A super light and fluffy blueberry brioche crumb cake, topped with a thick layer of wild blueberry jam and lemon streusel.
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blueberry brioche crumb cake
Hello hello! I’m super excited to share with you guys my version of an upgraded crumb cake. I absolutely love all things brioche, I mean it’s light, fluffy, and just so delicious. So this here is a blueberry crumb cake, but made with brioche as the base rather than your standard butter cake. It’s also topped with a super thick layer of homemade wild blueberry jam, and a layer of lemon streusel to tie it all together.
why you’ll love this blueberry brioche crumb cake:
- It’s super soft and fluffy: brioche is an enriched dough, meaning it’s more moist and fluffy than your standard yeast bread dough.
- Crumb cake, but better: regular crumb cake is great and all, but this version of crumb cake is (in my biased opinion) *perfection*
- Wild blueberry jam: it’s super easy, super flavorful, and it’s a *thick* layer.
expert baking tips
Weigh your ingredients:
My recipes are all written in grams because it is the most accurate way to bake. When you use a kitchen scale, you ensure that your baked goods turn out as close to the written recipe as possible. Plus, the cleanup is way easier when using a scale! I will provide standard cup measurements but please note that I have not tested the recipe using cup measurements and therefore can not guarantee your recipe will come out how mine did. Here is my favorite kitchen scale.
Use room temperature ingredients:
It’s important that your ingredients are at room temperature so that they can easily incorporate with each other. Take out your cold ingredients about an hour before you’ll need them.
the dough will take a while to knead
Kneading this dough will take a longer time than you are probably used to. This dough is enriched with eggs and butter which makes it take longer for the proper amount of gluten to develop. Kneading in the mixer can take me anywhere from 10-20 minutes. The dough is ready to be used when it passes the windowpane test and has pulled away from the sides and bottom of the bowl. If you are weighing your ingredients, just trust the process! If you are using cup measurements and the dough just is not coming together after 15 minutes, try adding in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time.
be careful heating the milk
Heating the milk is important for bringing the yeast to an optimal temperature for rising. The milk should be heated to ~100°F / 38°C but it does not have to be exact. As long as the milk is between 95°F – 110°F, it is good to be used. If the temperature exceeds 110°F, wait for it to cool down before using so that you do not kill the yeast!
how to tell your dough is done kneading: the windowpane test
The windowpane test is (in my opinion) the best way to tell that your dough has been properly kneaded. Once the dough starts to pull away from the sides and the bottom of the mixing bowl, it is most likely ready. However, just to be sure that it’s good to go I check if it passes the windowpane test. To do that, take some of the dough in your hands and start to slowly stretch it out. If it can get thin enough to where light passes through it before tearing, then it’s good to go! If not, keep kneading until it does!
A note on oven temperature:
Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature and might not always actually be at the temperature they claim to be at. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.
blueberry brioche crumb cake ingredients:
brioche cake:
- All purpose flour: for structure and chewiness. Please be sure that you are using a high-quality flour that has a high protein %, such as King Arthur (11.7%) so that your gluten will develop. If you’re using a low protein flour, the gluten will not develop enough and you will have to add a lot more flour to the brioche cake, which will alter the dough!
- Active dry yeast: for making the dough rise. You can easily substitute in instant yeast if that is what you have on hand. You will just skip the step of combining the warm milk, sugar, and yeast!
- Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the brioche. Salt also “controls” the yeast to make sure that it does not overly expand.
- Granulated sugar: for sweetening the brioche and for helping the yeast with rising. We will use a little bit of sugar in the brioche as well as in the hazelnut sugar.
- Egg: for binding and adding moisture.
- Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the brioche rolls and giving them a buttery, melt-in-your-mouth feel. I would not recommend substituting in salted butter since salt is important to controlling yeast growth and the amount of salt in salted butter is quite variable.
- Whole milk: for tenderizing and hydrating the dough. Whole milk will provide the softest rolls because the extra fat helps tenderize the dough. You can however swap in 1%, 2% or your favorite non dairy milk alternative! Just note that the dough may be a little less soft and fluffy due to the varying fat content.
homemade wild blueberry jam:
- Wild blueberries: the star of the jam. I love using wild blueberries since they are smaller, sweeter, and let’s be honest, more adorable than standard blueberries. I use and recommend frozen wild blueberries.
- Granulated sugar: to slightly sweeten and thicken the jam.
- Lemon: a bit of fresh lemon juice and zest helps make the blueberry jam flavor pop.
- Corn starch: for thickening the jam, we’ll mix lemon juice with the corn starch to make a slurry before adding it into the jam, so that it doesn’t clump up in the jam.
lemon streusel:
- Unsalted butter: the base of the streusel, really what makes it buttery and delicious. You can use salted butter here as well.
- Light brown sugar: sweetens and adds flavor to the streusel. In a pinch granulated sugar will work here.
- All purpose flour: adds structure to the streusel.
- Lemon zest: for flavor of course!
how to make blueberry brioche crumb cake:
Here’s just a little overview of making this crumb cake. You can find the full recipe at the end of the blog post!
- Make the dough and let it rise until doubled in size.
- Make the wild blueberry jam by cooking together the wild blueberries, sugar and lemon zest – then add in the corn starch and lemon juice.
- Mix together all the streusel ingredients.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and spread it out into a lined 8″ cake pan.
- Spread the wild blueberry jam over the brioche.
- Spread the streusel over the jam, then bake, slice, serve and enjoy!
blueberry brioche crumb cake
recipe q&a
How to store this blueberry crumb cake
Is there anything better than fresh brioche? This cake is definitely one that will taste best on the day that it is baked. The cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature.
Can I double this recipe?
Yes! I can’t emphasize using a kitchen scale enough for especially this recipe already, but if you are going to double the ingredients it is even more important that you weigh your ingredients. The dough is very hydrated and slight alterations can change the texture of the dough.
Can I use instant yeast instead of active dry yeast?
Yes of course! Instead of mixing the heated milk, sugar, and yeast together, just pop all of the dough ingredients into your mixing bowl to start kneading. I do highly recommend refrigerating the dough overnight to make it easier to work with and more flavorful. However, if you are making the recipe all in one day, and using instant yeast, simply let the dough rest for just 10 minutes as the first rise, then proceed with the rest of the recipe.
Can I make the dough ahead of time?
Yes, and I highly recommend it! Brioche dough is a very enriched dough that can be hard to work with when warm. Simply knead the dough together, cover it, and leave it to rise in the fridge overnight. When ready to make the honey almond brioche cake simply take it out of the fridge and proceed with the recipe.
My yeast mixture isn’t foaming, what should I do?
The mixture should start foaming around 5 minutes in. If it has not foamed after 10 minutes, the yeast is likely dead. You want to make sure that the milk temperature does not exceed 110°F / 43°C or it will kill the yeast. If you try it again and it still does not foam, the yeast you are using may be expired and you will want to purchase some more before proceeding.
tools and ingredients:
You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!
other recipes you might enjoy:
did you make this recipe?
I’d love to see and know your thoughts! please leave a comment and review below, and tag me on instagram @freshbeanbakery. #freshbeanbakery
Blueberry Brioche Crumb Cake
Ingredients
Brioche Cake
- 80 g whole milk (⅓ c.)
- 1 tsp. active dry yeast
- 1 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 160 g all purpose flour (1 ⅓ c.)
- ¾ tsp. salt
- 1 egg room temperature
- 56 g unsalted butter (4 tbsp.) room temperature
Wild Blueberry Jam
- 380 g frozen wild blueberries (2 ¾ c.)
- 75 g granulated sugar (¼ c. + 2 tbsp.)
- zest of 1 lemon
- 32 g corn starch (¼ c.)
- 42 g lemon juice (3 tbsp.)
Lemon Streusel
- 45 g unsalted butter (3 ¼ tbsp.)
- 65 g light brown sugar (⅓ c.)
- 90 g all purpose flour (¾ c.)
- zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
Brioche Cake
- In a microwave safe measuring cup, heat the milk to 100°F / 38°C. Whisk in the yeast and the sugar. Set aside until the mixture begins to foam. (~5 minutes)
- While waiting, add the flour, salt, egg, and butter to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. When the yeast mixture begins to foam, add it in to the rest of the ingredients.
- Knead the dough on low speed for 1 minute to allow the ingredients to come together. Increase the speed to medium-high and knead for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the dough passes the windowpane test. (This will happen after the dough has cleaned the sides and bottom of the bowl)
- At this point, you could cover the dough and put it in the fridge to rise overnight, or let it rise in a warm environment until it's doubled in size, approximately 1 hour.
- While the dough is rising, start on the blueberry jam and lemon streusel.
Wild Blueberry Jam
- Add the wild blueberries, sugar, and lemon zest to a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Stir occasionally until the mixture comes to a simmer, then let it simmer for 5 minutes.
- Make the corn starch slurry by whisking together the lemon juice and corn starch in a small bowl. Then, while mixing the blueberries constantly, stream in the corn starch slurry. Continue mixing constantly until the jam thickens, then remove it from the heat and set it aside. (If letting the dough rise overnight, cover the jam and place it in the fridge until you're ready to use it.)
Lemon Streusel
- In a medium sized bowl, melt the butter. To the butter, add the sugar, flour, and lemon zest. Use a fork to mix the ingredients together until you have formed clumps of dough. Set aside. (If letting the dough rise overnight, cover the streusel and let it sit at room temperature until you're ready to use it.)
Assembling the Cake
- Line your cake pan! This is not a cake that you want to flip upside down to get it out of the pan. Butter an 8" or 9" cake pan, and get out a sheet of parchment paper. Crinkle up the parchment paper, then un-crinkle it and place it in your buttered pan, pressing the parchment up the sides of the pan. This will give you a way to lift the cake out of the pan super easily later on.
- Once the dough has doubled in size (or after taking it out of the fridge after rising overnight), lightly punch it down to remove excess air.
- Form the dough into a ball, then place it in a greased and parchment lined 8" baking dish. Use your hands to push the dough down into the pan so that the dough is an 8" circle on the bottom of the pan. If the dough keeps snapping back, leave it to rest for 5 minutes before trying again. Cover the dough with plastic wrap or a towel and leave to rise at room temperature until doubled in size (~30 min.)
- Preheat the oven to 350°F / 175°C.
- Once the dough has doubled in size, spread the wild blueberry jam into an even layer over it. Then, sprinkle the streusel in an even layer over the jam.
- Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes, until the internal temperature is 190°F / 88°C.
- If the dough happens to rise up on the sides more than in the center, you can gently push it down with a spatula once it comes out of the oven. Wait for the cake to cool to room temperature, then slice it, serve, and enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Please note that the nutrition facts are only an estimate and may vary based on different brands of ingredients and any substitutions made.
amazing, made the jam and streusel topping in advance and completed everything today✨️ the jam is way more gooey than yours but tbh that’s the way to goo!
Thank you so much for making the recipe! I’m so happy you liked it! 🙂
Wonderful recipe! It’s a perfect breakfast cake!
Thank you so much Ana! 🙂