Blackberry Cardamom Coffee Cake
It is my firm belief that the secret to a good coffee cake batter is cream cheese. No other ingredient makes for such a rich, moist, irresistible crumb. Throw in some tart blackberries and just the right amount of spice, and you have a beautiful late summer dessert.
As with most spice cakes, this coffee cake only seems to get better after a day or two. And because it is delicious served either warm or chilled, it’s a great cake to make ahead for a special brunch or an afternoon tea party.
The biggest thing to keep in mind when baking this cake is to use fresh, ripe, but firm blackberries. If not you risk the juices from the berries bleeding into the rest of the batter, which is still delicious, but not quite as lovely to look at. I prefer being able to distinctly taste the rich crumb and the spiced blackberries, almost like finding little berry jewels hidden in the sweet folds of cake.
Also, I do recommend using a stand mixer to really cream your sugar, butter, and cream cheese together well. Once the flour is added, the batter becomes quite thick, so the stand mixer is a much more efficient way to combine the wet and dry ingredients without over mixing or getting an arm ache. However, you certainly can make this cake without a stand mixer; just be warned that it may be a bit of a workout.
Blackberry Cardamom Coffee Cake - Makes one 9in. cake
Equipment:
9in. round cake pan
Stand mixer (optional but recommended)
Ingredients:
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour + 1 TBS. separated
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
3 cups fresh, ripe, but firm blackberries
2 TBS. orange juice
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
8 TBS. (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
8oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract + 1/2 tsp. for glaze
2 large eggs
3/4 cups powdered sugar, sifted
2 TBS. whole milk
Method:
Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and butter, flour, and line the cake pan with parchment paper.
In a medium sized bowl, sift together 1 3/4 cups flour, the baking powder, and the salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, combine the blackberries, 1 TBS. flour, brown sugar, cardamom, cinnamon, and orange juice. Gently mix together until the berries are coated in the spiced sugar. Set aside.
Combine the butter, cream cheese, and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Cream together on medium speed until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is light and fluffy. One at a time add the eggs, mixing in between each addition and scraping the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Once the eggs are fully incorporated, add 1 tsp. vanilla extract and mix until blended.
Next add the flour in two parts. Mix on medium low speed and only until the flour is fully incorporated. Do not over mix. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer, and add the blackberries and all the spiced, sugary juices. Gently fold the blackberries into the batter by hand. Be careful not to smoosh the berries, and only mix enough to evenly distribute them throughout the batter.
Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top down evenly with your spatula, and bake the cake for 60-70 minutes, or until the top is golden brown, the berries have burst, and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool.
Once the cake is cool enough to handle but still warm, remove the cake from the pan. Your glaze will drip, so you may want to place your cake back on the wire rack and over a cookie sheet or parchment paper. Then make the glaze. Mix the sifted powdered sugar, 2 TBS. milk, and 1/2tsp. vanilla extract in a spouted measuring cup or other vessel that’s easy for pouring. Make sure to get all the clumps of sugar out. Drizzle the glaze all over the cake in any rustic pattern you like. Serve warm or chilled. Store the cake covered in the refrigerator for several days.
Recipe adapted from Williams-Sonoma