Strawberries make me restless.
It’s a fact. Yes, a strange fact, but no less true.
See, in my part of the world, strawberries come along every year right around May. This is around the time when I’ve loooooong ago let slide any New Year’s resolutions I might have made for myself, when it’s possible that I’ve slacked a bit on my workout routine, and the goal of reading a chapter of a book a night before I fall asleep has somehow transferred into watching an old episode of House every night before I pass out.
Don’t even get me started on the mania that I try to pass off as my closet. It’s not pretty.
So…. strawberries come along at a time of year when I’ve cemented in some slightly lazy and ooooooh so comfortable habits for myself.
I don’t know how or why this works, but strawberries inspire me to shake my world up a bit, maybe introduce something new, maybe hop on one leg every morning just for the hell of it…. whatever. This is the time of year when I change things up a bit.
This year, strawberries have inspired me to do two things: learn Italian and combine fresh strawberries with one of my favorite cakes of all time…. streusel topped coffee cake.
Let’s do this.
Now seems like a good time to admit that you could put streusel topping on just about anything and I’d devour it with few regrets. Please don’t let that take away from how crazy awesome this strawberry coffee cake is. Moist sour cream coffee cake is mixed with cooked down fresh strawberries and topped with streusel topping. It’s both lovely ad humble, and just the perfect little cake to sit with in front of my computer as I work my way through Italian flash cards.
Strawberry Coffee Cake
inspired by Panache at Rose Hill
1 heaping cup sliced strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons water
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 ounces sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a few drops of almond extract (optional)
Topping:
3 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
To make the topping:
Combine all the topping ingredients in a bowl and rub together with your fingertips until crumbly. Set aside.
To make the strawberry mixture:
Combine strawberries, 1/3 cup sugar, water and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly until the sauce is thickened and strawberries are soft and somewhat broken down. Set aside to cool.
Grease and flour a 10×10-inch baking dish, knocking out excess flour, and set aside.
To make the coffee cake:
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract, and almond extract if you’re using it.
Sift dry ingredients together. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed butter in 3 parts alternating with the sour cream in 2 parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat just until combined.
Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Spread the cooled strawberry mixture over the batter. Spoon the remaining batter onto the strawberries and spread evenly. Top with streusel topping and bake in the upper third of the oven. Bake for 50-60 minutes, until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
Mercedes@Satisfy My Sweet Tooth
I was looking and looking for a cake to use up some raspberries, and I just new you would be a reliable source! This cake is in my oven (with raspberries in place of strawberries) as I write this and I can hardly wait to try it! Thanks for coming through yet again!
Shannon McCarthy
Joy,
Kudos on a great looking Strawberry Coffee Cake! I’m going to give this a shot for July 4th weekend and serve it to a few family members and service-folks that will be visiting. Wish me luck!
– Shannon, Crumb Cake Creations, LLC
Joel
I lol’d at the “watching an old episode of House everynight before passing out”. I used to do that too! I thought I was the only one…well I think I’m going to make this for my office party tomorrow, seems like a good break from the more traditional standard coffee cake. I’m sure it’s going to be delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Emily C
Thank you so much for this wonderful recipe! I made this last night to bring over to my parents house, and have eaten some both for dessert last night, and breakfast this morning. It is so light and wonderful, the strawberry filling is delicious, and I love crumbly toppings, so that was just a bonus!
Ri
I just made this cake and it was great! I was really apprehensive when I had a hard time spreading the (thick) strawberry layer, and then an even harder time spreading the (very thick) top layer of the cake batter, but it baked up just fine. I subbed out half of the regular flour for whole wheat flour, but I don’t think I’ll do that again because it was too hearty of a flavor for those delicate strawberries. Oh yeah, I also subbed plain Greek yogurt and a splash of heavy cream for the sour cream, just because it’s what I had on hand.
Thanks for the recipe!
Jenny H
This was so delicious and very moist! Per the recommendations of a few of the previous comments, I doubled the strawberry filling, and it came out perfect. I brought it in to work today and have received many compliments. Now I’m thinking about switching out the strawberries for other berries too – blueberries, raspberries…I love versatile recipes! Thanks for sharing!
Rachel Peters
Day two of cooking in my new kitchen and I’m not sure which I like better, the butterscotch pudding and caramelized bananas from yesterday, or this cake from tonight. It’s a toss up! I’m excited to prowl around your blog more tomorrow to figure out what to make next… marshmallows maybe? or those amazing looking apple oatmeal cookies.. I have a huge bag of beautiful crisp Okanagan, BC apples that would be perfect.