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Cream Cheese-Almond Coffee Cake
One bite of this coffee cake takes me back to my childhood. I ate this often at the café and even more often at my grandmother Carlyn's home, where there was always a big pan of freshly baked coffee cake in the kitchen just waiting to be cut.
Serves 12
Batter
1-1/4 cups granulated sugar
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup milk, at room temperature
3/4 cup dried cherries
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
To prepare the batter: In a mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cream cheese, and butter on medium speed until creamy. Add the eggs and the extracts, and continue to mix until creamy.
In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the electric mixer on low speed, stir the dry ingredients into the creamy mixture just until a dough forms. Add the milk and mix until just incorporated. Stir in the dried cherries by hand.
To prepare the streusel topping: In another medium-size bowl, combine all the streusel ingredients and mix to combine.
Grease and flour a 9 by 13-inch baking pan. Pour the cake batter into the pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the top of the cake batter evenly with the streusel topping. Bake until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
Streusel Topping
2/3 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sliced almonds
Let the pan cool on a rack to room temperature. Remove from the pan when cooled. To serve, slice (3 by 4) into twelve pieces and serve, or wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.
Variations:
Substitute raisins or dried cranberries for the dried cherries.
This recipe may be reproduced with the following credit:
Recipe from THE BERGHOFF CAFÉ COOKBOOK: Berghoff Family Recipes for Simple, Satisfying Food by Carlyn Berghoff and Nancy Ross Ryan
(Andrews McMeel Publishing, September 2009, $24.99/hardcover original)
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