Streusel Coffee Cake

I have managed (so far) to keep it out of the blog, but my life has been recently turned upside down. A few months ago we put our house on the market, in preparation for a move to a home with a little more space for our family of 5. 

The catch was we hadn't exactly FOUND that home yet.

So here was the plan.....get our house on the market and hopefully under contract, so we'd ready to jump on the perfect new place when it came along. Buyers in our neck of the woods have been in huge competition with each other over relatively low inventory. So houses go fast and are most likely to go to buyers who don't require a home sale contingency. Long story short? Our house sold in less then 18 hours, and we found ourselves living with my mom and dad.

And we are in a great spot, really. My parents have been so awesome opening their home to me, my husband, 3 kids, 2 dogs, and a whole lot of stuff. My dad reads Hardy Boy books to my oldest son, and gets my little guy out of bed when he awakes pre-dawn. My mom does countless crafts and marathon coloring sessions with my daughter. As I keep reminding them when things do get a little chaotic, "we are making memories here, people!"

The other huge bonus to living here has been a chance to collaborate in the kitchen with my mom. It's way more fun to experiment with new recipes (and revisit childhood favorites) with a partner. Last weekend she made this coffee cake and I knew I had to share. Hands down, THE BEST after school snack I ever remember coming home to. It comes together very easily in a (larger sized) food processor. It's perfect for a breakfast or brunch....and a mid-afternoon snack.

~Erin

Streusel Coffee Cake

 

Author: Erin

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 55 mins

Ingredients

• Cake


• 3 c. flour


• 4 tsp. baking powder


• 1/2 tsp. salt


• 1 c. sugar


• 1 c. butter


• 2 eggs, lightly beaten


• 1 c. milk


• 2 tsp. vanilla


• Topping


• 1 c. brown sugar


• 4 T. flour


• 4 T. butter


• 4 tsp. cinnamon


• 1 c. chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans are great, but could be optional)

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 and grease a 9x13 pan.


2. For topping, in food processor, pulse together brown sugar, flour, butter, cinnamon, and nuts until crumbly. Transfer to another bowl.


3. Add to food processor flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Pulse 2-3 times. Cut in butter and pulse until you have a corn meal consistancy (2-4 times).


4. In a small mixing bowl, mix eggs, milk, and vanilla together well. Add to flour mixture in processor and pulse 2-3 times just to mix.


5. Put half of batter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of topping. Add rest of batter and sprinkle with remaining topping.


6. Bake 35-45 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

 

Notes

The batter will be thick so spread it to corners of the pan with a scraper. I end up dolluping the second layer of batter into the pan, so as not to totally destroy that first sprinkle of topping. And I wouldn't judge if you decided to make double the streusel topping...I MAY have experimented pretty successfully with those proportions. :)

3.2.1230

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

When I think of the most memorable things my mom has baked over the years, this one lands solidly in the top 5. And the term "coffee cake" be damned, she made it most recently to top off my sister's 33rd birthday dinner. It's pretty and tastes amazing so what else is there?

The addition of a little nutmeg adds a little somthing extra to the common paring of blueberry and lemon. If you hate nutmeg, the cake will still be great without it. If you are nutmeg indifferent, I'd encourage you to give it a try. And I'm including a picture here of what my batter looks like after spreading it up the sides of the pan a bit....for all you visual people out there. The batter is thick, and I find an offset spatula to be the best tool for the job. Just be patient and work it out to the sides a little at a time.

 

Wanting to give credit where credit is due, I just texted my mom to find out where this gem originally came from. My mom has a master's degree in library science, and for that reason I have pretty specific information to include. Thank goodness.

Blueberry Lemon Coffee Cake

Author: Erin (adapted from Chicago Tribune 2/90)

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 45 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• Cake


• 2/3 c. sugar


• 2 t. lemon zest


• 1 1/2 c. flour


• 1/2 t. baking soda


• 1/2 c. sour cream


• 1/2 c. butter, softened


• 1 egg


• 2 T. poppy seeds


• 1/4 t. salt


• Filling


• 1/4 c. sugar


• 1/4 t. nutmeg


• 1 T. flour


• 2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed and drained


• Glaze


• 1/3 c. powdered sugar


• 1-2 t. milk

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.


2. Grease and flour the bottom and sides of a 9" spring form pan.


3. Beat 2/3 cup of sugar and softened butter in a mixer until light and fluffy.


4. Add lemon zest and egg, beat 2 minutes at medium speed.


5. Whisk together flour, poppy seeds, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.


6. Add 1/3 of dry ingredients to butter mixture, followed by 1/2 of sour cream, alternating until all are just combined.


7. Spread butter over bottom and 1" up sides of pan, making sure batter on sides is 1/4" thick.


8. For filling, combine all ingredients, then spoon over batter.


9. Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool slightly and remove side of pan.


10. For glaze, combine ingredients, then drizzle over top of cake.

Notes

The original recipe says to bake this cake for 45-55 minutes. I have found that to be way too long especially using a dark, non-stick pan. Closer to 40 minutes is right for my pan and oven combination. Definitely start checking at 40 minutes but yours might need a bit more time with a lighter pan.

3.2.1230