Blueberry-Yogurt Coffee Cake

This recipe comes from a cookbook given to me by my friend Les. 

She knows that I love regional recipes, and this book offers them along with informative sidebars about the Pacific Northwest area, and photographs from older days. Perfect. I turned to it today to find a recipe for our first blueberries of the year.

I've mentioned before that a man down the road grows them, and we buy enough for summer eating, and then winter eating from the freezer. This is one of the best recipes ever! Sweet, buttery, and full of blueberries.

Blueberry-Yogurt Coffeecake

(From the cookbook) 

This coffee cake is a summer favorite at our house which I often make a day in advance. I reheat it covered with foil in a 300º F. oven for 20 minutes. It can be warmed faster in the microwave, but I enjoy smelling the sweet, lingering aroma that drifts out of the oven as it reheats. Don't let its unusually thick batter worry you. It will push the sugar-cinnamon topping up as it bakes, and will sink down when it is removed from the oven. 

This is one of the few coffee cakes that improve with age.

Topping

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut up

Coffee Cake

1/2 cup softened butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)

1 egg

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 350º F. and butter a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. (I used cooking spray)

Using a fork, blend the topping ingredients together in a small bowl. (I used 2 knives) Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar, and egg. 

Add baking soda, flour, yogurt, and vanilla and mix on medium speed for 2-3 minutes.

Pour the cake batter into the baking dish and sprinkle blueberries over the top.

Gently press them into the batter.

Sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar topping over all.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. If using frozen blueberries, increase baking time to 1 hour.