Berries are often served for breakfast and brunch, so adding them to a berry coffee cake is a natural fit. Blueberries are a frequent favorite for flavoring coffee cakes, and strawberries are also commonly used. For a stronger flavor and festive red color, cranberries and rhubarb are featured in many berry coffee cake recipes. Blackberries, raspberries and berry jam are also used to add berry flavors to coffee cakes.
A variety of berry coffee cake recipes feature blueberries, which can be used fresh, canned or frozen. In addition to regular blueberry coffee cake, variations include blueberry white chocolate coffee cake, natural maple blueberry coffee cake and easy lemon blueberry coffee cake. Buttermilk is used to enhance the flavor of old-fashioned blueberry buttermilk coffee cake, while sliced almonds and almond extract add nutty flavor to blueberry almond coffee cake. Blueberry peach coffee cake combines a blueberry muffin mix with canned sliced peaches.
In addition to having a festive color, cranberries can add both a tart and sweet flavor to berry coffee cake. Cranberry coffee cake can be made with frozen or fresh cranberries that are combined with sugar in a food processor. Whole cranberry sauce is used to make yogurt-cranberry coffeecake, and vanilla bean is used to flavor cranberry vanilla coffee cake. A heartier coffee cake, such as pecan cranberry, can be made by adding a topping of chopped pecans and brown sugar. Pear-cranberry coffee cake is made using cranberry-orange quick bread mix, sliced pears and cinnamon.
Rhubarb is often paired with berries and featured in a variety of berry coffee cake recipes, such as "bluebarb" coffee cake, which combines fresh and frozen blueberries with fresh or frozen rhubarb. The sweetness of strawberries can add summer favor as well as color to berry coffee cake. Strawberry rhubarb coffee cake is a combination of sweet and tart flavors, and is made with chopped, fresh rhubarb and frozen, sweetened sliced strawberries. Fresh, sliced strawberries can be used in strawberry coffee cake, while strawberry-sour cream coffee cake features a strawberry jam made from cornstarch, sliced strawberries and sugar.
Raspberries, blackberries and jam are used to flavor some types of berry coffee cakes. Blackberries star in blackberry coffee cake, which is iced with berry juice and confectioner's sugar. Raspberries are also popular choices for coffee cake, and frozen raspberries are used in raspberry cream cheese coffee cake. Some berry coffee cakes feature a mixture of several berries or a jam that is made from berries.