Christmas Coffee Cake
Christmas Coffee Cake is a delicious, moist coffee cake with warm spices and dried cherries throughout, plus a double layer streusel and a rich, thick glaze on top.
Yield: 10 -12 servings
Ingredients
For coating the pan:
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
For the streusel:
- 1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped (can toast first)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅓ cup unsalted butter, melted
For the cake:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups sour cream
- 5 oz. dried tart cherries, chopped
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
For the glaze:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 3-4 tablespoons heavy cream
- Zest of 1 orange
For serving:
- Maraschino cherries OR
- Candied orange peel OR
- Chopped green and red jelly candies
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325°F. Smear softened butter into a 12-cup bundt pan to coat VERY well on all sides and in all nooks and crannies. Lightly dust with flour on all sides. (Be sure to be thorough so your cake doesn’t stick to the pan and tear when you turn it out.)
- Make the streusel. Combine the nuts, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and salt and mix well. Stir in the melted butter and stir to mix. Sprinkle HALF of the streusel in the bottom of the prepared bundt pan.
- Make the cake batter. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.
- In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter on medium-high speed with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or with a hand mixer until light and fluffy and pale in color, about 2-3 minutes.
- With mixer on low speed, add the vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides if needed.
- Alternate adding the flour mixture and sour cream to the batter mixture, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Mix the dried cherries with a tablespoon of flour and toss to coat well. Add the cherries to the cake batter and stir to combine. Pour HALF of the batter on top of the streusel in the bundt pan. Scatter the remaining streusel on top of the batter and then pour the remaining cake batter on top.
- Bake at 325 for 60-65 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let the cake cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Then invert, streusel side up, onto a serving platter and let cool completely.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, heavy cream and orange zest until smooth, adding additional heavy cream if needed. Drizzle over the top of the cake. Garnish if desired and enjoy!
Notes
Nuts: The streusel calls for pecans or walnuts and if you love a nutty flavor, lightly toast them before you chop them. You could also swap in some shelled pistachios for a green vibe and different festive sort of note.
Cherries: We are using dried cherries in the batter. You’ll need 1 (5-ounce) bag. And be sure to toss them with flour so they don’t all just sink to the bottom.
Sour cream: This gives the coffee cake it’s signature tang as well as adding tons of richness and moisture to the cake. I highly encourage you to go with the full-fat sour cream for the best flavor.
Butter: I use and prefer unsalted butter in my baking so I can control the amount of sodium. If all you have is salted, that’s fine, just reduce the amount of salt in the cake batter to ½ teaspoon.
Sugar: You’ll need brown sugar (light or dark is fine) for the streusel and also white granulated sugar for the cake batter. Oh, and powdered sugar/confectioner’s sugar for the glaze.
Heavy cream: I highly recommend using heavy cream for the glaze on top. It makes a thicker glaze than you can achieve with a skim or 2% milk. It’s the holidays, let’s go all in.
Make ahead: Because this takes a long time to bake and also needs to cool for a couple of hours, it’s a great candidate of a breakfast treat to make ahead of time. Make it up to 1-2 days in advance and store at room temperature.
Storing: Coffee cake will keep, covered, at room temperature for up to 4 days. You can also refrigerate it to extend the shelf life. It will keep in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Freezing: You can also freeze leftovers of this coffee cake. Wrap slices of the tightly in plastic wrap and then wrap in aluminum foil or place in a freezer-safe ziplock bag. Label and date it then freeze for up to 4 months.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 629kcal | Carbohydrates: 74g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 215mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 45g
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