In the morning, if time permits, bring it to room temperature for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the sugar, then bake as directed. It may need more time if the batter was refrigerated.
- Can this be doubled? Yes. Bake it in a 9×13-inch pan … like this pan from Pyrex. Increase the baking time but begin checking at the 35 minute mark.
- What if I don’t have buttermilk? Use 2% or whole milk or make your own buttermilk: place 2 teaspoons of vinegar or lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup. Fill cup with milk until it reaches the 1/2-cup line. Let stand for five minutes. Use as directed.
- Can this be made gluten free? Yes. I like Cup4Cup and King Arthur Flour gluten-free flour mixes, but use whatever you like, keeping in mind that all gluten-free flours absorb liquid differently, so you may need to adjust to get the batter to the right consistency.
- Should the batter be thick? Yes. As with all baking, I highly recommend using a scale to measure the flour. I have this one, which costs under $11.
- Can I bake this into muffins? Yes. Follow the baking directions on this post.
- Can I use frozen berries? Yes. No need to thaw.
- What other fruit could I use? Really any fresh fruit or berries. Around the winter holidays, I make this cranberry-orange buttermilk breakfast cake.
- Can this be frozen? Made ahead of time? Yes! Let cool completely, then wrap well with plastic wrap or other airtight wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months. Let thaw at room temperature the night before serving. Reheat at 350ºF for 15 minutes before serving. If you are not freezing it, store it at room temperature for a day. Refrigerate if storing for more than 1 day.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
3,543 Comments on “Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake”
I made this and LOVED it. You can read more about it here 🙂 [Link no longer active]
I have tons of blueberries in my freezer, which I picked fresh and then froze. Can I substitute these for the fresh if I just throw them in frozen? I know sometimes you can as long as they aren’t defrosted.
I used frozen blueberries straight from the freezer. You can’t tell at all.
Great – thank you! I am making this tonight 🙂
I had some leftover kiwi fruit, but no blueberries. So I made this recipe with kiwi (chopped into blueberry-sized pieces) in place of the blueberries, and it turned out spectacular. I suspect any fruit will work in this recipe–a good way to use up nearing-the-end-of-its-life fruits!
I have seen very similar recipes under the name Boy Bait. Apparently a turn-of-the-century favorite for when the fella walked a young lady home from church.
Could I double this and use 11 x 13 or would it overflow? Thanks! It looks delicious!
Never mind! Looking at this on my phone gave me issues. Now all of the other comments are showing and my question was answered! Making this tonight!
Liz — glad you got it all figured out! Hope the cake turned out well for you!
this is just like donna hay’s recipe
love her stuff
so good
Made this last weekend and it was soooo good! Very moist and tasted like 1 big blueberry muffin, only better! My husband who is not into desserts/sweets wants me to make it again this weekend! Thanks!
love blueberrys can’t wait to make tomarrow. thanks love love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have made this several times, it is awesome. It is also easy enough for the girls to make (teenagers), we make it a morning in the kitchen together. Great recipe!!
Alexandra – this was wonderful. I made it this morning and O M G – so easy and so tasty! My wonderful hubby said it was delicious and a definite keeper.
I am so happy to have found your AMAZING blog! I have printed off several recipes and I am SO excited to cook them. Thank you so much for all that you share. I will be a regular here!
I live in Denver, would I need to make high altitude adjustments?
I made this and it came out absolutely perfect! Incredible flavor, texture, and quite the crowd pleaser.
I am making this for an upcoming baby shower. Just wanted to say that your pictures are beautiful and I look forward to baking this!
Stupid question… All purpose flour or self rising flour? And do I double recipe for a 9″x13″ pan?
Kim — No stupid questions! All-purpose flour.
if this tastes as good as it looks… it must be heaven! i’ll give it a try!!! adore both buttermilk and blueberries!!!! thanks.
Anyone try substituting with wheat flour?
My whole family absolutely LOVES these. Thanks for sharing
Love this recipe! Yummy! I made a few adjustments though, subsituted lemon juice for vanilla and added an extra splash of buttermilk because the dough was TOO dry. I had to bump the baking time up to an hour. I live in El Paso (high altitude) and this might be why the baking time was so much longer.
can this be made with splenda?
Kerrie — I think it can, but I don’t know the proportions. I just commented to another commenter, but somebody made this cake with Stevia and posted it somewhere (facebook maybe?) with all of the proportions. I’ve tried to locate it but can’t seem to. It’s so frustrating. I’ll report back if I find it.
just checking on the measurement for the sugar … 7/8 C? never heard of that before.
nevermind … just saw your * … sorry 🙁
Going to try tomorrow morning … can’t wait!
This looks yummy! FYI, f you double the buttermilk (1 c.) and halve the flour (also 1 c.), you have a dessert I make all of the time called cobbler–it has a soft, almost wet texture that pairs fabulously with whipped or ice cream. 🙂 Yes, buttermilk is truly magical in baking!
Is the dough supposed to be really thick? Or more like actual cake batter? Mine was really thick so I added more buttermilk, but it was still really thick. Is that how it’s supposed to be?
Kylie — Yes, the batter is super thick!
I made this for my co-workers and they all loved it. My boss told me it was very addictive. Thanks for the recipe!
Can I make this the night before & keep it in the fridge till Im ready to bake it? I’m thinking about making this for Easter but don’t want to spend all morning in the kitchen!
Kelly — Yes! It works great. I’ve made the batter the night before and baked it off in a separate pan the morning of, but a few commenters have said this is unnecessary — they store the batter right in the pan they bake it in. Hope that helps!
Do you think I could replace the sugar with a sugar substitute or will that damage the texture/backing process?
Katlyn — I haven’t made it with a sugar substitute, but somebody has, and I just tried to find the post/comment, but I can’t seem to. It may have been on facebook, but anyway, this woman made the cake with Stevia, I believe, and said it turned out great. Wish I could find that post for you! If I come across it, I’ll get back to you.