Strawberry Coffee Cake

It may no longer be strawberry season, but that doesn't mean you can't keep those early summer flavors alive throughout the summer, and even the entire year, especially if you were able to freeze a couple bags of those peak season berries a few months back. This coffee cake is the perfect way to tantalize those tastebuds with the bright, summery sweetness of juicy red strawberries topping a fluffy, tender cake. The whole thing is sprinkled with a chunky, buttery streusel and baked to perfection. Invite a few friends over, brew up some coffee and you've got yourself the best kind of party.

For whatever reason, I was recently craving a tall and beautiful strawberry breakfast cake. It surprised me that so many of the recipes I came across, although they looked very tasty, were such short cakes. I wanted something with a little more stature and this cake delivered just what I was looking for. It's difficult for me to not top my breakfast cakes with a generous layer of streusel so on it went once again. I thought it was a wonderful combination, something I will return to without a doubt.

Strawberry Coffee Cake
Heavily adapted from Tidy Mom
Ingredients
Cake

• 2-1/2 cups (12 oz) all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 2 teaspoons baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/3 cup (2 3/4 oz) greek yogurt

• 2 eggs, separated

• 1 cup milk

• 3/4 cup (5 oz) brown sugar

• 1/2 cup butter, softened

• 2-3 cups sliced strawberries

Topping

• 3 tablespoons butter, melted

• 1/4 cup (1.75 oz) granulated sugar

• heaping 1/2 cup (3 oz) flour

• pinch salt

Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, mix together flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, and egg yolks. In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add the wet and dry ingredients alternatively to the butter and sugar mixture, starting and ending with the dry, mixing until just combined after each addition. 

Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Clean the bowl of the stand mixture and add the egg whites to it. Beat until firm peaks form. Fold the egg whites into the batter. 

Pour into greased 9 inch springform pan. Spread the strawberries on top. To make the topping, mix all the ingredients in a bowl with your fingers until crumbly. Spread on top of strawberries.

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Until lightly brown on top. Allow to cool, then remove from pan.

Sour Cherry Coffee Cake

It's the Fourth of July, what better way to celebrate then with a beautiful and delicious breakfast treat? Last week I went up to Traverse City for a couple of days and came back with some cherries, so I knew this breakfast would be featuring some delicious summer cherries. I'd always wanted to visit Traverse City, but before this past week I had never made it there, even though it is just a few hours away. In case you don't know much about Traverse City, it is the self proclaimed cherry capitol of the world. They are especially well known for their tart cherries, growing 70-75 percent of tart cherries that are grown in the US. Cherry season was just starting last week, so I of course had to visit the local farmers market and buy a couple baskets of cherries. I got some delicious, sweet black cherries, as well as a few tart cherries that were perfect for this patriotic breakfast treat.

This cake turned out beautifully! The perfect thing for a summer holiday breakfast. The only extra effort involved pitting the cherries. I don't have a cherry pitter so it took me a few extra minutes, but nothing too extreme. Once that was done, it was easy to whip together the rest of the cake and the streusel topping. I absolutely love anything with streusel on top. It adds such a nice texture and sweetness to the top, yum!

I baked my cake in a 9-inch springform pan and it turned out great. A springform pan makes it really easy to get the cake out of the pan after it cools. Then it's a cinch to cut out some slices and dig in. This coffee cake was the star of a delightful holiday breakfast.

 Beautiful red sour cherries

 Put together the topping first, then set aside

For the cake, start by getting your dry ingredients mixed

Then it's time for the butter

and sugar

 Cream them together until light and fluffy

 Next is vanilla

 and two eggs

 Pour it into your prepared pan

 Smooth the batter out

 Then it's cherry time

 Spread the cherries out on top of the batter

 Look at all those delicious cherries!

 Then top with the streusel 

 Time for the oven

 Baked to golden perfection!

 It's time for breakfast

 Cut a nice big slice

 Look at the cake/cherry/streusel goodness

 It's time to eat!

Sour Cherry Coffee Cake
From Lottie and Doof
Ingredients
For the topping:

• 2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted, plus more for dish
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dish
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

For the cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup buttermilk
• 2 cups fresh sour cherries, pitted

Directions
Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter a 9-inch round baking dish, dust with flour, tap out excess.

In a medium bowl, stir together butter, flour, sugars, salt, and cinnamon. Set topping aside.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Working in alternating batches, add flour mixture and buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour. Beat until just combined. Pour into prepared dish, and smooth with an offset spatula. Dot top with cherries, and sprinkle with crumb topping.

Bake until golden and a tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let cool before cutting.