Name: Make-Ahead Blueberry-Lemon Coffee Cake
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Ingredients: 3 3/4 cups recipe; 3/4 cup warm milk (about 110 degrees); 2 large eggs; 1 cup blueberries; 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest; 1 1/3 cups recipe

Why This Recipe Works

For homemade coffee cake with the ease of a boxed mix, the freezer was key. For the topping, a simple streusel full of nuts and spices went into one zip-top bag. Along with flour, sugar, spices, and leavener, we found that buttermilk powder in our cake mix was an ideal “dry” replacement for the sour cream in our favorite coffee cake recipe. By using the food processor, it was possible to pulse the butter in with the dry ingredients before transferring it to the freezer in a bag of its own. When it comes time to bake, we simply combine our dry mix with eggs and milk (warmed to melt the butter), top it with the streusel, and bake.

Before You Begin

To heat the milk, pour it into a glass measuring cup and microwave until steaming and warm to the touch, about 1 minute.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 9-inch round cake pan, line bottom with parchment paper, grease parchment, and flour pan. Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, beat prepared cake mix, milk, and eggs on low speed until combined, about 1 minute. Increase speed to medium-high and beat until mixture is completely smooth, about 3 minutes. Fold blueberries and lemon zest into batter. Scrape batter into prepared pan, top with streusel, and bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking. Cool cake in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes. Invert cake onto large plate (cake will be streusel side down). Remove pan; place wire rack on top of cake; and reinvert cake, streusel side up. Cool for 30 minutes and serve.