By: Valerie
Cakes and Cupcakes, , ,

Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Yield: one 9-inch coffee cake
Recipe: 155/200
“Back to Baking”, pp. 220

    I’ve been surprising myself lately with how much I’ve been able to bake with a newborn in my life, even way more than before! Somehow I’ve been finding the time to try out new recipes, or rather I make the time, perhaps to re-establish some sort of routine. In any case, I am very happy that I’ve been able to continue on my journey of completing all the recipes from “Back to Baking”. I had a container of sour cream in the fridge for a little while that I got from an automatic food delivery, and since I rarely use sour cream I scoured the cookbook to find recipes that I could use it for. I thought it was a perfect opportunity to try this strawberry cream cheese coffee cake.

Ingredients for cake:

  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¾ cup cool unsalted butter, cut in pieces
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup sour cream (not low-fat)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Ingredients for topping:

  • 1 package (8 oz, 227 g) cream cheese, at room temperature
  • ½ cup sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ cup strawberry jam
  • 1 ½ cups sliced fresh strawberries
  • 1 ½ cups chopped pecans

    This recipe is more intricate than most I’ve made in a long while. There are many steps to complete, and many layers to the cake. Four, really: the cake layer, the cream cheese layer, the strawberry jam layer and the streusel-pecan layer. While this recipe took me quite a bit longer to make than I anticipated when I glanced over the recipe, each step itself is not complicated per se. I did not have a springform pan at home, so instead used a 9- by 13-inch pan as backup, as suggested. I thought that since the size of the pan is bigger than a 9-inch round springform pan, each layer would be more thin in my pan than it would be in the round springform pan, which wouldn’t be ideal. Nonetheless, everything seems to have come together at the end.

    Since this cake was a bigger time commitment than I had planned, I was very curious to see how it would come out and how it would taste. I was happy with the result! I don’t often bake with strawberries and I loved how they shone in this dessert. They tasted fresh and sweet accompanied with the jam, which married very well with the cream cheese. The pecans also added a lovely crunchy texture to the soft and jammy cake. My husband and I really enjoyed this cake and we destroyed it in a matter of days. Lovely dessert, and well worth the effort!

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking tray.
    • If you don’t have a springform pan, you can use a 9×13-inch pan instead. In that case, no need for a baking tray.
  2. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment or using electric beaters, combine the flour and the sugar.
  3. Add the cool butter and blend until the mixture is a coarse, crumbly texture. Measure out 1 cup of the mixture into a small bowl and set aside.
  4. To the larger bowl, add the baking powder, baking soda and salt and mix to combine.
  5. In a separate bowl, stir together the sour cream, egg and vanilla extract until homogenous. Add this to the large mixing bowl, mixing until well combined. Spread the batter into the prepared pan.
    • Note: The batter will be thick.
  6. For the topping, beat together the cream cheese and sugar until smooth using a stand or hand mixer.
  7. Stir in the egg and vanilla extract until blended. Pour this mixture overtop of the cake batter.
  8. In a medium bowl, stir the strawberry jam to soften it. Add the sliced strawberries to the jam and stir to coat. Spread overtop the cream cheese layer.
  9. Stir the chopped pecans into the reserved cup of the flour mixture. Sprinkle this overtop the strawberry layer.
  10. Bake the cake for about 55 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Cool the cake to room temperature, then run a knife or spatula around the outside edge before removing the outside ring. The cake will keep in the refrigerator for up to two days.
    • If using a 9×13-inch pan, bake the cake for 40-45 minutes instead, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.

Happy baking!
Valerie