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!
Could I make this in a round cake tin? If so, what size (Diameter) should I use?
Thanks!
It would depend on the depth of the round tin. I would try to use the pan size I called for since it’s common and I know it works.
Oh my goodness, you can count me in for anything with cream cheese and berries. And coffee cake is one of my weaknesses. I’d love to be able to eat this beautiful cake for breakfast!
The photos don’t do it justice. It’s such a great little cake (and so easy!)
I have 10 pounds of blueberries – guess who’s making about 23 of these?! ME!!!
Oh man, this cake looks so perfectly sweet! I love it so much :)
This cake is so pretty! Love all those colors! And cream cheese is always a plus. :)
Sooo pretty! I love purple color and this cake looks amazingly delicious! Wish I could have a bite of it
Ooh, cherries. This is a good reminder that I haven’t even bought cherries yet this summer. I really need to! And make cake with them! This cake! :)
And I used frozen! So you can make it year round :)
I love your cakes! (Maybe they can be the theme of a new cookbook?) :D
This is crazy beautiful, Averie! Love the plates, love the colour, everything is fab. Is it okay that I still sometimes pick up a box of Entenmann’s doughnuts?
You are so sweet! The plate was a lucky find at my thrift store about 18 mos ago before I shot PB Comfort. There’s a breakfast tortilla in the book with crazy zig zag chocolate sauce that’s on this dish :)
Your pie bars look incredible. Been seeing them on all the food sites. Traveling and reading in stealth :)
Cream cheese and berries, perfect! This cake looks fabulous!
Absolutely stunning cake!!
I love baking with fruit too, Averie! And you have the best recipes with them. This cake looks unbelievable. Fruit and cream cheese is a weakness of mine. Think fruit cheesecakes and cheese/fruit danishes. This cake looks ultra moist and soft, which we both know is a success. The pictures are bold and beautiful – the mixed berries make them pop on the screen. I love your pretty floral dish!
Sally this cake reminds me of you. The berries, the cream cheese, the overall flavor of it…reminds me sort of of some of your cream cheese bars and such. The pics were impossible. Not liking them tons. Nor did FG so far. lol But sometimes things are just super reflective. Like cream cheese. And there’s nothing that can be done. It just glares! But thanks for saying that. Makes me feel better!
The crumbs look so fluffy and moist! I love it when batter calls for yogurt. Just makes for such a soft tender cake. Also, I really appreciate your tip on watching the cake, not the clock. I’ve learnt that after baking for a while because every oven runs differently and sometimes I just cannot follow the times stated in the recipe. I will so try this cake out when I get my hands in some nice fruit.
And my fruit wasn’t even that ‘nice’. It was from TJs, frozen, bagged. Not exactly gourmet! But it worked! And yes watching the item, not the clock. I have people write in in a panic that they’re baking 28 mins and I said bake about 25. Ovens vary, weather, humidity, material the pan is made out of, preferences, etc. So always just watch what’s in your oven, even if that’s not the time the recipe necessarily says, and you’ll be just fine :)
SO pretty! Miss chatting with you!!
I was sitting in ATL today. On the tarmack. On a broken plane for FOUR HOURS. Omg. I wish I could have called you and gone shopping or something in ATL rather than what I was doing :) Miss you too!
xo
Your cakes are so pretty! I love the cream cheese swirl idea!
This one was glare central. Meh. But the TASTE is amazing!
I got the cook book!!! :) I can’t wait to try one of everything! :)
Awesome! LMK what you try first!
I’m always killing myself making ridiculous cakes that tower and have a thousand elements and need to be frosted for my blog, when all I really want is a simple, flavourful, easy to whip up and delicious to eat every-day cake like this. You’ve combined every single ingredient I love to put into cakes in one: buttermilk, sour cream/yogurt, cream cheese, oil and fruit. I don’t doubt for a second that this is super moist and amazing! I only ever bake with frozen berries since I always have them on hand and I know how they’re going to turn out. Love this recipe and your gorgeous photos, Averie!
buttermilk, sour cream/yogurt, cream cheese, oil and fruit = the makings of a successful, easy, fast, whisk together batter! Layered cakes = NEVER for me. First of all, we don’t need cakes on that size magnitude. I don’t like to run, that much :) Next the issue of being forced into frosting it (with a piping bag usually) – no. And those kind of cakes usually have fussy creaming steps, flour in stages, etc. I am all about the speedy cakes but that totally deliver!