The Best Blueberry Coffee Cake has Crown Royal Maple Finished Whiskey

I love this blueberry coffee cake. The cake is light and delicious, it’s filled with double the berries of most and the crumb topping is the perfect blend of a sweet and spicy crunch. The original recipe was handed down to me on a scrap of paper from my friend Stacy Hatch. Stacy and I met when we were both members of a local Chamber of Commerce and we shared several interests including our love of cooking, entertaining and organizing events. We were both very active in the Women’s Networking group that I started and through that group we both made some lasting friendships.

Each summer I would hold a Girls Nite In in my backyard for my Chamber friends; I made the cocktails and everyone brought a dish to share. This might seem an unlikely addition to such an event but one summer we decided to make it a slumber party and we all wore our jammies (even if everyone wasn’t spending the night) and Stacy brought this coffee cake to share.

I’ve made some changes over the years; I like a bit more robust topping than the original which was just sugar and butter and this year a new addition has upped the ante even more.

The folks with Crown Royal asked if I would like to sample some of their new Crown Royal Maple Finished whiskey. Seriously? A whiskey with maple?

This new flavored whiskey brings together the traditional Crown Royal Whiskey along with natural maple flavoring and a “maple toasted oak finishing process.” The finishing process involves soaking the whiskey with American oak wood staves and chips that have been toasted to enhance the natural maple characteristics of the wood. The aroma that wafted to my nose upon opening the bottle was clearly maple and it took a lot of willpower to not sip it straight from the bottle. This is a great match…for both sipping and baking!

One tip? As much as I love cooking with booze; it can get pricey if you think you have to buy a full bottle just for one recipe so think airplane size bottles. Most liquor stores have a section where they carry smaller sizes and this blueberry coffee cake is a case in point. One small bottle would be the perfect size; measuring a bit more than 4 tablespoons or about 1/4 cup. The scent while this cake was baking was intoxicating in more ways than one.

The difference is subtle; as it should be but it’s also evident. I love whiskey in baked goods…adding some maple too? How can you go wrong?

Saturday was the perfect day to have made this coffee cake. My daughter was here helping with yardwork, my realtor and his kids dropped by and my neighbor Karen stopped on the way home from the grocery to visit for a few minutes. I loved having something so scrumptious on hand to to serve folks and I’m thinking they did not mind either!

I first included this recipe on the blog more than four years ago. This is the photo I took; it is almost painful to publish but I thought readers might get a chuckle from my lack of experience…or maybe I thought it would offer some hope? :)

I was provided with a sample of Crown Royal Maple Finished for review however all commentary is my own.