Berry Cream Brunch Cake

We love coffee cakes at our house. I like to make them for Sunday morning for a nice simple breakfast. I like to make the ones that are simple and usually topped with cinnamon and sugar. When I stumbled across this recipe on Pinterest I thought it would be one that my family would enjoy and it didn’t look too difficult to make.

The recipe was from bettycrocker.com and the original called for strawberry preserves and sliced almonds. I had blueberries leftover from my smoothie that I had made for my monthly cooking challenge, so I thought I would use half blueberries and half strawberries. And for the sliced almonds, I knew there would be a few people that would be eating this brunch cake that wouldn’t be pleased to see almonds sitting on top of this brunch cake.

We enjoyed the brunch cake, but to my taste, I think it could have just a bit more sweetness to it. But it could be that my berry mixture was not as sweet as the preserve would have been. So if you are using the berry mixture taste it when you are preparing it and you can add a little more sugar if you like. I tried the brunch cake when it was warm and after it was cooled completely and found that the flavor was better when it was cooled. The cake stayed very nice for a couple of days. Overall we liked this brunch cake, it was easy to make and I think if you make it you may find that you like it too.

Berry Cream Brunch Cake (Adapted from bettycrocker.com)
Berry Topping:
1 tablespoon water
1/2 cup sliced strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
2-3 teaspoons (can add more if you desire a sweeter taste)
Place all ingredients into a small saucepan. Take a potato masher and crush berries slightly. Cook over medium heat until mixture is reduced to about half stirring constantly. This will take 1 to 2 minutes. Take off burner and let cool until room temperature.

Cream Cheese Filling:
1 package (8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup sugar (can add more if you desire a sweeter filling)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg

Cake:
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg
1/2 cup sliced almonds (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease bottom and side of 10-inch springform pan or 11×7 inch (2 quarts) glass baking dish with shortening; lightly flour.
2. In a small bowl, mix filling ingredients until smooth; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix 2 1/4 cups flour and 3/4 cup sugar. Cut in butter, using pastry blender or fork until mixture looks like coarse crumbs. Reserve 1 cup of the crumb mixture. Stir baking soda, salt, sour cream, vanilla extract, and egg into the remaining crumb mixture. Spread batter over bottom and 2 inches up side (about 1/4 inch thick) of the pan.
4. Pour filling over batter. Carefully spoon the cooled berry mixture overfilling. (If using almond add to the reserved crumbs). Sprinkle the reserved crumb mixture of the berry filling.
5. Bake in a springform pan for 50 to 60 minutes. 11×7 inch dish 35 to 45 minutes or until filling is set and crust is a deep brown. Cool 15 minutes remove side of springform pan Serve warm is desired. Store covered in refrigerator. Makes about 16 servings.

(Note if substituting strawberry preserves for the blueberry sauce use 1/2 cup)