Cherry Crumb Cake with Almond Crumb Topping

My plan was to bake today, even though, as you all know, I am not much of a baker. My plan was not that my air-conditioner go out. But still, with a bag of ripening cherries, the baking must go on!

I made use of a recipe from the Bake from Scratch website, adding my own crumb topping. For me, it’s all about the crumb topping, so I want a lot of it, and I want it to be flavorful. Brunch, lunch, dinner, or late night snack, you’re going to love this delicious crumb cake.

Cherry Crumb Cake
Adapted from Bake from Scratch

½ cup butter, softened
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1½ cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup buttermilk
1 pound Melissa’s Bing cherries, stemmed and pitted
Almond Crumb Topping (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350° F. Spray a 9” springform pan with Baker’s Joy (or grease and flour), covering thoroughly; set aside.

In the work bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in extracts.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. With mixer on low speed, gradually add flour to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, beat just until combined. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing top. Top with an even layer of cherries, sprinkle crumb topping over all.

Bake until a wooden pick inserted into the center comes out clean, 55 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 15 minutes before removing. Let cool on a wire rack. Cover and store at room temperature for up to two days or refrigerate for up to six days.

Almond Crumb Topping

1½ cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted
½ cup slivered almonds
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract

Combine all ingredients in a food processor, pulsing until mixture is crumbly.

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Fruit-filled coffee cake lovers will also enjoy this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.

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Top Ten Posts of 2017

It's time for my year-end wrap-up featuring the 10 most popular posts of 2017. It's an agreeable assortment I think, nicely varied, and it tells me a couple of things. First of all, that you like your ramen (It took the top spot by a HUGE margin) and your veggies, second, that you like tablescapes. I'm going to be working on more of both of those for 2018. You all surprised me with the inclusion of the bunny cakes. I’d like to say that I have more such recipes ahead, but I have pretty much sworn off of baking for 2018.

 

Thanks to all of you who visit my blog, I really appreciate having you here. To see the blog post and recipe associated with each of these pictures (shown in the order of popularity), click on the title below the photo and it will take you directly to the post. Happy viewing, and have a wonderful New Year.

Easy One-Skillet Beef and Broccoli Ramen

Smothered Green Beans

Getting Ready for Fall

Home for the “Owl”idays Tablescape

Cabbage Bunny Tablescape

Scroodles

Coconut Bunny Cakes

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Beer-Steamed Potatoes

Loaded Cauliflower Casserole

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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Pumpkin Deep Butter Cake

Other than to say this cake is good...VERY good, and to tell you that people will make yummy sounds when they taste it, followed by quizzical looks, and then sighs of appreciation, I can't really say much more, because this cake defies categorization. It was something that I came up with the other night when I wanted something pumpkin-y for breakfast, but not so overtly, powerfully pumpkin as to be kicked in the face with it. I wanted a plain cake, but a rich, dense, buttery one. I do believe I have achieved that goal.

But describe it?  Let's see...Mr. O-P described it as having “the texture of cheesecake, but not.” (There is no cheese in it.) It's dense, but light, and could probably be scooped like a spoon bread, but not exactly. It's creamy, but not like a mousse or pudding, nor is it runny like those ubiquitous lava cakes. It is not overly sweet, so perfect for an autumn brunch or breakfast, and yet, with a dollop of whipped cream, and swirl of caramel sauce (and perhaps a sprinkling of toffee bits) would make a decadent dessert. Think pumpkin pie in cake form and I think you'll have it.

Its base is a deep butter cake, with the addition of pumpkin. Here's the recipe. Do not waver from it. Do not remove it from the oven when it tests done at 50 minutes, but bake on to the full 60. But do try it, and let me know what you think. We can't stop eating it, but justify the half empty cake plate in the name of research.

Pumpkin Deep Butter Cake

For crumb mixture: (See note 1)

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor (See note 2)

1 cup all-purpose flour

For batter:

11/3 cups granulated sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 extra-large eggs

2/3 cup whole milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor

1 cup pumpkin

1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice

13/4 cups cake flour

Powdered sugar, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour an 8-inch-square baking pan.

Prepare the crumb mixture

In a small mixer bowl, beat together sugar and butter until fluffy. Add salt, vanilla, Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor (or butter flavoring) and all-purpose flour; beat at low speed just until crumbly. Cover and refrigerate.

Prepare the batter

Combine sugar, butter, and salt in the work bowl of a stand mixer; beat on high speed for 2 to 3 minutes or until fluffy. Add eggs; beat on high speed 2 to 3 minutes or until light.

In a medium mixing bowl combine milk, vanilla, Buttery Sweet Dough Flavor (or butter flavoring), pumpkin, and pumpkin pie spice. Alternately add cake flour and milk/pumpkin mixture to batter, starting and ending with flour. Beat on low speed, scraping sides of bowl, until well mixed.

Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly in prepared pan. Spread batter over crumb mixture. Bake 60 minutes or until top is deep golden brown. Cool in pan for 5 minutes.

Place a flat plate on top of the pan. Holding them securely together, invert until cake drops onto plate. Carefully remove the pan. (The crumb side is now the top of the cake.)

Dust liberally with powdered sugar, and brace yourself for serious goodness.

Note 1: For more pumpkin flavor, feel free to add pumpkin pie spice to the crumb mixture. I didn’t, and loved the cake, but I can see where a little extra spice might just take it over the top.

Note 2: The inclusion of butter flavoring is essential to the success of this recipe.  While butter flavoring may have its place, it can’t hold a candle to the bakery emulsion offered by King Arthur Flour and that can be found here.  It’s pricey, yes, especially when you factor in the shipping, but you’ll never be sorry that you have this ingredient in your pantry.  It makes a world of difference, transforming your tasty pastries and baked goods into bakery shop quality products. 

This post is linked to:

Metamorphosis Monday 
Melt In Your Mouth 
Amaze Me Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday
Work It Wednesday

What’s It Wednesday

Full Plate Thursday

Foodie Friday

St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake

Not every cake has its own provenance or Wikipedia page, but St. Louis Gooey Butter Cake does.  While not everyone who has consumed this dense and chewy sweet morning cake knows the origin, we locals do, which serves to prove that even baking mistakes can work out beautifully, and perhaps, better than the original. 

There are a number of recipes for this cake; seemingly everyone has his or her own version.  Some have added pumpkin, chocolate, even butter pecan, but nothing beats the original, the recipe of which appears in one of my favorite cookbooks, St. Louis Days, St. Louis Nights, a '90s product of the local Junior League. 

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

I think you're going to like it...a LOT!

This post is linked to:

Amaze Me Monday

Metamorphosis Monday

Inspire Me Tuesday

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday

Foodie Friday

New York-Style Coffee Cake Muffins

One of my most viewed recipes is this one for New York-Style Crumb Cake, and with good reason, it is delicious.  So when I spotted this recipe for the same type of cake in muffin form, I had to try it.  From Cook’s Illustrated, this recipe is the answer to my muffin prayers.  The same delicious coffee cake in a small, portable form.  Perfection!  Now the fear of having a morsel of coffee cake going to waste is no more.  These freeze beautifully, so you can always have them on hand when you get the craving for the queen of all coffee cakes.

New York-Style Coffee Cake Muffins

For the crumb topping:

⅓ cup granulated sugar

⅓ cup dark brown sugar

¾ tsp. ground cinnamon

⅛ tsp. salt

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

1¾ cups cake flour

For the muffin batter:

1¼ cup cake flour

½ cup granulated sugar

¼ tsp. baking soda

¼ tsp. salt

6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened slightly

1 large egg

1 egg yolk

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

⅓ cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray muffin pan lightly with cooking spray.

In the work bowl of a food processor, pulse together sugars, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the butter over top and pulse 3-4 times until incorporated. Add the cake flour and mix until mixture resembles a thick dough. Set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt on low speed just until combined. With mixer at low speed, add butter one piece at a time; continue beating until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible butter chunks remaining, 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the egg, yolk, vanilla, and buttermilk and mix until all has been incorporated and batter is light and fluffy.

Using an ice cream scoop, fill each well of your prepared muffin pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of the crumb topping on top.

Bake for 20 minutes or until crumbs are golden and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Let muffins cool for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

This post is linked to:

Totally Tasty Tuesdays

Try a New Recipe Tuesday

Tasty Tuesdays

Wow Us Wednesday
What’s In The Kitchen 
Work It Wednesday