This sourdough blueberry crumb cake, made with sourdough discard, is the perfect breakfast treat. With an easy make-ahead topping, browned butter, and a rich sour cream base there’s no way you’ll pass on a second slice!
Cake for breakfast?! Yes please! Inspired by the classic coffee crumb cake recipe, this moist and tender sourdough version will enhance any breakfast, brunch or snacking situation. The blueberries add a delicious touch. If you love sourdough, cake (or both!) you’re gonna love this easy, sourdough discard recipe.
Sourdough Blueberry Crumb Cake: A Few Upgrades
At first, I wasn’t sure what direction to take this cake. Butter? Oil? Sour cream? Most crumb cake recipes are very similar and they all look SO good. But after several recipe tests, including one major flop I wish to eradicate from my memory, I’ve settled on the following 3 recipe upgrades.
- Salted Butter. If you’re not baking with salted butter, you’re really missing out. I’ve been using salted butter almost exclusively these days, and it makes all the difference in the world especially for cakes, frostings, and chocolate chip cookies. Also, for a nice touch, I like to lightly brown the butter before adding it to the batter. I did this by accident when first testing this recipe, and it was so yummy, I decided to keep it.
- Leftover Sourdough Starter (Discard). Baking with leftover sourdough discard (the stuff you remove and discard when when feeding it), is one of the best ways to get creative with something you’d otherwise throw away. As long as it’s been recently fed, smells yeasty (not like gym socks) and doesn’t have any dark liquid on top, it will add a wonderful depth of flavor to this crumb cake. Paired with tangy sour cream, the texture becomes rich and decadent too.
- Make-Ahead Crumble Topping. This is THE BEST time-saving tip: make and freeze your crumble topping ahead of time. Just take any crumble topping recipe (it doesn’t even have to be mine) and store the rubbly bits in a ziplock bag. Use directly from the freezer when ready to assemble desserts like apple crumbles, peach crisps, pies, cakes, etc. It will last in the freezer for several months and there’s no need to let the crumbles come to room temperature before using.
Tip: For best results, use leftover 100% hydration starter. This type of starter is fed with equal parts flour and water by weight, and has a consistency similar to thick pancake batter. If you need a sourdough starter, you can create one here (it takes about 7 days and up to two weeks).
My Thoughts On This Cake…
This sourdough blueberry crumb cake is sweet, fluffy, tangy, juicy…. and I’m telling you, that lightly browned salted butter is just to-die-for.
Also, fyi: the blueberries are mixed into the crumble topping, instead of folded throughout the batter. This way, they won’t sink to the bottom and you’ll get a burst of warm, blueberry goodness in every bite!
Finally, your best bet is to make this cake fresh and serve it on the same day. The prep takes about 15 minutes from start to finish, and the frozen make-ahead crumbles shaves off even more time.
Enjoy it for brunch, overnight guests, holiday gatherings, weekend treats- the list goes on! And if you like this recipe, move on to my famous sourdough banana bread, these crumbly scones or my homemade sourdough muffins!
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Sourdough Blueberry Crumb Cake
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55-65 minutes
- Total Time: 70-80 minutes
- Yield: One 8x8-inch cake 1x
- Category: Sourdough Discard Recipes
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
This sourdough blueberry crumb cake is the perfect treat to make for brunch and weekend breakfasts. With an easy make-ahead topping, browned butter, and a rich sour cream base there’s no way you’ll pass on a second slice! Don’t forget to check out my notes below for best results. Enjoy!
Notes & Tips:
- For best results, use leftover 100% hydration starter. Its batter-like texture is the perfect match for this crumb cake. If you’re using a thicker, low hydration starter you will have to add more liquid to the cake batter, such as milk. Otherwise the cake might become too dry.
- Weigh your ingredients for best results! Alternatively, be sure to spoon and level the flour into measuring cups to avoid over packing, and thus a denser cake.
- When adding the crumble topping and blueberries, make sure to evenly cover the surface of the batter, especially the corners. Otherwise, the batter will puff up in certain spots, which could lead to uneven baking.
Ingredients
For the Blueberries
- 1 heaping cup of fresh blueberries
- Powdered sugar, plus more to serve
Crumble Topping
- 1/4 cup (50g) sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cups (180g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- Rounded 1/2 tsp cinnamon (use 1 tsp for more flavor)
- Pinch of fine sea salt
- 8 tbsp or 1 stick (113 g) salted butter, cut into small cubes, cold
Wet Ingredients
- 8 tbsp or 1 stick (113 g) salted butter
- 1 cup (200 g) sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup (120g) leftover sourdough starter discard (see note below)
Dry Ingredients
- 2 cups (240 g) all purpose flour, spooned and leveled
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 cup (120g) sour cream
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F/176 C. Lightly oil an 8×8-inch pan and line with parchment paper. Smooth the bottom and sides of the pan so the paper is flat.
- Add the blueberries to a small bowl. Sift a a tablespoon of powdered sugar over the top and gently toss to combine. This will prevent the berries from sinking into the cake. Set aside.
- To make the crumble topping, add all of the ingredients to a medium-sized bowl. Mix into crumbles using your hands. The butter should be well blended into to the flour; some larger pieces are OK. If using frozen crumble topping, remove it from the freezer now.
- In a small skillet, melt the butter until light golden brown around the edges (you are not fully browning the butter). This will only take a few minutes, but do not walk away from the pan- it will burn quickly! Set aside to cool slightly.
- Meanwhile, using a stand mixer, beat the sugar, egg, and sourdough starter on medium-low speed, about 1 minute. With the machine running, gradually pour in the warm melted butter.
- In a separate bowl, sift the dry ingredients together. Add to the wet ingredients, and mix on low speed until just combined. You should still see specks of flour in the bowl; do not over mix. Add the sour cream and mix until smooth. This technique will give the cake a soft, velvety texture. The batter will be thick.
- Spoon the batter into the pan. In an even layer: scatter 1/2 of the crumbles over the top first, then layer 1/2 of the blueberries on top. Repeat to finish all of the crumbles and blueberries.
- Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted (I use a dried piece of spaghetti). For me, 60 minutes is the sweet in a shiny metal pan. Please check at the 55 minute mark to see how things are going.
- Cool completely before serving.
- Dust with powdered sugar if you like, and cut into squares.
Comments
rachbagel says
Made this today and it is dangerously good!
Relatively easy to make, if your starter isn’t 100% hydration use milk as suggested.
I did cut back on some of the sugar in the recipe maybe by about 1/3 and that was perfect for my taste.
I don’t have an 8×8 pan so I used a 9-inch round pan and it turned out perfectly.
Denise says
Excellent recipe. I love that these discard dessert recipes are not overly sweet. Served cake with fresh strawberries which was awesome.
We thoroughly enjoy your amazing recipes.
Maritza Rojas says
This was absolutely delicious! My 9 yo daughter helped me make it and she was so happy that her dessert came out so good! This cake is not overly sweet and the blueberries really complement it.
Melissa says
Can we substitute sour cream for plain greek yogurt?
giuliana says
made this today, it’s amazing! i had to add way more butter to the crumble, almost double what the recipe calls for. not sure why this happened, but it turned out well! i also baked it in a 23cm (9-inch) round pan for about an hour and 20 minutes. next time i’ll be adding more blueberries :)
Nancy S says
I made this recipe. It’s still in the oven but it smells heavenly! I am such a fan of the clever carrot site and Emilie Rafa. Her instructions are easy to follow and makes me feel like a true baker with the results to show for it!
Nicole Guarnieri says
The cake was fabulous, im gonna make it into muffins right now!
Linda says
Just baked this. Delicious. Plan to serve it with a dollop of whipped cream. The only thing I will do next time is add a little more blueberries. I used wild frozen ones. Worked well. I will be baking this again. Thank you.
Amanda says
Is it possible to use olive oil instead of butter in the batter?
Ashley says
I’ve also used applesauce with a 1:1 ratio to replace the butter/oil in my pastry dishes… It makes them most and a lot healthier!! Hope this helps!!
Hannah J says
This recipe is a fantastic! I’ve made it twice now. The first time I made it as a coffee cake for guests, the other day I made it as muffins so I could freeze half! Made 13 muffins. I layered each muffin: batter, crumble, blueberries, batter, blueberries, crumble (so the blueberries on top wouldn’t fall off!). They turned out fantastic. I also didn’t fill every muffin cup, but filled every other so I could get a little more rise on each one. I baked at 350, I can’t remember how long I left them in for, just checked them occasionally. When they were hardened on top I pulled them out.
10/10 Emilie! Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe!
Paulina Tran says
How to store, room temp or fridge? I just made mini ones as gifts.
Emilie Raffa says
Lovely! Once completely cool, for best texture, I would store at room temperature for a day (or even half day, depending on where you’re at in the process) and then transfer to the fridge.
Hope Vernon says
I always enjoy seeing others substitutions to know what I can do so here’s what I did! I substituted the sour cream for sheep yogurt and I did half maple syrup, half sugar. It looks really great! I also did the crumble trick of putting it in the freezer- game changer!
Emilie Raffa says
You will learn SO much from the comment section, from real people. I’m looking forward to others reading your tips and feedback here. Thanks Hope!
Nicole says
Hi, Emilie! I just made this today, and WOW – what a freaking delicious coffee cake! This is by far the best way to use discard. I cheated a bit by just melting my butter in the microwave and I am not sorry, because it is still FIRE. Thanks for sharing! :)
Liz says
This looks amazing! Is it affected by fermenting the batter in the fridge overnight before layering and baking the next morning?? Would love this to be gluten-sensitive friendly.
angela says
Sorry, in your recipe it says to add the sour cream…. but in the ingredient list there is no mention of sour cream????
Emilie Raffa says
Hi there! It’s under “dry ingredients” at the bottom of the list. It’s listed there (instead of under wet ingredients) because the sour cream goes in at the very end of the mixing process, after the flour. See step #6.