Day 13 – Cranberry Dark Cherry Coffee Cake

Cleaning out the freezer always seems like a treasure hunt!! Or should I say an adventure…? Would adventure make you feel better?

Treasure implies finding something fantastic rather than the only-god-knows-how-old bananas you’ve pulled out of the back. Or the sticky neon blue and orange mess you have to clean up from busted Pop-Ices. Or frost bitten ground beef that you’re SURE you just bought a few weeks ago.

None-the-less, sometimes cleaning out that frozen garbage disposal can yield some great things! Like a bag of frozen cranberries that you were smart enough to wash and freeze at their prime, or black berries, blueberries even rhubarb!

I tell ya, sometimes… I’m a pretty smart cookie!

And if you are a smart cookie and tucked away some cranberries, you should be an even smarter cookie and make this coffee cake. It’s divine.

It’s day 13 of my Christmas baking Extravaganza!! And cranberries are quintessential on my holiday table. And this is such a lovely coffee cake. Fluffy, tender, not too sweet cake bursting with plump red berries and topped with a clinically insane amount of pecan crumble. Yep, it’s pretty much perfect!!

Cranberry Coffee Cake
Adapted from Joy The Baker

Cake:
4 cups all purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 Tablespoons of milk
3 cups cranberries (frozen works great)
1 cup halved black cherries (frozen works great)

Crumble Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans
1/3 cup quick oats (optional, but I skipped it cus I was out)

Put a rack in middle oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a medium bowl.

Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in vanilla extract.

Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and sour cream mixture in alternate batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and mixing until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into baking dish and spread evenly.

For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take two full handful of the topping and spread it over the cake batter. Use a knife to swirl the topping into the batter. No need to massacre it, just a few swirls and you’re good to go. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the cranberry cake batter.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Serve in big warm slices with a cup of creamy coffee.

Shipping Safe: NO. This is a make and share treat. Make this for your family on a coooold morning.
Make ahead and Freeze: NO, but not certain. There could be a loss in cake texture if you were to freeze it. This is best enjoyed the day it is made 🙂

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