Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake

Who doesn’t love a coffee cake? They are probably one of my favorite breakfast treats. I was super excited to bring you this delicious (and easy) cherry streusel coffee cake that’s loaded with tart cherries, topped with a thick oat-almond streusel lid and a quick drizzle of glaze.

She’s such a lovely and accommodating coffee cake she’ll even let you assemble her the night before, stash in the fridge and bake first thing in the morning making her (we’re still talking about the coffee cake) the perfect holiday breakfast treat for entertaining.

I’m super excited to partner with Oregon Fruit Products as they are one of my favorite canned fruits since childhood. They are what my mom used (and uses) for her cherry pies and now they go in my cherry pies.

Oregon Fruit is packed in the summer at peak ripeness and is perfect for using during the winter months when fresh fruit isn’t as avail. When I was living in China, I used to bring cans of it from the US to have on hand for emergency Beijing pies…which were much needed.

I hope you’re all having fun in the midst of holidaying and things aren’t too crazy. Promise me you’ll take a minute to relax and pause and breath and eat cake with friends. It’s good for the soul.

Before We Get Started

Make Ahead. Nothing gives me greater joy than make-ahead everything. Especially if I’m entertaining and especially if it involves breakfast. Thomas Keller has a recipe in his Bouchon cookbook for cornbread muffins and he has you rest them in the fridge overnight prior to baking. They were such a revelation for me in my baking career and it was the start of me really using the cool fridge temps to my advantage. It won’t mess with your leavening, I promise.

What you may lose in added leavening power, you gain in the batter moisture getting absorbed into the flour and making things nice and puffy. Trust me on this. You’ll assemble it up until the point of getting the batter into the greased pan, wrap it tightly and stash it in the fridge. Store your streusel in the fridge separately overnight.

Streusel Coffee Cake Notes

Streusel. I love to give my streusel a nice chill prior to baking which is why we make it first. Don’t skip this.

Almonds. Some people are nut sensitive or just don’t like them…you’re fine to omit. But they look so pretty and I love the crunch if you’re on the fence.

Cake Flour. I wanted this cake to be really light. You can always sub 1 cup of flour (with 2 tablespoons of flour taken out of it) + 2 tablespoon of cornstarch for 1 cup of cake flour. So this cake would take 3 cups of all-purpose flour with 6 tablespoon of all-purpose flour removed and 6 tablespoons of cornstarch added in. But, cake flour is easy and at most stores so consider it…it’s great!!

Baking Vessel. If you go up or down in the pan size you will need to bake it more or less, so keep an eye on things if you get crazy with this.

Cherries. I used the Oregon Fruit Product Tart Cherries and instead of folding them into the batter, I sprinkled 3/4 of them over the top of the batter, sprinkled the streusel and then sprinkled the remaining 1/4 of cherries over the top. I like to give people an idea of what flavors they’re biting into. This also makes it so that every bite has a cherry in it. Yes…that’s what we’re looking for.

Let’s get our cherry streusel coffee cake on, shall we?  

Before you get started, take a peek at my Top 10 Cake Tips for perfect cakes, every time!

Tart Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake

This delicious (and easy) cherry streusel coffee cake is loaded with tart cherries, topped with a thick oat-almond streusel and a quick drizzle of glaze.

5 from 4 reviews

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Cake

Keyword: Brunch, Breakfast, Cake, Coffee Cake, Cherry, Streusel

Servings: 1 8×11 cake

Author: Rebecca Firth

Ingredients

For the Streusel

• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, (packed)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, (room temperature and cut into 8 pieces)
• ¼ cup chopped almond slivers

For the Cake

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, (room temperature)
• 1 ½ cups of superfine sugar
• 2 large eggs, (room temperature)
• 3 teaspoons real vanilla extract
• 3 cups cake flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup whole milk (room temperature)
• 1 can Oregon Fruit Products Red Tart Cherries (drained)

For the Drizzle

• 1 cup confectioners sugar, (sifted )
• 1 tablespoon or more of milk to thin

Instructions

For the Streusel

• Preheat your oven to 350 F. Grease an 8×11 baking dish and line with parchment, letting the excess hang over the sides (you’ll use this to pull the cake out of the pan).
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt. Using a pastry blender or your hands, work the butter into the mixture until it resembles wet sand and when pinched together it holds into clumps. Gently mix in the almonds and place in the fridge. If storing overnight, cover with plastic wrap; otherwise it’s fine for an hour-ish.

For the Cake

• In an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a bowl and spoon) mix the butter and sugar on medium until light and fluffy or about 5-6 minutes. You want it pretty fluffy, so if your kitchen is chilly let the machine run longer. Scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure everything is the same consistency. Add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure the first is well blended before adding in the second. Add in the vanilla and run the machine for 1 minute more.
• In a medium bowl whisk together the cake flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and then add half to the mixer and run the machine until it’s almost blended. Add in half of the milk and run the machine until almost blended. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and milk.
• Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan smoothing the top a bit with the back of a spoon/spatula so that it’s even. Sprinkle with 3/4ths of the cherries, cover with the streusel (there’s a lot!) and then sprinkle with the remaining cherries.
• Bake in the center of the oven for 50 minutes. The center will be soft, maybe a slight jiggle, but set. The top and exterior should be nicely bronzed. Let cool on a cooling rack for 15 minutes and then use the parchment handles to remove it from the pan so that it can finish cooling out of the pan. If it resists coming out run a knife around the edge to help it along. Additionally, you can let it cool longer in the pan if you’re having a hard time getting it out. Don’t stress.

For the Drizzle

• While the cake cools, whisk up your confectioners' sugar and milk to make the drizzle. You want it pretty thick so the bright white shows up over the top and then drizzle it all Jackson Pollock like over the top. Cut and serve.

Thanks for baking with me! Please rate + comment this recipe and tag me on social @displacedhousewife #displacedhousewife so I can see your beautiful treats! xo