Blueberry White Chocolate Coffee Cake

I had been uninspired in the dessert department for a while, but I’m getting back in the swing of things. In an effort to use up some more tea (by golly, I will get through the stash that no one drinks!), I made a Darjeeling chocolate layer cake. While it was good, I have come to the conclusion that in any chocolate dessert, the taste of the tea gets lost; the Engineer and I both thought it was a perfectly fine chocolate cake, moist and with good flavor, but it wasn’t worth the extra effort to incorporate tea into both the batter and frosting since it was entirely indiscernible. I also made a strawberry crisp, which was good, but not great, so I won’t be making it again.

But then there was this blueberry white chocolate coffee cake. The flavor combination appealed to me immediately because it reminded me of Whole Foods’ blueberry white chocolate bread pudding, which the Engineer absolutely loves; I would love it more if it were lactose-free. This coffee cake, however, is lactose-free, so it’s win-win. I made it in a 9-inch round springform pan, so I don’t think it was necessary to line it with tin foil, but I’ll leave that in the instructions in case you use another type of pan. The cake was delicious, not too sweet yet satisfying, and we both heartily approve.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
¼ cup margarine (or butter, room temperature)
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
¼ tsp. almond extract
1 cup buttermilk substitute (I used lactose-free milk with a splash of lemon juice)
1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
½ cup chopped white chocolate or white chocolate chips
1½ Tbsp. coarse sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
¼ cup chopped, sliced or slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350 °F. Line a 9-inch round or square baking pan with aluminum foil and lightly grease. (Here, I used a 9-inch round springform, which I recommend. Greasing it would be sufficient, I don’t think you’d need the tin foil.)

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, cream together margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla and almond extracts until smooth. Stir in about one half of the flour mixture, followed by the buttermilk substitute and then the rest of the flour mixture. Stir only until just combined. Fold in berries and white chocolate chips to evenly distribute them. Pour batter into prepared pan and spread into an even layer. Sprinkle with coarse sugar and chopped almonds.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.

Cool completely before slicing.