cherries & cream coffee cake

i was racking my brain and then the interwebs for some new toppings for a buttermilk coffeecake base. in the past, i have always topped coffee cake very simply with some streusel crumb, but i came across a blueberry coffee cake with a cream cheese center. still wanting a sort of simple cake and one that wasn’t too wet or too sweet, i started to fiddle with combining the two recipes. cherries are my all-time favorite fruit and i figured cherry preserves would be less wet and sweet than a pie style cornstarch thickened filling. i still wanted my streusel topping, but with some extra punch, so i added almond flour to the mix. My dear friend Brenda calls this the SuperNova Cake.

IMG_7726

check out the step by step. click on the thumbnails to see the full size photos

IMG_7729 IMG_7730 IMG_7734

IMG_7738 IMG_7808 IMG_7741 IMG_7809

IMG_7750

IMG_7812 IMG_7813

IMG_7768  IMG_7774

IMG_7776

IMG_7793

IMG_7788

IMG_7801

Cherries & Cream Coffee Cake
Adapted from Sunset Magazine

Ingredients

256g (2 cups) Cup4Cup gluten free flour blend
200g (1 cup) granulated cane sugar (divided ¾ cup + ¼ cup)
113g (1/2 cup /1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3/4 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
2 large eggs
172g (6 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 teaspoon lemon juice
360g (~1 1/4 cups) cherry preserves
30g (1 ounce) almond flour or ground almonds

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9-inch cake pan with removable bottom or springform pan and set aside.
  2. In a food processor, pulse together flour and 150g (3/4 cup) sugar. Add cubed butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
  3. Remove 1/2 cup of the mixture from the processor and set aside. Stir baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon zest into the processor bowl with the flour mixture and pulse until well combined.
  4. In a separate large measuring cup, stir together buttermilk, vanilla paste, and 1 egg until combined. Pour into the flour, butter, baking powder mixture and process until combined into a smooth thick batter. Spread the batter evenly into the bottom of the prepared baking pan.
  5. In a stand mixer or blender, beat together cream cheese, remaining 50g (1/4 cup) sugar, remaining egg and lemon juice on medium speed until smooth and free of lumps. Pour cream cheese mixture on top of batter in pan, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edges.
  6. Carefully spread cherry preserves on top of cream cheese mixture, just inside the border of the cream cheese mixture.
  7. Whisk the almond flour into the ½ cup of reserved flour mixture and sprinkle over cake, concentrating on the edges.
  8. Bake 40 to 50 minutes or until cake is golden brown and the center barely jiggles (you want the cheesecake center to be set).
  9. Remove from oven and let cool at least 20 minutes before slicing and serving.

8 thoughts on “cherries & cream coffee cake”

  1. Pulled it out of the oven an hour ago! I made it for tomorrow’s pot luck Sunday Brunch and I have to say that if it makes it there without it looking like someone decided they couldn’t wait…well I will be shocked. It’s fragrance is making me drool! I didn’t have the Cherry Preserves so I used fresh cherries cooked down a bit with Mascobado Sugar. I will have to let you know how it turned out tomorrow. Thank you for such a great and easy recipe! I will certainly be coming back to check out more of your recipes.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    • Patti, thanks for your comments. I hope the cake will be a smashing success! You made me want coffee cake. I have some extra strawberries, I might try your trick and cook them down with some sugar for the topping.
      Lisa

      Like

      Reply

      • I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you right away. I can certainly assure you it wasn’t due to the fact that the coffee cake didn’t turn out perfectly! Oh my goodness it was a HUGE hit! I’m telling you I got RAVE reviews! It was perfect, perfect. It was decadent but not too sweet or heavy. No one knew it was GF until I they were going back for seconds. Everyone was amazed and I was able to prove my point that GF baking can sometimes be even more wonderful then glutinous quick bread baking!

        I didn’t use the Cup 4 Cup flour blend as I make my own All Purpose GF Flour and added 1/4 tsp Xanthan Gum. Same ingriedients as what is in the Cup 4 Cup and Bob’s Red Mill’s NEW GF flour blend “1 to 1”

        This recipe will go in my journal and if I have your permission I would like to add it to my class list for demonstration purposes. I am getting ready to open a specialty food store/cooking school. I am focusing on locally sourced items as much as I can and only the very best of those. We will be carrying items for people that have food intolerances/allergies. The school will have visiting chefs from around the country along with award winning cookbook authors.

        I would love to get you on my list of contacts if you are so inclined.

        Thanks again for an awesome recipe. Next time I’m going to try it with Peaches! Yum!

        Liked by 1 person

      • Patti, thanks so much for your kind comments and feedback! So far, no one who has tasted the cake can tell it’s gluten free and I actually like the texture more than I would a wheat based cake. I’m glad to know that other “1 to 1” flour blends work just as well as C4C. I’d love to try your blend recipe, sometime and I’d be honored, if you added this recipe to your journal and class list [just please give the blog credit :-)] Please do drop me a line sometime at: kmgfb1 at gee mail dot com and let’s exchange contact info.
        Thanks
        Lisa

        Like

Leave a comment