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Cream cheese coffee cake is a breakfast classic. This recipe for fruit-filled cream cheese coffee cake includes four layers of deliciousness – cake, cream cheese, fruit and crumble topping. Serve it warm from the oven for the best start to your morning!

Fruit-Filled Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

I told my husband I was making coffee cake and he legit made a pot of coffee and asked me how much I needed for the recipe. Nope, that’s now how this works…

Coffee cake is called such because you serve it with coffee. This fruit-filled cream cheese coffee cake doesn’t actually have coffee in the recipe. You might have also heard this kind of recipe called a “buckle”. Or a crumb cake? Maybe even streusel? Any way you call it, it’s delicious!

You might have had cream cheese coffee cake for breakfast. Or for a brunch, afternoon snack or dessert. This kind of dish was always served at my grandma’s friend’s house. The old ladies would sit around after church on Sunday, sipping coffee. And I’d try to figure how to finagle another slice of cake! My dad would also buy cream cheese coffee cake in a box from the grocery store as a weekend treat. This homemade version is waaaay better, so keep reading tips on how to make it yourself.

What Kind of Fruit Can I Use in Cream Cheese Coffee Cake?

For these images, I made my fruit-filled cream cheese coffee cake with boysenberry preserve. Yes, you can use other kinds of fruit preserves. I used raspberry jam for the cream cheese coffee cake I prepared in the video. I adore boysenberries, so I always keep boysenberry preserves on hand. And can we all just admit it: Knott’s Berry Farm propagated the boysenberry and they still do it best!

You could switch out for any kind of preserve you wish – blackberry, strawberry, raspberry, mango chutney, fig, orange marmalade. It’s all good and could easily work for this recipe. Just make sure you choose a seedless variety.

Four Layers

What I LOVE about this cream cheese coffee cake recipe is that it’s really 4 different layers. Four flavors that meld together in the oven and combine into one delicious breakfast cake. Yes, breakfast cake. That’s definitely a thing in my house. Or call it dessert, whatever!

I’m going to tell you a secret to make this recipe even easier. Don’t bother cleaning out the bowl or cleaning off the mixing paddle in between making the layers. Just scrape off as much as you can using a spatula then use the bowl to make the next layer.

Cake Layer

As I’ve explained in this Tart & Sweet Cranberry Cake Bar recipe, you can’t beat the butter, eggs and sugar too much. You want this mixture to be light and fluffy. Once you add the flour and milk, you’ll be mixing as little as possible. This will ensure a light and moist cake when you don’t over mix the batter. The batter is going to be pretty thick so spoon it into the greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Then use a butter knife or spatula to pat and carefully spread out into all the corners.

Cream Cheese Layer

In the recipe the cream cheese mixture is prepared first and set aside. It’s thin and easy to pour, then spread it over the top of the batter in the pan. The cream cheese will melt down into the cake batter during baking, creating a noticeable cream cheese taste that’s not overpowering.

Fruit Layer

As previously mentioned, use whatever seedless jam or fruit preserves flavor that you wish. Dollop spoonfuls of fruit directly onto the cream cheese, making sure to evenly cover the entire pan. Then use the tip of a knife to carefully swirl the fruit in with the cream cheese. Use care not to push the knife deeply, this is just to swirl the cream cheese and fruit, avoiding the batter layer underneath. You’ll want to hit all the corners to ensure that every bite will have fruit. I show how it’s done in the video.

Crumble Topping Layer

Lastly, the crumb topping layer. I tossed these ingredients back into my mixing bowl, but you could use a pastry cutter instead if you wanted. This combination of flour, brown sugar and cinnamon is combined with cold butter into a crumble. I simply slice off small pieces of butter, then mix with dry ingredients until they are in course crumbs. You don’t want to mix too long or the butter will become soft and your crumbs will get mushy. Carefully sprinkle topping evenly across the top of the cake, using your hand to smooth out the crumbs. Now it’s finally ready to bake!

Optional 5th Layer – Drizzle

Because I’m a little extra when it comes to my baked goods, I just couldn’t resist adding a powdered sugar drizzle to the top of a few pieces of my boysenberry cream cheese coffee cake after it was baked. Combine about 3/4 cup of confectioner’s sugar with a teaspoon of milk, then drizzle over the top of slightly cooled pieces of cake.

What to Serve with Fruit-Filled Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

This cream cheese coffee cake is best served warm. Let it cool for about 15 minutes before serving. You’ll be rewarded with moist, warm cake and soft fruit preserves that melt in your mouth! Leftovers can be covered and should be eaten within a few days for maximum freshness.

• Serve cream cheese coffee cake at a spring brunch, alongside other light and lovely items like quiche or mimosas.
• Make ahead this cake to serve as one of the breakfast ideas for kids on a busy morning.
• Create a family breakfast platter, including fresh cut fruit, banana bread muffins, and this poppy seed bead with lemon glaze.
• Make high protein low carb smoothies. This nibble-worthy cake pairs nicely with the thick and creamy fruit smoothies.