When I first moved to California in the mid-1990’s, I stayed with some folks in Palo Alto who were real fans of Hobee’s Restaurant and their blueberry coffee cake. We there several times and they gave me a well worn brochure that included the recipe and it has been one of my go-to brunch recipes ever since (with the addition of pecans in the topping). Here is a link to the original recipe.
I needed to use some starter and I’ve found that in cake and other recipes that call for sour cream, you can substitute sourdough starter and you get a nice tang with a little added lift. I gave it a try with this one and it worked amazingly.
I used cake flour for a nice tender crumb but, if you only have all-purpose, drop the flour to 1 ½ cups.
To warm it up the next day, place it in the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds (depending on how big a slice you have).
Sourdough Blueberry Pecan Coffee Cake
1 3/4 cups cake flour, sifted
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
½ cup sourdough starter
2 tablespoons sour cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup fresh blueberries, tossed in 2 tablespoons corn starch
Topping
5 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
½ cup chopped pecans
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter an 8×8 baking pan.
In a large mixing bowl, resift flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt
In another mixing bowl, beat sugar and eggs. Stir together sour cream and sourdough starter to loosen it up and then add to the sugar/eggs mixture. Mix to combine. Add in vanilla.
Add in the flour mixture and beat until smooth.
Pour half the batter in the buttered pan and scatter the berries over. Pour in the rest of the batter and smooth the top.
In a small bowl, mix topping sugar with the butter and cinnamon with a sturdy fork, until they are blended. Add in pecans and stir to combine. Sprinkle topping over batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes, until a clean toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out dry.
Cool slightly; serve warm or at room temperature.
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