Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake

Happy Summer!

We are officially one day in to Minnesota's best season.

It is a beautiful day to be blogging and sipping an Arnold Palmer in the sun. Today I'd like to share with you a delicious recipe: Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake, complete with home-picked sour cherries. My landlord has two large sour cherry trees in our backyard and is generous to let us pick the berries. Their tart flavor makes them perfect for baking, and they'd mix well with a variety of other flavors: blueberries, peaches, lemon - you name it.

It's a great recipe, too, in that the cake is light - perfect for a summer brunch on the patio. I was so thrilled to find the recipe that I cancelled all my plans for the evening to come home and make it!

Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake, modified from Seattle Times: Food & Wine

For the cake:
1 stick butter, softened
2 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 C sugar
2 eggs
1 t vanilla extract
1 C sour crean
1 C fresh sour cherries (you can substitute with other berries or peaches as well)

For the streusel:
1/2 C + 1 T all-purpose flour
3 T light brown sugar
1/2 t ground cinnamon
4 T cold butter, cut into cubes

For the glaze:
1 C powdered sugar
2 T milk

Preheat the oven to 350, and spray a 9-inch tube pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Wash your cherries, and remove pits. Dab with paper towel to remove excess water.





Sift together flour, soda, and powder. Set aside.

Beat butter, sugar, vanilla, and eggs with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add your flour mixture to the batter in three parts, alternating adding the sour cream, but beginning and ending with the flour. Beat until combined.







Pour half the batter into your greased pan, spreading evenly. Create a layer of pitted cherries over the batter, but avoid letting the cherries touch the pan, as they will burn. Top the cherry layer with the rest of your batter, spreading evenly and covering the cherries completely.







Don't forget the streusel! To make streusel topping, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mash together with your hands until it resembles the texture of wet sand. Cover your top layer of batter with the streusel, and place in the oven. Bake for 40-45 min, until toothpick comes out clean.







Allow cake to cool slightly, remove from pan, and allow to cool completely before topping the cake with glaze.

To make the milk glaze, combine milk and powdered sugar in a bowl and beat until creamy. Drizzle over streusel, and you have yourself a coffee cake masterpiece.



Enjoy!



KCK