Serviceberry Coffee Cake

For the first time since it was planted five years ago, my Serviceberry (Amelanchier x grandiflora) in the garden was laden with small, maroon colored, blueberry-like fruit.  I thought “Wow, I’m gonna have a lot of berries to snack on this year”, alas, the robins and squirrels thought the same (Cedar Waxwings are also fond of the fruit), and were well on their way to clearing the fruit from this small tree.  I decided that if I had any hope of having some for my dinner table, I would need to pick them two or three days before they became fully ripe. The bowl of serviceberries below, shows the color when they were picked.  They are quite tasty even at this stage, but I let them sit at room temperature to more fully ripen to a blue-black color, like the fruit seen in the photo above, along side of the Serviceberry Coffee Cake.

The cake is very tasty and quick and easy to make.  It is a nice seasonal treat with a side of ice cream and a cup of coffee.  To make your own, I’ve included the recipe below.  Click on the slideshow to see the process, step by step.

Serviceberry Coffee Cake

Based on Blueberry Brunch Cake found in “Noteworthy, A Collection of Recipes from the Ravinia Festival”, NOTEWORTHY Publications, 1986

Plated and Ready to Eat!

Served warm from the oven, it's the best.

Bake at 350 degrees

Before mixing the ingredients, set the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit

The Creamed Ingredients

Mix the sugar, butter and egg in a large bowl, then, alternately, add the milk and dry ingredients

The Dry Ingredients

Sift or whisk the dry ingredients together before adding the mixture to the creamed ingredients.

The Finished Batter

The resulting batter will be pretty stiff, which is a good thing, as it keeps the berries from sinking to the bottom of the pan

8 or 9 Inch Pan Greased and Floured

Grease the pan with shortening and coat with a light dusting of flour before pouring in the batter

Almost Ready to Bake

Spread the batter evenly in the pan, then add the crumble topping and the walnuts

Nutmeg

Use freshly grated nutmeg, if possible, but not more than a quarter teaspoon - a little goes a long way.

The "crumble" Part of the Recipe

Add cold butter, cut in to small pieces, to the other topping ingredients, then pinch together ingredients by hand to make coarse "crumbs"

Bake for 45 Minutes

Halfway through the baking time, rotate pan in oven 180 degrees for more even baking.

Allow Room for Rising

Batter can be poured into muffin tins as well. Keep in mind that the batter doubles in height if doing so. Shorten baking time when making muffins

4    tablespoons butter (softened)

¾   cup sugar

1    egg

2    cups flour

2    teaspoons baking powder

½   teaspoon salt

½   cup milk

2    cups serviceberries

Topping

¼     cup sugar

¼     cup brown sugar

¼     teaspoon cinnamon

¼     teaspoon nutmeg

4      tablespoons butter (chilled)

½     cup English walnuts (coarsely chopped)

Preheat oven to 350°

Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in egg. In separate bowl, sift (wisk) together flour, baking powder, and salt. Add dry mixture to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Fold serviceberries into stiff batter.  Pour batter into greased and floured 8-inch square pan.  Use spatula to even out batter.

Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Add butter into mixture, cut into small pieces.  Blend by pinching together mixture with fingers until coarse crumbs are formed.  Sprinkle crumb mixture over batter in pan, then top with chopped walnuts.  Bake in 350° oven for 45 minutes.  Let cake cool in pan for 20 minutes before removing cake from pan.  Note, batter will rise by double as it bakes.  Very good with a garnish of fresh fruit and vanilla ice cream.

Spring blooms

Fall color