Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping

Don't you hate it when there's not enough streusel on top of your piece of coffeecake? or when all of the fruit or filling in the cake sinks to the too-soggy bottom? or the leftovers are too dry to enjoy on day two? Well, none of those concerns were a problem with this breakfast treat. This recipe is a keeper!

Once all of the ingredients were assembled the batter and streusel topping went together quickly. Frozen blueberries tossed with a few tablespoons of flour kept the fruit nicely distributed throughout the cake, avoiding the bottom-hugging issue. My oven must run a little cool so it took an additional 8 minutes to bake, but using a cake tester handled the baking timing question. Anticipation grew as a heavenly aroma filled the kitchen and wafted up the stairs as the cake baked. Tummy rumbles and the cook's impatience led to sampling before the cake cooled for the suggested 15 minutes. Oh - my - goodness, that was some good cake. 

Three of us enjoyed more than half that morning, and late-night snacks accounted for several more pieces. And yes, two squares did make it through the night for breakfast treats the next morning; still moist, still tasty, and prompting requests for more blueberry coffeecake with streusel topping, please.

Blueberry Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping

For the Streusel Topping:

1/4 cup granulaed sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup AP flour

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

For the Cake:

1/4 cup unsalted butter (at room temperature)

1/4 cup sugar

1 egg (at room temperature)

2 cups AP flour

2 ½ tsp baking powder

1 Tbs cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (tossed with 2 tablespoons flour)

Step 1 

1. Place the dry streusel ingredients in the bowl of a food processor. Drop in the butter, and pulse until small crumbs form. (I used a pastry blender) Set aside.

Step 2

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Lightly oil or butter a 9x9" or 8x8x2" square cake pan. (I used cooking spray + flour)

Step 3 

Use a stand mixer to cream the softened butter in a large bowl; add sugar in several additions and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg and beat well.

Step 4

Use a small bowl and sift together the flour, baking powder, cornstarch and salt. In a measuring cup or another small bowl, add the vanilla extract to the milk. Set the mixer on low speed and add small additions of the sifted flour mixture, alternating with the vanilla/milk mixture into the butter mixture. Do this in two or three additions. Gently stir the flour-dusted blueberries into the batter by hand. 

Step 5

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the batter. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45-50 minutes until cake tests done in the center. Let cake cool for 15 minutes, then cut and serve warm.

Fresh Apple Custard Cake

Are you looking for one more simple apple dessert? I wasn't, but when Serious Eats featured this apple cake in a review of Dorie Greenspan's latest cookbook, Baking Chez Moi, I had to try it. Dorie is an iconic culinary guru, so I expected a lot from these custardy apple squares.

We are already huge fans of most sweet appley treats. One of our favorite desserts, Apple Cheese Torte, involves cinnamon-spiced apples bathed in a cream cheese custardlike filling and snuggled inside a buttery shortbread crust. While superbly delicious it's more of a company dessert, so I don't often bake it. Quick Apple Crostata is more of a family dessert and takes mere minutes from prep to finish... if I first remember to thaw a frozen package of pie crusts. Cinnamon Apple Crepes and Apple Pie Swedish Pancakes serve equally well as delicious dessert or breakfast fare. Orange-Spiced Apple Rolls and Apple and Nut Coffee Cake win top honors on any brunch menu. Both Fresh Apple Quick Bread and Appl-icious Brown Bread are snackable hits. Apple and Jalapeño Pie with a Pecan Crust is amazing - note to self to share that recipe. Enough already, back to Dorie's apple cake recipe.

So why did I try one more apple dessert recipe? Well, it sounded sweet and appley, almost a cake and not quite a custard... and  Dorie Greenspan created it. It must be might be terrific.   

Peeling, slicing, measuring and mixing took less than ten minutes, almost too quick since I had to wait several more minutes for the oven to come up to temperature. While the cake baked its heavenly aroma kept me in the kitchen, nose twitching like a hound on the scent, and lured RL away from his computer project. Ooooh, we were so ready to love this cake.

Baking timing was a challenge; the outer edge browned heavily before the center puffed and firmed. Was my glass baking pan the cause? should I drop the temperature 25 degrees F next time to compensate for a glass pan, or purchase a metal pan? should I switch to a round cake pan to avoid crispy corners altogether? 

Despite the firm, dark brown edges, the cake showed promise. A dusting of powdered sugar improved the overall appearance and the first bite proved... pleasant. Hmmm, could the smell of an apple square actually outperform the taste?! I had already tweaked the original recipe by adding a generous tablespoon of freshly grated lemon zest, but felt it needed more of a flavor boost. RL declared it was just fine as is, and ate another piece... and another.  

We did enjoy this apple cake, ate the entire thing within the day, and pronounced it good but not quite as terrific as the Serious Eats post had proclaimed. Did I expect too much from a simple recipe? Maybe so, but I'm ready to give it another try. Next time I might add some cardamom or Apple Pie Spice, or stir in a teaspoon of almond extract, or even swap some pears for the apples (as suggested in some SeriousEats and FaceBook comments). A cook can't have too many "apple something" recipes.

Update January 17, 2015: 
1. Dropping the oven temperature 25 degrees F in a later batch eliminated the over browned edges and apple tips. The glass 8x8 pan must have been the issue on the first batch.
2. Additional flavorings - cardamom, apple pie spice and almond extract - helped boost the flavor, but the tastiest change was swapping a cinnamon/sugar topping for the original powdered sugar.
3. RL requested another pan of this cake today. He apparently loves it while I want it to tweak it to be something different, something more... I don't know what. Evidently it's still a work in progress.  

Fresh Apple Custard Cake

From a Serious Eats review of  'Baking Chez Moi' by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients:

3 medium to large, juicy apples (I used Granny Smith & Fuji), peeled
1/2 cup regular all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 large eggs, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
Pinch salt
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
6 tablespoons whole milk, at room temperature
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Grated zest of 1 large lemon
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

Place a rack in the center of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees F. 

Butter or spray an 8-inch square baking pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Slice the apples quite thin, about 1/16 th inch thin, " elegantly thin, but not so thin that they’re transparent and fragile." Discard the cores.



Use a small bowl and 
whisk  together the flour and baking powder. 



In a large, separate bowl whisk the eggs, sugar and salt together for about 2 minutes, until the sugar just about dissolves and the eggs are pale. Whisk in the vanilla, then the milk and finally the melted butter. Add the flour to the bowl and whisk until smooth. 

Add the apples and using a rubber or silicone spatula gently fold the apples into the batter, turning until each thin slice is coated in batter. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth out the top.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown, uniformly puffed. Check to be sure the middle of the cake has risen and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack; allow to cool and set up for at least 15 minutes.



Unmold the cake bottom-side-up onto a plate, flip it back onto a second plate and cut into squares. Dust with powdered sugar; cut and serve.

Apple and Nut Coffee Cake

What do you like to eat for breakfast? I have so many answers to that simple question, many of which begin with "That depends..."  On any given day breakfast choices depend on the time available, who else is dining, what's in the refrigerator or on a restaurant menu, how healthy or happy I felt when I woke up... and on and on. Breakfast just might be my favorite meal of the day, especially when there is time to enjoy it. 

The Breakfast Book by Marion Cunningham is a treasure chest of 288 recipes, some familiar classics from childhood and more than a few totally new temptations. I bought it on a whim last year, based on Orangette's enthusiasm for Cunningham's waffles and fresh ginger muffins. If Molly raved about the book, I'd give it a try, risking an online purchase without first checking out a library copy. The book became nighttime reading, and I covered chapter after chapter, marking countless recipes to try "sometime soon". Then life got busy, the neglected book sat hidden on a shelf and I forgot all about it... until last week.

Following a stroll through the Volunteer Park Conservatory, Mom and I stopped for coffee and a treat at the nearby Volunteer Park Cafe. We shared a large wedge of coffee cake that was scrumptious, so good that we ate every last little bit.

Its coarse yet airy crumb, the thick ribbon of sweet berries and a generous streusel topping all served to rekindle my interest in finding new breakfast treats, coffee cake recipes in particular. 

Heading back to The Breakfast Book for inspiration I found Cunningham's basic recipe for Great Coffee Cake. Using her Apple and Walnut variation as a guide, I strayed a bit from the recommended ingredients and added some Apple Pie spice to brighten the tart appleness, 

substituted thick Greek kefir cheese for ordinary sour cream, 

swapped almonds for walnuts 

and baked in small pans instead of a 10-inch tube pan. 

It didn't matter, the flavor was deeeee-licious. Though I did reduce the cooking time by 5 minutes, for the next batch I'll check for doneness a few minutes earlier; my mini Bundt pan cakes were a touch overdone. Not that it slowed us down a bit; when sliced in half on the horizontal, toasted under the broiler, then slathered with butter and served warm, the cakes still rated two thumbs up. Cunningham herself noted:

"The breakfast cakes in this chapter are meant to be sliced, toasted, and buttered, not frosted. With good cake the wholesomeness will shine through without the added frill of frosting. Breakfast cakes are wonderful, particularly if you are a sweet and not a savory breakfast person."

Ignoring the printed caution, RL, who is a sweet breakfast person, experimented with accompaniments. He first tried a dollop of Greek honey yogurt on the side, then a generous tablespoon of dark cherry preserves on top of the Greek yogurt. Positive response with both. The next morning he warmed a sauce of 3 tablespoons honey and 1 tablespoon lime juice to drizzle over the top of a warmed mini cake. Oh joy! most of the thin sauce soaked into the cake, a little pooled on the plate as a dipping sauce, and RL's contented sighs filled the kitchen as he ate every morsel. This sauced version has now become the standard for our new recipe.   

Apple and Nut Coffee Cake

Based on a variation of Great Coffee Cake from Marion Cunningham’s The Breakfast Book

One 10-inch tube cake or 8 mini Bundt cakes or ramekins

½ pound (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, cut in chunks

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

2 ½ cups AP flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon table salt

1 teaspoon Penzey’s Apple Pie Spice (or cinnamon)

1 cup sour cream (I used Greek kefir)

1 ½ cups coarsely chopped tart apple (unpeeled Granny Smith)

1 ½ coarsely chopped walnuts (I used almonds) 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan (or spray with cooking spray).
2. Put the butter in a large mixing bowl; beat for several seconds. Add the sugar; beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat until light and creamy, 2 to 3 minutes. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a bowl. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture; beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and mix well. Add the apple bits and chopped nuts; stir to distribute them well throughout the thick batter.
3. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan(s). Bake for about 50 minutes (40-45 if using smaller pans), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. You really don’t want to overcook this cake or it will be dry and heavy instead of moist and rich. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a rack and cool a bit before slicing. Serve warm. 
   
   Notes:
   *My favorite tastetester RL recommends serving with a drizzle of a 3-to-1 honey/lime sauce, or a dollop of Greek honey yogurt and cherry preserves.
   *Cover tightly to store: individually-wrapped cakes in plastic wrap works well for storage and microwave reheating.

Starbucks Streusel-Crumb Coffee Cake

I don’t bake many sweets... don’t eat many sweets... don’t even think about sweets very often. Yesterday was an exception since I had invited a girlfriend, Pat, for coffee. Pat loves to bake and said she would bring along a treat for us to nibble on. Yum, that sounded good, but you can’t invite someone over and then not feed them, Mom taught me better than that. So I skimmed my computer recipe file for inspiration... nope, not feeling inspired. I flipped through several B&B cookbooks for inspiration... nope, still not inspired. Then a slim, rarely used volume, smooshed way left on a cookbook shelf, caught my eye… Starbucks Passion for Coffee . This one might work. 

The cover photo featured a coffee cake that looked pretty tasty, and I had all most of the ingredients on hand. 

Streusel Crumb Coffee Cake was a good choice, not too sweet but sweet enough. Pat’s Craizin Bread was terrific, especially toasted and spread with a bit of lingonberry jam, but I like to think the coffee cake held it’s own. We ate ladylike slices of coffee cake yesterday, but today it's half gone... not all my doing, Ron enjoyed it too.

Streusel Crumb Coffee Cake

recipe from Starbucks Passion for Coffee, Sunset Publishing Co, Aug 1994 Serves 10-12

Streusel:

1 ½ cups graham cracker crumbs

¾ cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted

¾ cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cardamom (substituted allspice)           

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the cake:

2 cups cake flour (substituted AllPurpose)

1 cup granulated sugar

2 ½ tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp

2 eggs

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Preheat an oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan, a 9-inch springform pan or an 8-inch square baking pan. (I used a 9-inch springform and the center never really set up, so I'll try a tube pan time to get the heat to the center)

To make the streusel: combine the graham cracker crumbs, walnuts, brown sugar, spices and melted butter. Blend well and set aside.

To make the cake: sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, eggs, vanilla and milk. Beat vigorously until smooth and quite thick, about 1 minute.

Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture. Spoon the remaining batter over the streusel, then top with the remaining streusel. Bake until a long wood toothpick inserted in the  center of the cake comes out clean, about 50 minutes. (Nope, in a 9-inch springform pan it took an extra 20 minutes of baking at 350 F) Cool about 20 minutes, then remove the cake from the pan.

Note: 3/22/10

The cake took an extra 20 minutes in the oven to firm up; oh! did that batter jiggle after the recommended 50 minutes. After the extra time the streusel was just threatening to scorch. Burnt streusel is not very appetizing, so I carefully flicked off the few dark crumbs - shhhh, don't tell. After cooling for 20 minutes, the center/bottom 1/8 inch of the cake was still quite moist - we ate it and enjoyed it anyway. After a couple of hours most of the extra moisture seemed to disappear. Next time I will use a tube pan and see if it bakes more evenly when the heat can more readily reach the center.