Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

My childhood summers are filled with memories of this Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe. It’s light and moist and topped with a crunchy, chewy crumb topping that is so addictive! 

It’s a wonderful brunch recipe if you are entertaining a crowd and need something impressive! It’s always the first thing to go and the most requested recipe the following day!

It’s similar to my Classic Crumb Cake recipe, but even more delicious for summer entertaining with the addition of bursting with blueberries! 

Blueberry Crumb Cake on a Pink Cake Stand
A blueberry crumb cake bursting with fresh blueberries and a sweet and crunchy crumb topping

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

  • It’s the kind of cake you want to make when you have house guests visiting and need to impress the in-laws, fast!
  • It slices up easily into squares and can be piled on a cake stand for guests to serve themselves from a brunch buffet. 
  • You can make it the day before and reheat and serve

 The Ingredients:

  • Butter I prefer to use salted Land O Lakes butter for most baking. I ind the butter isn’t salty, just more flavorful! You’ll need room temperature butter for the cake and cold butter, diced into cubes, for the crumb topping. 
  • Sugar I use white granulated sugar for a light a delicate crumb on the cake. I also use it in the crumb topping too, to create a delicate, crumbly crumb topping.
  • Eggs Be sure eggs are at room temperature too. It will make them easier to combine with the butter and sugar. If you forgot to take them out ahead of time, place them in a bowl of warm water for 5 minutes. This will bring them up to room temperature. 
  • Vanilla Extract Look for pure vanilla extract. As opposed to imitation. You’ll get the best flavor that way.
  • All-Purpose Flour No need for anything fancy, all-purpose flour is all you need. 
  • Baking Powder To get a nice lift on your cake.
  • Salt To enhance all the flavors.
  • Cinnamon In the crumb topping makes it even more flavorful and warming. 
  • Fresh or Frozen Blueberries If using frozen berries there is no need to defrost them first, just gently fold them in. 
  • Optional: Powdered Sugar For a light dusting at the end once your cake is baked for a garnish.
Ingredients laid out on a counter
This cake uses basic ingredients you probably already have on-hand

Step#1: Mix up the Batter

  • The batter is super simple to whip up in an electric mixer.
  • Just be sure you beat the butter and sugar until it’s nice and fluffy, it will give you a better texture on your cake
  • Then fold in the blueberries after the batter is mixed to avoid crushing them.
  • To be extra certain your berries don’t sink to the bottom of the cake while baking, toss them in flour first. 

Using Frozen Blueberries

  • Yes, you can even use frozen berries! No need to defrost them first, just pop them right in.
  • But don’t dilly dally with the mixing, as frozen berries can start to streak and turn your cake blue!
  • Just gently fold them in, mixing just long enough to incorporate them, then stop!

a bowl of batter with blueberries on top

Step#2: Make the Crumb Topping

  • The best crumb topping is a mixture of crumbly and a bit chewy!
  • I find the easiest way to make a crumb topping is to combine the dry ingredients, flour, sugar and cinnamon (recipe below) whisk together, and then add the butter, mixing with your hands until a coarse crumb forms.
  • It may look like it makes a lot of crumb topping! But it will compact as it bakes into the cake, so be sure to cover the cake with it and use the full quantity.
  • For an easier recipe that also delivers on great cinnamon flavor try my Orange Pecan Muffins or my Snickerdoodle Muffins

Why is My Crumb Topping Not Crumbly?

The secret to a nice crumbly topping is to use very cold butter, diced into cubes. If your butter is too warm or you use (gasp) margarine, you will not get a crumbly topping. The butter will melt and form more of a cinnamon-sugar, hard crackly topping. 

A square cake pan with crumb topping on top

Bake The Cake in a Removable Bottom Pan

a removable bottom pan
A removable bottom cake pan helps this cake release easily

To Serve

  • Slice your crumb cake into nine squares and serve! For an extra flourish you can also dust with powdered sugar before serving.
  • This cake is best enjoyed slightly warm.
  • You can also make this blueberry crumb cake recipe ahead of time cover and refrigerate and then reheat it at 300F, uncovered, until warmed through and serve.
  • It also freezes well too! Cut it into individual slices, wrap in wax paper and freeze in a freezer-safe container.
  • To reheat, wrap in a paper towel and microwave on high for 1:00 or until warmed through
A crumb cake with blueberries cut into squares
This cake makes nine generous squares

More Brunch Recipes

Please let me know if you make this Recipe

by leaving a rating and review below!

Blueberry Crumb Cake on a Pink Cake Stand

Blueberry Crumb Cake Recipe

Yield: 9 squares
Prep Time: 45 minutes
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes

This Blueberry Crumb Cake recipe is a fantastic addition to any brunch! Light and moist on the inside bursting with juicy blueberries and topped with a wonderful crunchy topping. It's always the first thing to disappear at any gathering!

Ingredients

For the Cake:

  • ½ cup (120g) of butter
  • ¾ cup (150g) sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla
  • 2 cups (240g) of flour
  • 2 tsp (10 ml) baking powder
  • ½ tsp (2.5ml) salt
  • ½ cup (120 ml) milk
  • 2 cups (300g) fresh blueberries

Topping:

  • 1 cup (200g) of sugar
  • ½ cup (60g) flour
  • 1 tsp (5 ml) cinnamon
  • ½ cup (120g) butter

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350F (175C).
  2. Spray a square 10” x 10” (25cm x 25cm) pan with baking spray. Set aside
  3. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat together butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy, add eggs one at a time and beat well until light and fluffy, add vanilla. Set aside.
  4. In a small bowl combine flour, baking powder and salt whisk together. Add flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk until a batter forms. Remove bowl from the mixer.
  5. Fold in blueberries. Transfer batter to pan. Set aside.
  6. In a small bowl whisk together the topping. Add the sugar, flour and cinnamon. Whisk to combine. Cut in butter with hands until small crumbs form. Sprinkle topping on top of batter until a layer is formed and batter is fully covered.
  7. Bake 40-45 mins until golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Run sharp knife along perimeter of cake to loosen before removing it. Cut into 9 squares and serve!

Notes

This cake really works well in a removal bottom brownie pan. This will allow the sticky cake to be removed easily and cut into squares.

You can use frozen berries for this recipe just be sure you don't over mix the batter or your cake will turn blue!

Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 125Total Fat: 2gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 1gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 21mgCarbohydrates: 22gFiber: 1gSugar: 1gProtein: 4g

 

Brownie cake scooped into a mug with ice cream

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60 Comments

  1. Bonjour Beth !

    My daughter and I loved your blueberry crumb cake even with using gluten-free flour, but we do prefer the cake part to be a little more sweeter. Next time I plan to add about 1/4 c. brown sugar to the batter. Btw, my mom is from Finnistere, Brittany. My mamgozh was known for her crêpes in their community. I remember asking my mom when I was young, why doesn’t she cook fancy food that the French are known for? She replied with, Bretons eat simple foods. Her brother also told me that they’re not French lol. Years later after researching the Breton history I understood what he was meaning 😌

  2. Let me start by saying, I NEVER leave reviews. Well buddy that changed with this recipe. I’ve made this cake atleast 4 times now, sometimes following the exact recipe and sometimes with slight variations. It’s always a hit!’ Everyone in the family loves this cake and always begs for it to be made! Thank you so much for sharing it!

  3. Hello Beth I plan on baking this cake tomorrow, but my husband doesn’t like cinnamon, can I replace with something else for the topping cheers

    1. Sure you could do that too. Just make sure your butter is soft, at room temperature. Hope you enjoy it!

  4. For the crumb topping- should the butter be room temperature ?

    Also, for the cake, should we also use room temperature butter, milk & eggs?

    1. Great questions! OK for the crumb topping, the butter should be cold, well chilled so the crumb is crumbly 🙂 BUT for the cake, the butter, eggs, and milk should be room temperature. Hope you enjoy it! 🙂

  5. Hi Beth!! thanks for the receipe, it came out perfectly. I didn’t have a square pan to bake so I did it in a round one it was very tasty, I want to try the raspberry next time, by the way the bluberry scones very delicious also!!

    1. I’m so glad it was such a hit! YAY! And yes those scones are hands-down my favorites so delicious and flakey! So glad you enjoyed them too! 🙂

  6. I’m not much of a baker, but recently picked a ton of blueberries and was looking for a recipe online. Your recipe was easy to follow and worked extremely well. Me and my coworkers were all surprised just how well it turned out. it’s not over sugary, and I especially liked the topping part, exactly what you’d expect for the topping.
    Awesome! Thank you very much for the recipe. Cheers.

    1. I’m so glad you enjoyed it! This cake is one of our favorites too and such a great one to use this time of year! If you have any blueberries left, I highly recommend my Blueberry Muffins 🙂 another great one to try! And even easier!

  7. It’s hard to find blueberries at this time , but I have blueberries jam , can I use it ? Is there a change in the ingredient if I use jam ?

    1. Oh sure you can do jam too! No change in anything, bake as directed and I would swirl the jam into the batter once it’s in the pan. So dollop 4-6 tablespoons then swirl with a skewer. Top with the crumb and bake. That would be delicious too! 🙂

  8. Hi Beth! I was just wondering whether I should use all purpose flour or cake flour ? I would prefer to use cake flour more and was afraid I would add too much if I swapped the flours 🙂

  9. I made this recipe yesterday and it is simply awesome! I used my springform 8X8 pan and it came out perfect. The only change is that I would coat my fresh blueberries with flour before mixing in because my floated to the bottom.

    I love your recipes Beth! Keep them coming

  10. It is a great recipe! I did make a couple of changes like adding a teaspoon of grated Lemmon to the batter and a sugar, Lemmon juice and milk glaze to finished the cake. It was delicious!!!

      1. JIf I use frozen blueberries, how do I coat them in flour so they won’t sink?

        Can I use 2 loaf tins? I’m not sure what I have or where they are 🥺. Getting old. 80 next birthday. 😊

  11. This is hands down the Best Blueberry Crumb Cake. I did make a few changes. I use half brown sugar and half white sugar in both the cake and topping. I use buttermilk instead of regular milk. And I added about 1/2-3/4 cup of oatmeal to the topping. I didnt need to add any additional butter, as the 1/2 cup was plenty. This didnt make the topping dry. I also used a 9×13 glass dish, as i didn’t have a 10×10. The cake didn’t come out too flat/thin because of the larger baking dish. It was tall enough. It was so amazingly good! I will definitely be using this recipe often!!

    1. YAY! I’m so glad it was a hit! It’s certainly one of our favorites too and one we turn to time and time again! So glad you all enjoyed it and I enjoyed hearing all your substitutions, great ideas!

  12. Omg just realized as I’m sitting here waiting for the cake to bake that I used a full cup of butter in the cake batter. Watch out Paula Deen!

  13. Excellent. I love the crunchy topping and have been looking for such a topping that doesn’t “melt” into mush. Thank you Beth.

  14. I did a search for the best blueberry crumbcake recipe and this version came up. There were 2-3 others I was considering but they looked too complcated. This recipe was easy and my coworkers loved it! I have never received so many complements on a recipe!

    Just a note – but I used a teflon 10×10 pan. I buttered it and the cake came out nicely.

    Thank you Beth for posting!

  15. Hi Beth,

    Is it ok to use frozen blueberries instead?
    and if I don’t have 10×10 pan, should I use 8×8 or 13×9?

    1. Sure I would use a 8 x8 pan (13 x 9 a bit too large and the cake would be really thin 🙂 and sure frozen berries are fine. Hope you enjoy! 🙂

  16. Hi Beth! I absolutely love all your recipes 🙂
    I only have a 9 inch springform pan so is it possible to make this recipe in the springform?
    Thanks

    1. Oh sure that’s a great idea! You could definitely make this in a springform pan! So glad you enjoy the recipes! 🙂