Stone Fruit and Berry Streusel Cake
The peak-summer bake that captures four fruits at their best: peaches, plums, apricots, and blueberries, baked onto a tender, grain-free coconut flour cake and crowned with a buttery almond streusel.
Adapted from Sweet Laurel
Yield: One 8- or 9-inch cake, serves 8–10 · Active: 20 min · Total: 1 hour (a two-stage bake) · Best in North America from early to late summer, when stone fruits and blueberries are in season · Best eaten: afternoon
There’s a brief window each summer, usually in early to mid-July, depending on where you live, when the stone fruits overlap. Apricots, with the shortest season of any stone fruit, are making their last appearance at the farmers’ market. Peaches are arriving at their most fragrant. Plums are turning deep purple and starting to give at the stem. And blueberries are at their dark, slightly tart best. For a few short weeks, these fruits are at their peak, and for the rest of the year, they’re either mealy imports or nothing at all. This cake is built for those weeks.
A few notes before you begin: Coconut flour behaves very differently from almond flour. Almond flour makes cakes that are moist, dense, and forgiving, while coconut flour makes cakes that are lighter, drier, and much less forgiving. Even a small change in the ratios can make a crumbly cake, so measure carefully and follow the recipe closely the first time. And don’t skip the two-stage bake. The batter bakes alone for 15–20 minutes before the fruit and streusel go on. If you add everything at the start, the fruit sinks to the bottom and releases too much juice, and the cake turns soggy. The first bake sets the base, and the second caramelizes the fruit and crisps the streusel.
Ingredients
Cake
½ cup + 1 tbsp maple syrup, divided
½ cup + 1 tbsp coconut oil or grass-fed butter, melted, divided
4 large pasture-raised eggs, at room temperature
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
½ cup coconut flour
½ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
1 tsp baking soda
Optional: 1 tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
Fruit topping
1 ripe peach, pitted and cut into thick wedges
1 ripe plum, pitted and cut into thick wedges
2 ripe apricots, pitted and halved or quartered
¾ cup fresh blueberries
Optional: 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice, tossed with the fruit to brighten it
Almond streusel
1 cup fine blanched almond flour
3 tbsp coconut oil or grass-fed butter, melted
2 tbsp maple syrup
¼ tsp Baja Gold sea salt
½ tsp ground Ceylon cinnamon
To serve (optional, but lovely): freshly whipped raw cream (or coconut whipped cream), a dollop of plain grass-fed yogurt, extra fresh blueberries, a drizzle of raw honey or maple syrup, and a dusting of cinnamon
Method
Prep the pan. Heat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8- or 9-inch round cake pan or ceramic baking dish with 1 tbsp of the coconut oil or butter, then drizzle 1 tbsp of the maple syrup over the bottom, and spread it thinly with a spatula. It lightly caramelizes, adds flavor, and helps the cake release.
Make the streusel first, so it has time to firm up. Stir the almond flour, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, salt, and cinnamon with a fork until it forms pea-sized crumbs that hold together when pinched. Set it aside.
Make the batter. Whisk the eggs, the remaining ½ cup maple syrup, the remaining ½ cup melted coconut oil, and the vanilla until smooth and glossy. In a separate bowl, whisk the coconut flour, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon (if using). Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk gently until combined. Let the batter rest 2–3 minutes; coconut flour absorbs liquid slowly, and the batter will thicken noticeably.
First bake. Pour the batter into the pan, smooth the top, and bake 15–20 minutes, until the edges are just set but the center is still a little soft. It needs to be firm enough to hold the fruit up, but soft enough that the fruit can settle in slightly.
Prep the fruit. While the cake bakes, slice the peach, plum, and apricots, and toss them gently with the lemon juice (if using). Keep the blueberries separate.
Add the fruit and streusel. Take the cake out of the oven. Arrange the stone fruit over the top in concentric rings, overlapping shingles, or a rustic scatter, pressing it gently into the surface. Scatter the blueberries in the gaps, then crumble the streusel over the top, covering most of the fruit, but leaving some peeking through, for color.
Second bake. Bake 10–15 minutes more, until the streusel is deep golden, the fruit is caramelized at the edges, and a toothpick inserted into the cake (between the fruit) comes out with a few moist crumbs. The total bake time is 25–35 minutes, and the cake keeps setting as it cools.
Cool 15 minutes in the pan before cutting. Coconut flour cakes are delicate while warm, and firm up a lot as they cool.
Serve warm, at room temperature, or chilled; it’s delicious all three ways. Top each slice with whipped cream, a few fresh blueberries, and a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, with a cup of tea alongside.
Upside-down variation: Arrange the sliced stone fruit in a pattern over the bottom of the greased, maple-drizzled pan, and press the blueberries into the gaps. Pour the batter over the fruit, and bake at 350°F for 30–35 minutes, in a single bake, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let it cool 15 minutes in the pan, then run a knife around the edge, and turn it out onto a platter. Bake the streusel separately on a small sheet pan at 350°F for 8 minutes, and sprinkle it over the top. The two-stage version gives you more texture, and the upside-down version more visual drama. Both are lovely.
Storage
Best the day it’s baked, or the next day. Keep it covered at room temperature up to 2 days, or refrigerated up to 4 days. Warm slices in a toaster oven for 3–4 minutes, to recrisp the streusel. Freezing isn’t recommended, since the fresh fruit doesn’t survive thawing.
Make ahead: The streusel keeps refrigerated up to 3 days, and the fruit can be sliced up to 3 hours ahead (toss it with lemon juice, so it doesn’t brown). Bake the batter right after mixing, since coconut flour keeps absorbing liquid and the cake will turn dense if it sits.
For a crowd: Double the recipe in a 9x13 pan, for 16 guests, or bake two cakes at once on different oven racks.
A note on honey: The raw honey drizzled on top stays raw. Honey shouldn’t be given to babies under 12 months.
Nourishment Notes
Stone fruits (peaches, plums, and apricots) all belong to the genus Prunus, along with cherries and almonds. As a family, they bring polyphenols (especially chlorogenic acid and quercetin), beta-carotene, vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. Peaches bring their fragrant aromatic compounds and chlorogenic acid, studied for its cardiovascular and anti-inflammatory effects. Plums are especially rich in anthocyanins, the deep purple pigments in their skins, and have long been valued for supporting digestion. Apricots have the most beta-carotene of any stone fruit, weight for weight, which is why they’re so vividly orange.
Stone fruits have short seasons: peaches and plums are at their best for about 8 weeks, and apricots for just 4–6. Eating them abundantly in season, and looking forward to them the rest of the year, is the oldest way of eating there is.
Blueberries are one of the most studied fruits in nutrition science, rich in anthocyanins with researched benefits for the brain, heart, and inflammation. Wild and small-farm blueberries carry more anthocyanins per berry than large commercial ones, so they’re worth seeking out at the farmers’ market.
Coconut flour is dried, defatted coconut, finely ground. It’s extremely absorbent, which is why coconut flour recipes use so little flour, plenty of eggs, and a short rest. It’s high in fiber (about 10 grams per ¼ cup) and low in carbohydrates. Almond flour in the streusel brings vitamin E, magnesium, monounsaturated fats, and protein.
Pasture-raised eggs bring about 24 grams of complete protein to the whole cake, plus vitamins A, D, E, and K, and the carotenoids that give pastured yolks their deep color. Coconut oil or grass-fed butter are both stable fats: coconut oil brings medium-chain fats, and butter brings butyrate and fat-soluble vitamins. Maple syrup brings manganese and zinc, along with dozens of antioxidant compounds, and it’s gentler on blood sugar than refined sugar, especially alongside fat and fiber.
As a circadian and seasonal food, this is afternoon cake at its best, when your body handles natural sugars most gracefully. A slice at 4 p.m. with tea is ideal, and if you’re serving it at a summer dinner, start dessert while there’s still light on the table. This isn’t a cake to keep in the fridge for a week. It’s a celebration of the moment. Each slice brings about a serving of fruit, along with about 5 grams of protein, fiber, carotenoids, and anthocyanins, with far less sugar than a conventional coffee cake.
For your cycle: The fruits’ vitamin C and the almonds’ magnesium make this a bright, nourishing treat in the follicular and ovulatory phases.
Sourcing
Peaches, plums, and apricots — organic (peaches are among the most heavily sprayed fruits when grown conventionally), ripe, and fragrant, from a farmers’ market in summer
Blueberries — organic, wild, or from a small farm, in summer
Coconut flour and almond flour — organic and finely ground (keep the almond flour in the fridge)
Eggs — organic and pasture-raised, from a local farm or Alexandre Family Farm
Coconut oil and grass-fed butter — organic, virgin coconut oil; organic, cultured butter from 100% grass-fed cows
Maple syrup — organic Grade A dark, like Coombs Family Farms
Raw honey (optional) — organic, local, and unfiltered
Cream and yogurt (optional) — raw or organic, grass-fed cream; grass-fed, full-fat plain yogurt
Vanilla and Ceylon cinnamon — organic pure vanilla extract; organic, non-irradiated Ceylon cinnamon
Lemons — organic
Baking soda — aluminum-free
Salt — Baja Gold sea salt
— Anna aka Food Marshall