Blueberry Ricotta Coffee Cake

How about a big WOW for Wednesday? Sometimes you just need something special for the mid-week blues. I don't have a big sweet tooth but I will make an exception for coffee cake. Maybe it's because most coffee cakes are not overly sweet. And most are down right YUMMY! I do take joy in a great piece of freshly baked coffee cake, warm from the oven, and a cuppa joe. And here in North Texas it's finally cool-ER, not cold but just right! I found this wonderful coffee cake recipe a few years back. I was hunting for something exceptional to take to Bread Day at the State Fair. I am always on the lookout for anything baked with blueberries. My absolute FAVORITE berry. This is an excellent addition to any breakfast or brunch. I also serve this with lemonade in the summertime. It is a special treat!

BLUEBERRY RICOTTA COFFEE CAKE

INGREDIENTS

CAKE:

• 2 1/3 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup Unsalted Butter
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

FILLING :

• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, drained

TOPPING :

• Reserved crumb mixture
• 1/2 cup chopped nuts
• 1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

WHAT TO DO

• HEAT oven to 350ºF. 
• Coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray.
• COMBINE flour, sugar and salt in large bowl.
• Cut in unsalted butter with pastry blender, two knives or your hands until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture for topping.
• To the remaining crumb mixture, add baking powder, milk, eggs and vanilla.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer combine all ingredients. Beat for 2 minutes on medium speed,
• scraping bowl constantly. 
• Pour into prepared pan.
• For the filling, mix ricotta, egg, sugar and lemon peel together until smooth. Sprinkle blueberries over batter in pan.
• Gently spread ricotta mixture over blueberries. 
• Combine reserved crumb mixture, nuts, brown sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle over top of ricotta layer and blueberries.
• Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Serve warm.

This is Blueberry Heaven! So light and fluffy, it's DELICIOUS. Happy Baking!!