Make Ahead

Strawberry Vanilla Coffee Cake

June 17, 2011
0
0 Ratings
  • Makes 1 8" round cake
Author Notes

(photo is a 6" version)

This recipe is a result of my desire to make a relatively healthy coffee cake. It's a mildly sweet cake with flavors of vanilla and honey to accompany the strawberries. I would recommend using a light-flavor honey such as clover or wildflower.

This recipe is also fabulous with the strawberries mixed into the cake with 1/4" slices of rhubarb that have been macerated in sugar and a touch of vanilla extract. —TheBostonian

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Batter
  • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup All Purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt (scant)
  • 4 tablespoons unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 large egg at room temperature
  • 2 1/4 teaspoons really good vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup yogurt
  • 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 cup thickly sliced strawberries
  • Topping
  • 4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
  • 4 tablespoons rolled oats
  • 3 tablespoons natural cane sugar (such as Demerara)
  • 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4" cubes
  • 1/2 cup raw chopped almonds
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F
  2. Butter an 8" round cake pan
  3. Make the topping: Combine the first four topping ingredients in a bowl. Use your fingers to press the butter into the other ingredients, resulting in a coarse meal. Once done, the size of the pieces of butter should be somewhere between peas and hazelnuts.
  4. Place topping in your refrigerator while making the rest of the coffee cake.
  5. Make the batter: Mix the first five dry ingredients in a bowl, and whisk briefly to combine.
  6. In another bowl, beat the room temperature butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add half the honey to the butter and beat to combine for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then repeat with the second half of the honey.
  7. Once the butter and honey are combined, beat in egg, vanilla extract, yogurt, and lemon juice. If your egg was not room temperature, the mixture may look curdled, but it's actually small pieces of butter that were cooled by the cold egg. Proceed onwards.
  8. Add 1/3 of the dry mixture to the wet and stir until just combined. Repeat twice more.
  9. Pour the batter into the buttered cake pan and spread out to the edges of the pan. It will be sticky and won't look like enough, but it will rise quite a bit in the oven.
  10. Place strawberries on top (overlapping is encouraged), and then pour the chilled topping over the strawberries, making sure to cover everything. Gently push down on the topping to create an even layer.
  11. Place in oven for 25-35 minutes. Check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the cake. When it comes out clean (look for batter and not just remnants from the topping!), remove from oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

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