Double Streusel Cherry Almond Coffee Cake

Mountains of streusel.

Lately we’ve been playing a game at dinner where we ask each other questions. Emmett thinks this is so fun and I do too. We learn all kinds of funny things about each other that somehow, we have never covered before. It’s fun for parents and kids because it's middle ground between adult conversations (BORING) and discussing the latest toy craze and why “We NEED those toys in our lives!”.  It’s a game where we can all participate equally. The other night the question was “What is your favorite breakfast?” So that led us down the path of what the best breakfast foods are. Paul mentioned coffee cake, then why we never have it, and casually, “We should make a cherry coffee cake sometime.” Asking for a specific baked good just days before Father’s Day? Well played Paul. Well played. 

“We” got the hint. Truthfully, I don’t know why we don’t have coffee cake more often. It’s so good. And I know I never make it, because I remember the last time I made a coffee cake. VIVIDLY. It was just over four years ago. The day before Eve was born. New neighbors had moved in down the street. I bought all of the ingredients to make them a “welcome-to-the-neighborhood-cake” and didn’t want a little thing like going into labor to cause them to go to waste. Ha! So I made the cake and had 3-year-old Emmett bring it over to their house with me. Because it was for them, we never had a chance to taste it. I remember it looking delicious and thinking that I probably should have made a double batch.  This became especially obvious to me the next morning when I finally had baby Eve in my arms after a long night at the hospital. 

This baby is thick.

I don’t remember much about the recipe or what I changed back then but I do remember that it came from King Arthur Flour and it was a recipe for blueberry coffee cake. When I decided to make this one, I went back to that same recipe and adapted it to make something cherry and almond flavored. Cherry as requested, almond because it goes so well with cherries and we all love it.  I added a touch of cardamom just because. I also used cake flour, because I have some and because I recently looked up several coffee cake recipes where cake flour was used so I thought, why not? 

The top photo is with double streusel, the bottom is with original amount. The batter becomes really thick after adding the frozen fruit.

Initially, I made half of the streusel but once I put it on top of the batter it looked sad and sparse, so I doubled it. How much is too much crunchy, buttery topping? I don’t know. But let me tell you what isn’t too much. Double. I mean this clearly isn’t diet food. I believe that you should just make cake that tastes amazing and have a smaller piece.  I used frozen cherries, which is one reason I think this cake took so long to bake. I know it seems long, but promise it took the entire 75 minutes! Even then I was wondering if I was pulling it too soon, but after letting it cool in the pan for a little while, it ended up being perfectly cooked through.  I was checking intermittently from the 40 minute mark. Even though I used a 9-inch pan, with all that streusel this cake came out tall and thick. I have no idea how to remove a cake like this from a regular cake pan, so I used a springform pan which worked well. For our purposes it wouldn’t have mattered (since we are always happy to eat straight from the pan), but if you want to remove it and put it on a plate, keep in mind that you might lose some streusel when you turn it out onto one. 

This should be my new zoom background.

Double Streusel Cherry Almond Coffee Cake 

Ingredients 

For Streusel

2/3 cup  sugar

1 cup cake flour (or all-purpose)

1/2 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon almond extract

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, at cool room temperature  

For Cake

2 cups cake flour or all-purpose

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, softened

1 large egg, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract 

1/2 cup milk, at room temperature

12 ounces frozen cherries

Directions

 Streusel

Grease a 9-inch cake or springform pan.

 For streusel, combine flour, sugar, salt, cardamom and almond extract in a bowl.

Using a pastry cutter or your hands, combine butter into flour mixture until the texture is crumbly.  Set aside. 

Cake

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine sugar, and butter in the bowl of a mixer and mix until fluffy, about 5 minutes.

Add egg and extracts and continue to beat for another few minutes until the mixture is pale and well combined.

While you are mixing the butter and sugar, combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. 

Alternate adding the flour mixture and the milk to the butter mixture.  

Once milk and flour mixture are thoroughly combined with the butter mixture, add frozen cherries and stir until just combined. 

Pour batter into prepared cake pan and top with streusel. 

Bake for 65 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.