Who doesn’t love cake for breakfast? This cherry and almond coffee cake is our new favorite.
There are three parts that make this coffee cake so irresistible:
- Soft, Golden Coffee Cake: We have a few secrets to ensure the coffee cake is perfectly tender and moist. We use buttermilk instead of sour cream or milk. Buttermilk is more acidic than milk, which helps break down gluten, resulting in a more tender cake. We also alternate adding the wet and dry ingredients, which ensures the batter is well-mixed without overmixing, leading to the most tender cake possible.
- Cherry Layer: The cherry layer is made of fresh, pitted cherries, lemon juice, sugar, almond extract, flour, and salt. This layer is spooned over the coffee cake batter and melts into it while baking, adding juicy, fresh cherries in every bite.
- Crumbs: We add brown sugar crumble to just about anything because it makes everything incredibly delicious. From blueberry muffins to banana crumb muffins, we think crumble topping is always a good idea, and this cherry almond coffee cake is no exception.
Cherry Almond Coffee Cake
Ingredients
#### Coffee Cake:
- – 2 cups all-purpose flour 240 g
- – 2 teaspoons baking powder 10 g
- – 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 3 g
- – 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 g
- – 1 stick salted butter room temperature (1/2 cup or 113 g)
- – 1 cup granulated sugar 200 g
- – 1 large egg
- – 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- – 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- – 1 cup buttermilk 240 ml
#### Cherry Layer:
- – 2 cups fresh pitted cherries
- – 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- – Zest of 1 lemon
- – 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- – Pinch of salt
- – 1 tablespoon flour 8 g
- – 2 tablespoons sugar 25 g
#### Crumble:
- – 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 180 g
- – 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar 100 g
- – 1/4 cup white sugar 50 g
- – 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 g
- – 1 stick butter melted (1/2 cup or 113 g)
- – 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
- – 1/2 cup slivered almonds 60 g
Instructions
#### Brown Sugar Crumb:
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, white sugar, and salt.
- Pour in the melted butter and almond extract, mixing until large crumbs form.
- Add the slivered almonds and mix. Set aside.
#### Cherry Layer:
- In a medium bowl, mix together all the cherry layer ingredients until evenly combined. Set aside.
#### Coffee Cake:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In the base of a stand mixer or with a hand mixer, cream together the room temperature butter and sugar on medium-high speed for 2 minutes until light and fluffy.
- Add the egg, vanilla extract, and almond extract. Beat for another 2 minutes on medium-high speed until light and fluffy.
- Reduce the mixer speed to low and alternate adding the buttermilk and flour mixture, starting and ending with the dry ingredients. Do this in the following order: 1/3 of the dry ingredients, 1/2 of the buttermilk, 1/3 of the dry ingredients, remaining buttermilk, remaining dry ingredients. Mix just until combined after each addition, being careful not to overmix.
- Spread the batter evenly in a 9×9-inch glass pan lined with parchment paper and sprayed with cooking spray.
- Top the batter with the cherry layer, followed by the brown sugar crumble.
- Bake for 45-55 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.