Healthy Blueberry Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

The coffee cake I've made for years was adapted from a Cooking Light recipe, but because I wanted it to be as rich and luscious as possible, low-fat ingredients were replaced with their full-fat counterparts -- yes, counter-intuitive -- but man-o-man was it a good coffee cake! So, going back to the original recipe, I've decided to make it even healthier by replacing butter with canola oil, half the all-purpose flour with whole white, and incorporating nutrient- and fiber-rich blueberries with brown sugar and cinnamon to create a pretty swirl in the middle of each slice.  This adaptation is a doubled recipe. If you want to make a smaller coffee cake (8x8 pan or a bread-loaf pan - adjust baking time), halve the ingredients and proceed as directed.

Interior View ~ just look at that! (click for close-up!)

I'm not able to indulge in coffee cake or any cake for that matter, but I'm a baker and I have to bake!  So I am happy to offer it to my co-workers. For those who do enjoy this coffee cake, they can know that it packs a greater nutritional punch than the original with healthy oil, less sugar, more fiber, low-fat sour cream, and antioxidants. It has all that. Oh yeah, and a whole lot of flavor!

HEALTHY BLUEBERRY CINNAMON SWIRL COFFEE CAKE
Oven - 375 degrees Farenheit
tube coffee cake pan, or angel food cake pan, sprayed with cooking spray

Coffee Cake Ingredients:
1/2 cup canola oil (I use Smart Balance)
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 egg
3 egg whites
2 cups low-fat sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole white flour (I use King Arthur flours)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar mixed with 2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 cup frozen blueberries (I use Wyman's Wild Maine blueberries - tiny and very flavorful)

In large mixing bowl, beat canola oil with sugar. Add egg, and egg whites, one at a time. Mix well. Add sour cream and extracts. Beat well. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, and mix very well.

Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Smooth to make an even surface. Sprinkle with brown sugar/cinnamon mixture, and distribute blueberries evenly over that. Add the rest of the batter and smooth top.

Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until cake tests done (springs back when lightly touched). If your oven runs hot, test at 40 minutes on.

Cool in pan for half hour. Remove pan and invert cake onto serving plate and continue to cool on wire rack. While still warm, spread glaze over top, and allow to run down sides a bit. Recipe follows:

Lemon glaze:

2 cups confectioners sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract
1 tablespoon Smart Balance spread, melted

Drops of water

Stir first four ingredients together as well as you can, and then add warm water, a few drops at a time, until the glaze is thick but loose enough to spread easily on its own. Be very stingy with the water as you add it. Even a few drops too much is too much. Pour over top of coffee cake and use the back of a spoon to spread it to the edges and nudge it so it spills over the edge here and there. If it's too thick to run, add a few more drops of water until it loosens up.