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A sliced single layer blackberry cake with a crunchy sugary top

Blackberry Breakfast Cake

5 from 22 votes

Blackberry Breakfast Cake with fresh berries baked in a rich, sour cream batter for a tender, moist crumb and crisp sugary top.

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Blackberry Breakfast Cake – the perfect lightly sweet coffee cake!

A sliced blackberry cake with a sugary top

 

Blackberry Breakfast Cake with a tender moist crumb, juicy fresh blackberries and a crisp sugary top.

It’s time for another installment of “if I owned a B&B!” First, I would never actually own a B&B because I don’t want to clean house everyday. Second, sometimes I enjoy wandering around in my jammie pants until noon and that just won’t do when there’s company about. However, I still enjoy baking up a nice treat like this Blackberry Breakfast Cake for the occasional weekend visitor!

An overhead view of a breakfast cake with a sugary, crisp top and blackberries on a cooling rack

There’s so much to love about this Blackberry Cake

With a full 2 cups of tart, juicy blackberries, the flavor really pops in this simple treat.

The crispy, sugary crust on top is the perfect contrast to the moist, tender and tangy sour cream cake.

With no mixer required, the whole cake can be made in just two bowls.

The batter is very thick so you might think the cake will turn out dense and heavy. But that’s not at all the case! The texture is light and moist but not spongy. Because the batter is so nice and thick, the blackberries don’t sink down to the bottom while baking.

A handful of fresh picked blackberries

Can you use frozen blackberries in this cake?

Fresh or frozen blackberries work well in this breakfast cake. You don’t need to thaw frozen blackberries before adding them to the mix. Just layer the frozen berries in the batter as you would fresh.

We’ve had a great crop of homegrown blackberries this year. This variety of thornless blackberry plants produce nice big berries with terrific flavor. We’ve enjoyed these blackberries in a wide variety of recipes like our Old-Fashioned Blackberry Cobbler, Blackberry Pie, and this unique, tangy and delicious Blackberry Ice Cream.

A side view of a sliced cake with fresh blackberries and more in the background

Ingredients Overview

  • all-purpose flour
  • salt
  • baking powder
  • baking soda
  • granulated sugar
  • eggs
  • sour cream
  • vanilla
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • unsalted butter
  • fresh or frozen blackberries
  • coarse sugar for topping

Feel free to substitute full-fat plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream, if desired. Also, use salted butter if that’s what you have on hand. Just cut the amount of added salt in half.

For the coarse sugar topping I use an Organic Sugar in the Raw Cane Sugar. Any turbinado or decorative sugar will work well on this cake. If you only have plain granulated sugar on hand, use it! It’s all good.

To change it up a bit, add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in addition to the vanilla. Then, top the cake with sliced almonds before baking.

A slice of blackberry breakfast cake on a plate with fresh blackberries

Overview: How to make Blackberry Breakfast Cake

  • First, whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl: flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar.
  • Next, whisk the eggs in a separate medium bowl. Add the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest to the eggs. Whisk until blended then add the melted butter. Pour the egg mixture into the flour and sugar mixture and fold together until blended.
  • Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the blackberries over the batter then top with dollops of the remaining sour cream mixture. Smooth the top, then scatter all remaining blackberries over the top.
  • Sprinkle coarse or turbinado sugar on top and set the cake aside to rest for 10-minutes before baking.
  • Finally, bake in a springform or square baking pan. Our breakfast cakes bake at a lower temperature (325F) to ensure the center is done while the outside doesn’t over-brown or burn. Low and slow is best when it come to these thick single layer cakes.
  • Cool for 20 minutes then remove from the springform pan to a wire rack or serving platter. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
  • Top individual slices with ice cream, whipped cream, nuts, extra fruit or berries. You can even whip up a little blackberry white chocolate buttercream to put the icing on the cake!

Enjoy!

A piece of blackberry cake on a plate with a fork

Can Blackberry Breakfast Cake be made ahead?

Our Blackberry Breakfast Cake will keep well for several days stored at room temperature. Once cut, be sure to store in an airtight container. Make the cake the day before or mix it up the morning you plan to serve. It’s all good!

Refrigerate leftover breakfast cake for longer storage.

Does Blackberry Breakfast Cake freeze well?

Yes, all our breakfast cakes freeze well. You can freeze the entire cake or individual slices. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator or at room temperature for a few hours. The crisp top softens a bit, but it’s still very good to eat and enjoy.

A platter with four slices of cake baked with fresh blackberries on top

What is a breakfast cake?

Our breakfast cake recipes are similar to coffee cake, except they’re not as sweet and are typically made with seasonally fresh fruits and berries.

We have a whole series of lightly sweet breakfast cakes that are delicious anytime cakes. These cakes can be served for breakfast, brunch, afternoon tea or dessert. If you’re having guests for the weekend, or just want a simple cake to have on hand, seasonal breakfast cakes will do nicely!

  • Blueberry Breakfast Cake – this is the most popular breakfast cake on our blog. Made with buttermilk and tons of fresh blueberries, it’s hard to beat!
  • Cherry Almond Breakfast Cake – another terrific breakfast cake made with fresh cherries, sliced almonds, almond extract and a little cherry brandy.
  • Irish Cream Breakfast Cake – for the coffee lover in your life. This marbled cake includes a little cocoa, coffee extract and plenty of luscious Irish cream.
  • Cinnamon Breakfast Cake – an easy to make, no-mixer required tender cake that tastes like a big snickerdoodle!
  • Pumpkin Breakfast Cake – a seasonally perfect cake made with canned pumpkin and topped with a terrific sweet pecan crumble.
  • Fresh Peach Breakfast Cake – loaded with fresh, ripe diced peaches in a rich sour cream batter.
  • Strawberry Breakfast Cake – with fresh strawberries tucked into our all-purpose sour cream cake. This cake has terrific flavor and plenty of berry goodness.
  • Raspberry Ricotta Breakfast Cake – what a treat! Made with frozen raspberries in a unique ricotta batter.
  • Lemon Crumble Breakfast Cake – one of the first breakfast cake recipes we developed with plenty of fresh lemon juice, zest and a sweet crumble topping. A personal favorite!
  • Cranberry Almond Breakfast Cake – another one of my favorite breakfast cakes! Made with almond paste, fresh or frozen cranberries and buttermilk. This is a terrific holiday cake the whole family will love.

 

 

 

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A side view of a blackberry breakfast cake sliced into individual servings

A single layer blackberry cake with sugary top

Blackberry Breakfast Cake

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour
Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
Yield: 8
Course: Breakfast or Brunch, Cake
Author: Tricia
Pin RecipePrint RecipeRate Recipe
5 from 22 votes
An easy and delicious cake perfect for breakfast, brunch or a light dessert. Also great topped with almonds!

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (334g)
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 2 ½ teaspoons baking powder
  • ¼ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (222g)
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup sour cream (8-ounces)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • zest and juice of 1 lemon
  • ½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled (4oz or 113g)
  • 2 cups blackberries (10oz) fresh or frozen
  • 2 tablespoons coarse sugar, for topping

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Lightly grease a 9-inch springform or square baking pan, set aside.
  • In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Make a well in the center.
  • In a medium mixing bowl whisk the eggs until blended. Add the sour cream, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest. Whisk until blended. Slowly add the melted butter whisking constantly until combined. Pour the sour cream mixture into the flour and sugar mixture. Stir with a spatula until the dry ingredients are moistened. The batter will be very thick.
  • Pour ⅔ of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle 1 cup of blackberries over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter over the blackberries, and smooth with an offset spatula. Top with all remaining blackberries, pressing the berries slightly into the batter.
  • Allow the cake to rest for 10 to 15 minutes before baking. Sprinkle coarse sugar on top, mostly on the exposed batter avoiding the blackberries.
  • Bake at 325°F for 60 to 70 minutes or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out with no wet batter. Moist crumbs are okay.
  • Cool the cake for 20 minutes, then remove the sides of the springform pan. Slide the cake onto a serving platter or plate. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature. Dust with powdered sugar, or a dollop of whipped cream, if desired.
  • If using a square cake pan, serve straight from the pan.

Recipe Notes

  • Store leftovers at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days. Refrigerate for longer storage, if desired.
  • Blackberry Breakfast Cake may be frozen, well sealed in an airtight container. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, or at room temperature for a few hours.
  • Substitute plain Greek yogurt for the sour cream, if desired.
  • If using frozen blackberries, do not thaw before adding to the batter.
  • This cake is also great topped with sliced almonds before baking. Add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract in addition to the vanilla extract, if desired.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 449kcal | Carbohydrates: 63g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 19g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 5g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 361mg | Potassium: 168mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 700IU | Vitamin C: 8mg | Calcium: 134mg | Iron: 3mg

A sliced single layer blackberry cake with a crunchy sugary top

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34 Comments

  1. Karen D.

    I have frozen cranberries and an orange on hand. Do you think substituting the blackberries with cranberries and an orange for the lemon would work? Cranberries are very tart and I’m unsure if 1 cup of sugar would be enough to cut the tartness. What do you think? Thanks!!

    Reply

  3. Catherine North

    5 stars
    Yummy! My wife says when it’s warm out of the oven it’s definitely 5 stars. Started to use a springform pan but decided it was too large so I used a 9 inch square pan. Had to bake it at least 70 minutes. But I will definitely be making this again!

    Reply

  4. Clare

    5 stars
    An absolutely brilliant cake! It’s quite large so I froze half and honestly it was almost better afterwards. Will be telling everyone about it. I don’t usually leave reviews but this recipe is so good I had to!

    Reply

  5. T

    I’ve made the blackberry, cinnamon and blueberry cakes from your recipes and I love them all. As a family our favourites are the cinnamon and blueberry ones. They freeze well and are yummy after heating in the oven to defrost. They are also the first gluten free cakes ive baked that havent gone off on me after 2 days. I haven’t got sour cream so i used 3/4 cup whole milk and two tablespoons greek yogurt. The issue with these is that I can’t stop eating them Hahaha. Thank you so much for sharing your recipes.

    Reply

  6. Marilyn

    Cake looks wonderful, I am going to make it. Would like your opinion on using Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Also would it mess up the consistency to add more blackberries, fresh? TYIA

    Reply

    • Tricia Buice

      Hi Judy. I’m not a high-altitude baker anymore but always refer to this chart when needed. Since this cake is not over-loaded with sugar I don’t think you’ll need to make adjustments there. It’s okay to add a tablespoon or two of milk, but not much more than that. You still want to bake at a lower temperature (325F) as this is a thick cake. If baked at a higher temperature the outside will be overdone while the middle is still liquid. Perhaps it will need to bake longer but I would check the cake at reasonable intervals. I hope this helps! Good luck!

      Reply

  8. Ronaye Taylor

    I made this recipe and did not have a 9 inch pan. I did have a 12 inch pan so I doubled the recipe, bumped up the lemon a little and added about a cup more of the fresh blackberries. This cake was marvelous. It was large enough to share with my neighbors and my children who picked the blackberries were blown away. We all loved it and give it 5 stars.

    Reply

  9. Angela

    I want to make this cake I only have 1/2 cup of sour cream can I use 1/2 cup of buttermilk and leave all else the same

    Reply

  10. Barbara Swann

    Baked ahead to bring on a group camping trip, this was a big hit! Dense, moist, and just sweet enough to offset the tart blackberries. Will definitely make again and will try a loaf pan.

    Reply

  11. Rhonda

    5 stars
    I really enjoyed this recipe – it makes a truly eye-catching cake. I’m visiting my parents and they had a container of blackberries in the fridge that were a little too tart to enjoy on their own, plus they had some sour cream that was getting near the expiration date, AND they happened to have one lemon on hand. This was the perfect way to use them up. I always bake by weight rather than volume (thank you for including weights) and appreciate your warning not to be alarmed at how thick the batter was, as I otherwise would have been tempted to add a little milk. I really like that it uses melted butter so I didn’t have to plan ahead by softening the butter and then whipping it. I didn’t have coarse sprinkling sugar here, so I just used granulated sugar and it worked fine, and I sprinkled it over everything (didn’t avoid the berries). I will definitely make this again, and will try it with a variety of whatever fruits are on hand – so many possibilities. Next time I may try a pinch of cinnamon in with the dry ingredients. Nice recipe that looks quite versatile. Thank you for sharing it!

    Reply

  12. Shelley garland

    5 stars
    I just made this cake. I had some blackberries not quite sweet or juicy enough for eating. I followed these directions and added some raspberries as I was a little short on blackberries. Baked in a wel seasoned cast iron pan as I don’t have a springform pan. (I also make pineapple upside down in cast iron). The cake turned out wonderful and delicious and was one of the easiest cakes I’ve ever made. I’m enjoying a slice now with a cup of hot passion tea. Delicious. I took photos showing how nice it looks as well.

    Reply

  13. Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers

    5 stars
    Just lovely! I would be happy to wake up to this cake any day 🙂 Blackberries are such a great berry and I love the beautiful colour they make when they’re baked.

    Reply