Blackberry Walnut Coffee Cake

 Spring is springing into Seattle, thankfully. We’re inching toward the good stuff this town has to offer – for me, that’s the long summer days and the delicious fruit the season brings (and soon it’ll be time to plant tomatoes! Though that’s for another post, since we’re not quite there yet).

 

I’ve started to see some early blackberries in the grocery, and while those aren’t PNW blackberries, they do hint of what’s to come… and reminds me that we still have two large ziplock bags of laboriously hand-harvested blackberries (plucked from their thorny plants by yours truly but mostly by the partner of yours truly) taking up space in my freezer. Brandon – who feels protective of our crop of this beloved fruit – is also a sucker for anything that includes blackberries. When Streusel suggested that we April be cake-themed month, I immediately thought of making a healthy-ish cake with our hoarded summer fruit – not only would it be delicious, it would also help me empty my freezer in preparation for summer (since I’ll obviously need to space again come the end of the season).

 

 

Just a few quick words of introduction: this isn’t a super sweet cake, and is a great addition to breakfast or brunch. It’s also low-fat, a surprising positive. The cake comes together in a flash, and it’s stayed fresh on our counter for about a week, as we snack our way through it.

 

Enjoy!

Blackberry Walnut Coffee Cake

adapted from this coffee cake recipe by Ellie Krieger

 

 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1 cup walnuts, chopped

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

2 tablespoons oil

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup plain, nonfat greek yogurt

1/2 cup milk

1-2 cups frozen blackberries

 

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt. In a small bowl, stir together the granulated sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and walnuts. In a large bowl, beat the brown sugar, butter and oil until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, 1 at a time, beating until fully combined. Beat in the vanilla, yogurt, and milk.

Add the flour mixture in 2 batches, stirring until just combined.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the nut mixture over the batter and top with the blackberries, gently pressing them into the batter. Spoon the rest of the batter into the pan, smoothing the top. Sprinkle the remaining nut mixture over the cake, pressing gently. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool slightly and then unmold and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. Cut the cake into 2-inch squares.

Posted on April 13, 2015
Posted in baking, breakfast, brunch