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.
3,550 Comments on “Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake”
Thank you for sharing my family and I had his for dessert after a long day at the ball ⚾️ field ❤️
Yay! So happy to hear this!
If you use frozen blueberries, do you thaw them or put them in frozen?
Frozen!
I’m allergic to milk, can coconut milk be used instead?
I’ve never tried, but go for it! Almond milk also works.
Can I use peaches in this recipe
Yes!
Can I not use lemon?
Yes
I was always told not to mix up a recipe with baking powder in it ahead of time. The baking powder reacts with the liquid and does its thing and won’t rise later on when you bake it. Does putting it in the refrigerator retard that process?
Possibly! That’s interesting. I’ve never had an issue with this cake, but I have heard similar things especially with pancakes and baked goods with thinner batters — I’ve heard with pancakes, in fact, that you can add more baking powder the next day (if you have leftover batter) to help revive it a bit.
Just made this with king arthur GF flour, and used half ad half plus a capful of vinegar to make buttermilk since that’s all I had. It is perfect and amazing! Great recipe. A keeper!
Excellent recipe, tried it today with no deviations and it turned out perfect. I was frightened on how it was going to turn out as the ‘batter’ was more stiff than I have been accustomed to. Nonetheless, my wife and I really enjoyed it! Thank you so much for sharing a great 5 star treat.
So happy to hear this John!
Any one tried this with other fruit?
Yes! See FAQs.
How many calories per serving?
So happy to hear this Debbie! How sweet.
Amazing !!! I’m surprised I have leftovers! do I leave it sit out or refrigerate the leftovers? txs
I just leave it out! Should be fine for a day or two. And yay!!
Didn’t see this before I made my comment. I’ll try leaving it out next time. Thanks
Wow! This is so delicious warm. I only regret that it’s not as good the next day. I put it in the fridge for the night and had some the next morning. It still tastes good, but it’s sticky. I usually like to be able to freeze left overs because I can’t eat it all. Probably not a good idea with this cake.
I think freezing is better than refrigerator, which just seems to make it get stale. Freezing will preserve the freshness. But yes, otherwise, just leave it out.
Short on unsalted butter, have u ever used shortening or even half of each?
Can you make this without buttermilk?
Sure! Regular cow’s milk is fine. So is almond milk.
Can I prepare 2 nights in advance?
Not sure — I’ve never tried. I worry a little that the baking powder will lose a little bit of its leavening power with such a long wait, but you certainly could give it a try. When I worked in a bakery, we kept muffin batter on hand for 2 to 3 days, and it always worked, so maybe you’d be fine here.
I used a welk known baking mix in place of the flour, since I was so low on flour and omited the baking powder. Along with frozen blue berries and lemon juice instead of zest and the cake is wonderful. Love making this for breakfast on the weekends.
Nice!
How much zest of the lemon should you add? I’ve never zested a lemon so I’m a little new to this!
Just zest the whole thing! You can’t go wrong with one lemon. It will probably be 1-2 teaspoons.
I made it with whole meal flour and brown sugar and was great!!
So happy to hear this, Luz!!
What if I baked this ahead and froze, then reheated. Do you think that would work?
Absolutely!
DO you think adding a cup of pecans or walnuts would be fine? Would I need to adjust recipe any?
I love this recipe, but I’ve noticed the last two times I made it, it came out burnt. I recommend checking it at about 15-20 minutes. Also, did this recipe change? I remember at one point alternating between mixing the flour and buttermilk.
I just made this and thank you for recipe, love this came out perfect and tasty.
Perfect EVERYTIME!!
I absolutely love this recipe! It turned out great. Went perfect with a nice cup of coffee first thing in the morning. Very happy! Thank you!
Hi, did you make any changes to this recipe? Hubby and I made it last week using 2 eggs according to the recipe. We made it again a day later and noticed the recipe only called for one egg. We literally discussed this for days trying to figure out if the amount of eggs did change or if were imagining things. Did you change the amount of eggs? If so, I just wanted to let you know that though the cake was still amazingly delicious, I was very very crumbly and wouldn’t hold its shape when cut. 2 eggs was a lot better.
Lorie – as i saw no response to your question – i reviewed the recipe and re-read your comment. being a new viewer i am going to go with your suggestion and changed the amount of eggs from 1 to 2. thanks for sharing your thoughts with this recipe because i love blueberry breakfast cake ☺
Lorie, I’ve seen this recipe posted elsewhere, most often using Alexandra’s pictures and this post written verbatim as it is here. I looked up the other recipes to find the answer to your question. The other recipes call for 1 egg. I believe that’s what I’ve always used in this recipe as well.
How long does this stay fresh? I would like to mail it, and express mail takes 2 full days. And do frozen blueberries work?
I always use frozen blueberries, turns out great!
Thanks Jill. I have some frozen wild blueberries that I think would be awesome in.
I want to make this for Christmas breakfast and was wondering if it would still taste good if I made it the night before and just reheated that morning?
We make this every year for Christmas breakfast and I always make it the night before. It’s great reheated!
Thank you, ashley! Catching up on comments now. Happy holidays!!
Sorry for the delay here, Krystal! Yes, definitely make it ahead and reheat it Christmas morning. Merry Christmas!!
This recipe was very confusing to me. Why can’t you just combine all ingredients, then toss in blueberries??
Hi Amy,
Many baking recipes call for beating butter with sugar and eggs, then alternating the mixing with dry ingredients and wet. Was there something in particular that confused you?
I made the lemon-blueberry as well as the cranberry-orange breakfast cakes for Christmas and everyone loved them. They were so good I made them for my co-workers also. I used frozen fruit and they turned out great. Thank you for the delicious recipe.
So happy to hear this, La! Thanks for sharing 🙂
So happy to hear this!
Alexandra, I was looking at Lori’s comment from Dec. 7 about the recipe changing from two eggs to one egg. I did not see a response and I am about to make this recipe and wondered if it should be two eggs or one egg. Lori mentioned that using only one egg made it much more crumbly than when she used two.
Hi Cheryn! I’m so behind in comment response 🙁 I have always just used one egg, but honestly the difference between one and two will be very minimal. Definitely give 2 a try if you’re worried about a crumbly texture, but otherwise, 1 will be fine. Happy Baking!!
Thanks Alexandra. Will be making tomorrow.
Hi, can I use frozen blueberries and if so do they have to be thawed? Thanks!
Yes! No need to thaw.