Kirschkuchen (Cherry Coffee Cake)

 

 

It's become an annual tradition, five years and counting!, to go cherry picking with my family to herald the beginning of summer.  My parents live in California's San Joaquin Valley and there are several U-pick places near them. Normally we go cherry-picking around Memorial Day weekend, but this year we went two weeks later and most of the trees had been picked over.  Fortunately we were still able to find a few trees that were bursting with ripe, sweet Bing cherries, our favorite variety.  

 

 

When it comes to cherry picking my family doesn't mess around. No joke, in previous years we've picked in the neighborhood of 50-60 pounds!  And no, lest you think we're complete fruit gluttons, we do not eat all the cherries ourselves!  A majority of the fruit is distributed to family and friends to enjoy.

 

Ironically, while Bing cherries are great for eating and snacking, when it comes to baking it's actually tart cherries that are preferred.  Sadly I haven't really been able to source fresh tart cherries near me.  One year I even considered having some sent from Michigan, but after seeing the exorbitant shipping costs to San Francisco I immediately changed my mind.   Luckily canned tart cherries can be easily sourced at my local supermarket.

  

 

 

 

Pie is normally the first thing that comes to people's minds with cherry baking, but I happened upon this recipe for Kirschkuchen (Cherry Coffee Cake) from Red Currant Bakery and wanted to try it instead.  If you aren't already following Audrey's blog you should because she focuses on German baking.  What I especially like about this particular recipe is the use of tart AND sweet cherries.   Nothing goes better with cherries than almonds.  I just love the fruit and nut combination so I added hints of almond to the recipe where I could.  For the cake batter and streusel I replaced some of the vanilla extract with almond extract and to give the streusel topping some extra crunch I mixed in raw sliced almonds.  

 

 

It took immense willpower to let the cake cool slightly before digging into it but once it was warm enough to cut I immediately polished off two slices.  It's THAT good!  I think I might have found a new cherry tradition because I will definitely be making this recipe again and again.

Blueberry Lemon Babka

 

Never had I heard of babka before until I watched that infamous Seinfeld episode where Jerry and Elaine were desperately searching for a chocolate one to take to their friend's dinner party.  Unfortunately for them the bakery they went to only had cinnamon ones left.  Had they only known about Bluberry Lemon Babka they would have forgotten all about chocolate.

 

The recipe for this enriched dough beauty comes from blogger Cinnamon Shtick and it is an absolute winner.   Lemon is infused throughout the bread and the citrus flavor pairs beautifully with the homemade blueberry jam filling.   The addition of a struesel crumb topping takes this bread to the next level.  So good!

 

 

If you've never made bread with an enriched dough before, i.e., a yeasted dough with eggs and butter, then I highly recommend giving this recipe a try.  The dough is a dream to work with and is quite forgiving.     I don't think you can mess it up, but even if things go awry I'm sure it will still taste delicious.

Blueberry Buckle

 

When it comes to sweet breakfast/brunch baked goods I usually make a traditional coffee cake, but I recently saw a picture of Blueberry Buckle and decided to give it the fruit-filled version a try.  I'd never made it before and the blueberries looked so inviting along with the streusel topping.  For the recipe I turned to my tried and true experts, Cook's Illustrated.  

Since there was no liquid ingredient like milk or buttermilk I was a bit concerned that the cake would turn out dense.  Boy, was I wrong.  While the batter is extremely thick the cake somehow turns out super light and moist.  Absolutely delicious!  In fact, I had two squares as soon as the buckle was cooled.  Yes, it's that good!  This will definitely be going into my breakfast and brunch repertoire. 

Peach Streusel Cake

The yellow peaches at the farmer's market were looking especially nice so I had to make a repeat of the Summer Peach Cake, but this time with a twist.   The original Cook's Illustrated recipe calls for putting the oven roasted peaches in between the cake batter and then topping with fresh peach slices.  But after making the Blueberry Crumb Bars recently I had streusel on the brain and that's how I came up with this Peach Streusel Cake, a mash up of the two recipes.  I loved the idea of the crunchy topping to contrast the soft fruit.

It couldn't be simpler to make since there's no layering involved.  Make the streusel, roast some peach chunks, make the cake batter and then assemble.  Easy peasy!  For the cake in this post I made a 6-inch cake using 1/2 the cake recipe.  NOTE: For the streusel I made the full recipe but you won't use it all.  I just like having extra in the fridge to make more crumb bars or for other baking.  

Just as I had hoped the finished cake was really delicious.  You could easily serve it for breakfast but it's also nice as a dessert with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of whipped cream or crème fraîche.  If you like peaches then this cake is for you.

Blueberry Crumb Bars

People sometimes ask where my baking inspirations come from and I wish I had a deeply profound or creative answer, but in truth often it's something as simple as timing.   That was exactly the naissance of why I made these Blueberry Crumb Bars.  Recently I was scrolling through Instagram and saw the bars posted on Smitten Kitchen's feed.   Fortuitously I had some blueberries in my fridge that were on their last leg.  See, it's all about the timing!

Although I only had enough blueberries to make half the recipe I didn't have any issues downsizing it into an 8-inch square pan.   It's also a win when you don't need any equipment to make the bars, just a bowl.  The recipe came together in no time at all.

For ease in cutting later on make sure you chill the bars in the fridge.  After photographing the bars for this blog I couldn't help myself and had to have a taste.  The first thing I noticed was the fresh burst of blueberry flavor, which actually made me think of pie but with a lot less work.  Anything with streusel is a win in my book and I like how the bars overall aren't too sweet. 

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Brown-Sugar Pecan Streusel

I'm probably in the minority when I confess that I've never ever had a Starbucks Frappucino. What can I say?  Those blended drinks heaped with whipped cream have never appealed to me. Maybe it's also because I'm not much of a coffee drinker so my visits to the ubiquitous coffee chain are few and far between.   However, one thing that definitely will get me through a Starbucks door is their classic coffee cake. 

 

Imagine my absolute delight when I discovered that Cook's Illustrated Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Brown-Sugar Pecan Streusel is the baking doppelgänger to that beloved Starbucks cake.  The cake itself is the real star of the show.  Super moist with such a fantastic crumb.  Add to that a caramelized cinnamon sugar swirl and you've got yourself a slice of heaven.   Even better, since it's homemade you know exactly what it's made of, none of those additives or preservatives nonsense.  

 

Hosting a brunch?  You'll gain fans if you serve this coffee cake, trust me.  It can keep for several days so it's perfectly fine to make it in advance.  In fact, I'd venture to say it tastes even better a few days later.   

Pumpkin Spice Muffins

September/October rolls around and all that people seem to talk about is the "PSL," or pumpkin spice latte.  Me, not so much.  Don't get me wrong, I love pumpkin in many forms but coffee is not one of them.  I'm much more on board the "PSM" train, aka Pumpkin Spice Muffin.

I have a go-to pumpkin bread recipe that I've been making for years and to this day still remains a favorite in my repertoire.  But after seeing these Cook's Country pumpkin spice muffins posted on America's Test Kitchen's Instagram account recently I was convinced to try something new.  Plus, I'm always a sucker for streusel topping!  For an additional crunch I sprinkled the muffins with pumpkin seeds to finish them off. 

I was very pleasantly surprised with how yummy these muffins were.  Granted, I did have my concerns about their sweetness after noting the two cups of sugar in the recipe but I couldn't have been more wrong.  The muffins were really delicious with just the right hint of sugar.  I highly recommend you make them for breakfast or your next brunch.  

Lemon Streusel Cream Cheese Pound Cake

This was me the other day:  standing in front of the fridge and eyeing a big bag of lemons and a package of cream cheese.  What to do with them?  First thing that came to mind was a lemon cream cheese pound cake.  A) it's relatively easy to pull together and B) could feed the crowd at the office.  Done! To gild the lily a little further I decided to add a streusel topping.  Streusel qualifies the cake as a breakfast food, right?     

Be forewarned that while the batter comes together pretty quickly, the cake does take a while to bake in the oven.  I had to check for doneness three times when I made this one for the blog and even then it wasn't 100% to my satisfaction.  Seasoned bakers will notice that the inside top part of the cake could have taken another ten minutes.  Impatience on my part was to blame! It's long baking duration was most likely attributed to starting the oven at 325 degrees which was too low.  Next time I'll get the oven to 350 and then bake.  Oh well, still tastes pretty dang good!