Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Today's recipe is another one from my Boxing Day Brunch
wherein I paid homage to my mother, Queen of the Christmas Brunch. My mother was more incredible than I think I ever realized. She hosted her last Christmas brunch at the age of 82. I am significantly younger than that, and I don't know how she did it. I was exhausted for days after the brunch was over, and worked like a dog beforehand.

 She would always serve the most delicious coffee cakes at her brunch, some of them yeast dough, some of them not, but all of them had one thing in common and that was that they were absolutely delicious. One of the family favorites was Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. I went through all of her recipes and couldn't find the one that she used, but I did find this one online and it came very close. I was too busy to get a chance to taste it the day of my brunch, but I had it the day following, and it was absolutely wonderful. I had made it a week ahead of time and popped into the freezer. The morning of the brunch, I took it out very early and let it thaw at room temperature. Perfect! So not only is this a relatively easy coffee cake to put together, but it can be made ahead, and frozen.

Don't wait until the holidays to serve a coffeecake of this kind. Make it something that you do for yourself, and your family, as a special treat. You won't be sorry.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

For the filling:

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 egg white

1 cup raspberries, washed and drained*

For the cake:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

5-1/2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3/4 cup sour cream

For the streusel topping:

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup flour

3 tablespoons butter, chilled and cubed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 8 or 9-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Set aside.

To make the filling: Mix together the cream cheese and sugar on medium-low speed until creamy. Add egg white and mix on low just to combine. Set aside.

To make the cake batter: In a bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

With an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar on medium-low speed. Add egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour mixture alternating with the sour cream. Transfer the batter into the prepared pan and smooth top with a spatula.

Spread the cream cheese filling on top. Carefully place raspberries onto cream cheese filling.

To make the topping: Combine sugar, flour, and chilled cubed butter in a bowl. Stir with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. (I used a mini food processor for this – so much faster.)

Sprinkle the streusel on top of raspberries, covering the fruit.

Bake for 40-45 minutes until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack, run a thin knife around the cake edge, and loosen the ring of springform pan.

Store in the fridge.

*I drained these on a paper towel, open side down.

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