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.
3,553 Comments on “Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake”
Can you use frozen berries
Yes! Toss with flour and proceed with recipe — no need to thaw.
Could the blueberries be replaced with cranberries?
I was thinking the same thing…cranberries and orange zest for Christmas??
Yes, absolutely! Check out this post: https://alexandracooks.com/2011/12/16/cranberry-buttermilk-breakfast-cake/
Should this be served warm? Or is room temp ok? I need to make the night before for a breakfast the next morning. Thanks!
Room temp is fine! It will be delicious. Happy holidays!
Can you use lemon juice in place of the lemon zest? Thanks!
is there any substitute for egg in this if I want to go for eggless version of this recipe?
I used a flax egg (1 TBSP ground flax seed + 3 TBSP water, mix & let stand 5 min) with good results.
Nice! So great to know this.
Does anyone know the carb count on this recipe. I have a type one diabetic and would love to try this dish. But only if my whole family could enjoy it
I’m sorry, Katie, I don’t. Do you ever use my fitness pal dot com? I hear that’s a great site for these purposes. Happy holidays. Wish I could be more of a help.
How many hours can it be in the fridge before baking?
I would say at least 12.
Can you use gluten free all purpose flour for this recipe?
Yes!
We just made this and finished eating it. Everyone – kids, hubby, and I loved it! We made it with strawberries because we have a couple of blueberry haters in the family. Next time I am going to use mixed berries.
So happy to hear this! Happy New Year!
Making this now for New Years breakfast. Batter seems super thick but I am trusting the recipe and hope it come out awesome!!
From the previous comments I’m sure it will. 🙂
It’s definitely a thick batter!
Hi. I don’t think I didn’t anything wrong but perhaps? This batter was so thick I could barely spread it.
All my ingredients were room temp, of course I can never get butter and sugar to “cream” but I tried. It just didn’t seem liquidy enough?
How did it turn out? The batter is super thick. Next time, try measuring scant cups of flour.
Trying this recipe right now!
I made a funny mistake to whisk all the ingredients at step 3! Hope it will be alright, it is my second baking time
I hope so too!
I love rugelach! I make it every holiday season for my family.
this will be really tasty breakfast if i made this all for my family. But for this i need to wake up early
Can you use frozen berries!?
I used frozen blueberries with good results. I rinsed them first to get off any ice/freezer burn, dried them a bit with a paper towel and mixed them with a bit of flour just like I would fresh.
Great, thanks for this, Rachel!
Do you know if the all purpose flour can be changed for almond flour..thanks x
I don’t know. Almond flour is gluten free so the texture might be very crumbly. I use almond flour in my brownie recipe with success, however, so it may be fine: Fine Cooking’s Rich Fudgy Brownies
I made this for breakfast and it turned out beautifully. It was so delicious. My family of 5 (2adults 1 elementary aged and 2 preschool aged) gobbled up the 9 inch pan with 2 pieces to spare. We had to save a piece for Gma and Gpa. We will be making this time and time again!!
So happy to hear this, Kristen! Sounds like a happy and lively home 🙂 Love.
Do I need to use lemon zest? My hubby is not a big fan of anything lemon.
Nope! It’s totally fine to omit the zest.
Oh my! This was so easy to make; thank you. & girl, it was perfectly delicious!!! ? my husband made the “mmm” sound the entire time he ate the first piece. Lol! Then he wanted more. Yikes. Thanks again.
I’m sure you want to know (and please feel free to delete this) – The correct word is dwelt (not dwelled). Great recipe!
This sounds delicious going to make it soon.
I just pulled this out of the oven. Of course I had to taste test. So yummy. This is my new go to sweet treat. Thanls for sharing. This is easy to make.
Can I make this with canned blueberries?
I think so, but drain them first. Can’t say for sure bc I’ve never tried, but I imagine it will be good!
YUM! Looks amazing. Pinned! Thank you 🙂
Yay!
When I click on P for Pinterest, brings me tomFollow you with all your boards! Why can’t I just pin this recipe alone? Would have to search all your Boards to find this recipe! HELP,
Hi Maryann! Sorry for the trouble. If you hover over the image, like the first image in the post for instance, a “P Save” should appear. If you click on that P, a pop-up window should allow you to pin it to whichever board you wish. Hope this makes sense. Let me know if this still is not working for you.
Could this be used in a waffle iron??
I don’t think so, but I suppose you could try with a small amount of the batter — like 1/3 cup — and see how it works. Good luck!
ThIs is amazing! It seems like a combination of a scone, muffin and cake. Delish!!!!
Yay! So happy to hear this!
I made this, this morning, but used red raspberries instead of blueberries because my husband doesn’t like them. It came out great and he ate about half of it 🙂
Wonderful to hear this, Jessica — I love this one with all berries, raspberries in particular 🙂
Made this today….exactly as the recipe states….it’s FANTASTIC!!!!!
Wonderful to hear this, Tina!
I made this over the weekend for my family. They loved it!
So happy to hear this!