Blueberry Cornbread Coffee Cake with Pecan Streusel

When I think about the most classic dishes cooked in cast iron, cornbread and fruit cobbler immediately come to mind. But instead of making either one again, I decided to combine the two into this cornbread coffee cake. It's a little sweet but also toothsome and complex—the whole wheat flour, the cornmeal, the streusel, it's all just giving so much. You could bake this in a casserole dish or cake pan, really anything, but it looks most appropriate and most beautiful in cast iron.

Serves 8

Ingredients

Pecan Streusel

⅔ cup roughly chopped pecans (or any nut you like really)

⅔ cup light brown sugar

½ cup rolled oats

¼ cup whole wheat flour

1 tablespoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

Cornbread Cake

½ cup plus two teaspoons room temperature butter, divided

3 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, divided (other berries, stone fruits or figs work as well)

⅔ cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

1 ½ cups cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ cups buttermilk

¼ cup apple cider

1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste

½ cup sour cream

Directions

Make the streusel

In a medium bowl, toss together all the ingredients but the butter, taking care that everything is evenly distributed. Add the butter and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a wet crumb.

Make the cake

Preheat your oven to 375 F and grease a 12 inch cast iron skillet with two teaspoons butter. 

In a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together ½ cup butter and the sugar until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, making sure the first egg is fully incorporated before adding the second. From this point forward, make sure you scrape down the sides of the bowl periodically with a spatula. Add the cornmeal, roughly half a cup at a time, until it is fully incorporated. 

In a medium bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another smaller bowl, whisk the buttermilk, cider and vanilla. With the mixer on low, add the sifted flour and buttermilk alternately in three batches, ending with the flour. Using your spatula, fold in the sour cream and half the blueberries. 

Assemble and bake

Spoon half of the corncake mixture into the bottom of the skillet and spread it out with a spatula. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top and finish with the remaining corn-cake batter. Sprinkle the remaining blueberries over top. 

Bake uncovered, in the middle of your oven, for 40-45 minutes. Try to let it cool a little before you and yours go to town on it. I think it’s even better the next day.