Cream Cheese-Swirled Mixed Berry Cake — No mixer is needed for this easy mixed berry cake, which is as simple as making muffins! A mix of fresh or frozen fruit can be used, perfect for using up what’s seasonal or what you have on hand.
Easy Berry Cake Recipe
Baking berries into cake and getting big juicy surprise bites of fruit is so much fun. And swirls of cream cheese are an added bonus. The cake is based on my Blueberry Muffin Cake, which also spawned this Peach Cake.
I adore this cake base because it produces a soft, moist, tender cake and the batter is fast and easy to make. The cake reminds me of the Entenmann’s cream cheese coffee cakes I used to buy in college when cooking was a foreign concept.
The cake is soft, springy, and fluffy, without being airy. It’s got just the right amount of density and is so moist.
There’s sour cream (or Greek yogurt) in the batter, along with buttermilk, and a bit of oil, all of which do wonders for cakes.
Plus the cream cheese swirls and abundance of berries just add to the soft and supple factor.
The lightly sweetened cake is the perfect canvas for all that juicy fruit. I love baking with fruit and only good things can happen.
The creaminess and tanginess of the cream cheese complements the juicy fruit wonderfully well, and you can’t ever go wrong with adding a little cream cheese.
This cake base has yet to let me down. So much so, that I keep making more cakes with it. Stay tuned.
What’s in the Mixed Berry Cake?
To make this mixed berry coffee cake, you’ll need:
- All-purpose flour
- Granulated sugar
- Baking powder
- Cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Salt
- Egg
- Buttermilk
- Sour cream
- Oil
- Vanilla extract
- Frozen mixed berries
- Cream cheese
- Confectioners’ sugar
How to Make Mixed Berry Cake
This mixed berry cake comes together with a whisk, and is as easy as making muffin batter. A bowl of dry ingredients, a bowl of wet ingredients, fold wet into dry, and pour in a pan. So easy.
I had a little bit of cream cheese staring back at me from the bottom of an almost-used container, which I swirled into the cake batter.
I didn’t go too crazy with swirling because I wanted bigger patches of cream cheese, rather than small streaks. Cream cheese seems to disappear while baking so I kept the swirls on the thicker side.
Then, it’s just a matter of baking the cake until it’s set. Let it cool for about 30 minutes in the pan before slicing and serving.
Can I Omit the Cream Cheese Swirl?
If you don’t have cream cheese on hand, just omit it. The cake will still be wonderful without it and you can instead glaze it with one of the glazes suggested in the recipe.
Can I Double This Recipe?
Yes! This berry cake recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9×13-inch pan. The bake time should be roughly the same, but I can’t say for sure.
Tips for Making a Mixed Berry Coffee Cake
I used a frozen cherry and berry blend with blueberries, blackberries, and raspberries. I always bake with frozen and save my fresh berries for eating. Use whatever combination of cherries and berries, fresh or frozen, that you have.
If you’re using fresh fruit, the baking time will likely be much less, by as much as 20 minutes or so. When I used this cake base with fresh peaches, my baking time was a solid 10 minutes less.
With all cakes and baking in general, watch your cake and not the clock. Bake until it’s done. Simple as that.
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Cream Cheese-Swirled Mixed Berry Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 tablespoon for tossing with berries
- ¾ cup granulated sugar + 1 tablespoon for mixing with cream cheese
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt, optional and to taste
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ⅓ cup sour cream, thick, full-fat Greek yogurt may be substituted
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups frozen cherries and berries – blueberries, blackberries, raspberries (don’t unthaw, add them to the batter frozen; see below in item 6 about using fresh)
- ¼ cup cream cheese, softened (light is okay)
- confectioners’ sugar, optional for dusting or see glaze suggestions below
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, optional salt; set aside.
- In a separate small bowl, whisk together the next 5 wet ingredients (through vanilla).
- Add the wet mixture to the dry, mixing lightly with a spoon or folding with a spatula until just combined. Lumps will be present and this is okay. Don’t overmix or try to stir them smooth; set aside.
- In a small bowl, toss the fruit with 1 tablespoon flour. The flour helps to prevent the fruit from sinking while baking.
- Gently and briefly fold the fruit into batter.
- Turn batter out into prepared pan; set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cream cheese with 1 tablespoon sugar until smooth.
- Dollop the cream cheese mixture haphazardly over the cake batter. With a toothpick, gently and lightly swirl the cream cheese. I don’t do much swirling because I like to see bigger, noticeable patches of cream cheese rather than thin streaks in my cake; personal preference.
- Bake until done. I hesitate to give a baking range because you must watch your cake, not the clock. Bake until center is slightly domed and set, golden and rosy in color, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs, but no batter. I estimate 50 to 55 minutes is a good range if using frozen fruit. At any time your cake is beginning to look a bit too golden brown before you suspect the center will set up, tent it with a sheet of foil laid across the top. I baked for 52 minutes total, and at the 45 minute mark, I tented with foil. Baking times will range dramatically based on if baking with fresh or frozen berries; ranging from 30 to 60 minutes depending on the temperature of the berries going into the batter and how much water they release.
- Place pan on a wire rack and allow cake to cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
- Optionally, dust with confectioners’ sugar or a simple glaze. This vanilla cream cheese glaze, this buttery vanilla glaze, this browned butter glaze, or this lemon glaze are all excellent, quick, and easy options.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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More Berry Desserts:
Blueberry Pie Bars— These pie bars are one of my all-time favorite frozen blueberry recipes! They have the flavors you love in a blueberry pie, but you don’t have to mess around with homemade pie crust.
Strawberry Oatmeal Bars with Crumble Topping — These buttery bars are bursting with fresh strawberries!! Just 10 minutes of prep, so EASY because the crust and crumble are one and the same, and a crowd FAVORITE every time!!
Blueberry Muffin Cake — This fast and easy cake tastes like a big buttermilk pancake that ran into a blueberry muffin on the way to the oven.
Strawberry Coffee Cake with Vanilla Cream Cheese Glaze – The best coffee cake I’ve ever had or made. Use your favorite fresh, frozen, or seasonal fruit this incredibly moist and soft cake batter
The Best Raspberry Bread – There are almost more raspberries than bread in my recipe for the BEST RASPBERRY BREAD!! You’ll want to make it over and over because it’s super soft and just bursting with juicy berries!!
Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping — An EASY, no-mixer cake studded with juicy blueberries and topped with big buttery streusel nuggets that are just SO GOOD!!
Lemon Strawberry Bars — Imagine crossing lemon bars with a strawberry pie. These easy bars taste like strawberry lemonade! Sooo good!
So beautiful! The berries and cream cheese sound absolutely perfect! I love that you can switch it up so easily too! Pinned!
I could never say no to mixed berries + a cream cheese swirl. I’m thinking this would make a fine breakfast! ;)
Thanks, Laura!
How beautiful these colours are! I can’t think of a better way to show off summer berries.
Your grilled corn colors are perfect summer colors too!
I definitely prefer thicker swirls of cream cheese too. This cake looks so summery and how awesome that it is so easy to prepare!
SUCH an easy cake to prepare – yes!
Yum!! This looks perfect for summer berries! and it looks easy too! I can’t wait to try it (:
This looks yummy! Love your site! I actually used to follow your old blog and didn’t even recognize that this was yours with a new name and look until I read the name!
Well welcome back! So glad you put two and two together! :)
Wow!!! Beautiful cake!!! I’m sure those flavors just burst in your mouth at first bite! Yum.
Thanks, Robyn! Means a lot coming from you b/c you make GORGEOUS cakes that I always want!
Oh wow – loving the cherries here and if it’s anything like those darn Entenmann’s cream cheese coffeecakes, I want a slice. I used to love it when my mom brought one of those things home. Such a treat.
I know you’ve said you like the E’s coffeecakes – me too :) And I know you’ll like this one!
I love the looks of this cake. Berries are amazing in baked goods! I love how they become even more juicy and sweet :) This recipe looks easy enough to make on your average day yet fancy enough for a special brunch.Love it!
Gosh, I don’t know what I love most. The juicy fruit or the cream cheese!
I love those cream cheese swirls–kind of like having a little bite of cheesecake with some berry cake! Your cake batter has to be the easiest I’ve seen in a long time–no mixer or melting of this or that, and no worries about dryness with buttermilk, sour cream and oil. I think dryness was often an issue with cake recipes I tried years ago. I also used to like Entenmann’s way back when… but they just don’t even begin to measure up to your creations!!! Most manufactured things just taste “off” to me somehow with all the additives, preservatives and chemical extras.
Paula I love love love this cake batter. I have another recipe with it coming, too :) And I know what you said about storebought cakes just tasting a little off (especially after you get used to homemade!)
This looks so decadent and I absolutely love the cream cheese swirl. If only I could eat cherries! Maybe I would try it with blueberries but add the cream cheese swirl in. Have fun in Aruba!
Comment replying from 35,000 feet :)
I think the best way to portage anything healthy into one’s body (i.e. fruit) is via cake.
Gorgeous cheesecake-y mixed berries and cherry breakfast cake, Averie! It looks delish! I am just enamored with your styling and photography here. LOVE all the pink props, too! Do you ever get a chance to work with tart cherries? I’ve been on a major tart cherry kick over at the blog. Anyway, I hope you do get a chance. Tart cherries rock my world. Again, beautiful cake! xo
I dont have a whole lot of tart cherries in CA (that I know of) but growing up in MN and being so close to WI where there are TONS, my mom used to can sour cherry jam – SO GOOD!
The props/food styling in this post was a beast b/c the cream cheese kept glaring and reflecting – so thank you for saying you like them. Means alot! :)
Cake looks great, pictures look so pretty.. I want to have a tea and cake party now! :)
Looks great, Averie!