German blueberry streusel cake recipe: Flavourful with buttery and fruity tartness

Classic German Streuselkuchen is a lush, fine-crumbed, yeasted cake topped with a remarkably hefty amount of buttery-crisp streusel. It’s the perfect coffee cake for breakfast, brunch or a casual dessert.

In this recipe from our cookbook, “ Milk Street Bakes,” we add a pop of colour with a layer of fresh blueberries. Their fruity tartness is a perfect foil for the richness of the cake and streusel. Brown sugar is not used in the streusel for true German Streuselkuchen, but a little is included here to give the topping a touch of golden colour and subtle notes of molasses.

A slow, cold rise results in a crumb that’s especially moist, tender and flavorful; this also makes it easier to bake the cake the morning of serving. However, if you wish to start and finish in a single go, after patting the dough into the pan, cover and let it rise at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes instead of chilling it; at this time, also remove the streusel from the refrigerator.