Blueberry-Orange Coffee Cake

I shared my favorite Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe several years ago on the Viking site, but recently I’ve revisited the recipe and have come up with a luscious variation in my Blueberry-Orange Coffee Cake. A moist, sour-cream enriched batter gets a flavor boost with grated orange zest and beautiful color with a band of fresh blueberries in the center.

While I love the blueberries in the cake, don’t hesitate to substitute sliced fresh strawberries or whole raspberries when they are in season. A combination of all three berries is also delicious.

The cake can be made ahead, cooled and wrapped in foil and frozen for several months. When you pull it from the freezer, defrost it and sprinkle with powdered sugar be prepared to watch it disappear!

Blueberry-Orange Coffee Cake

For the Topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• 1 cup pecan halves

Pulse the brown sugar, cinnamon and flour until combined in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add butter and pecan halves and pulse until crumbly. Set aside.

For the Cake:

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup regular or reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 orange
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (unthawed) blueberries
• Powdered sugar, for garnish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a nonstick Bundt pan with baking spray and set aside. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the sour cream, vanilla and orange zest. Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl and add to the wet ingredients in three to four additions, being careful not to overbeat.

Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the blueberries over the batter and follow with half of the cinnamon mixture. Add remaining batter, spreading evenly, and sprinkle with remaining blueberries and cinnamon mixture. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on rack before removing from pan. Sprinkle cake with the powdered sugar before serving.

Makes 12 servings.