Nigella Lawson’s Strawberry Sour Cream Streusel Cake

Every year, we make a double batch of strawberry shortcake cookies to share. This year, I had the intention of sharing this cake as well, but…oh my! We ate the entire cake (well, almost) in one sitting. Oops.

My husband said that it was one of his “favorites” and my son described it as “like our homemade strawberry ice cream- but warm.” ❤ It was slightly crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and the strawberry filling oozed just perfectly.

The recipe was adapted from The New York Times, contributed by Nigella Lawson. I incorporated whole wheat pastry flour, unsalted butter, coarse salt, used homemade strawberry-vanilla bean jam in the filling, and modified the baking time.

Although similar to one of our favorites, warm strawberry crumb cake, it was different enough for me to justify indulging in both this strawberry season. 🙂

Yield: one 9-inch cake

For the Strawberry Purée:

• 8 ounces strawberries
• 3 tablespoons strawberry jam
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

For the Cake:

• vegetable oil or cooking oil spray, for greasing the pan
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup plus 2 T all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, sifted
• scant 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

For the Crumb Topping:

• 2 teaspoons Demerara or turbinado sugar

To Prepare Strawberry Purée:

1. In a blender, combine strawberries and jam. (I used a Vitamix.)
2. Make a paste of cornstarch and vanilla, and add to blender. Purée until smooth. Set aside.

To Prepare the Cake:

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees, preferably on convection.
2. Grease a 9-inch springform pan and place on a parchment paper-lined, rimmed baking sheet; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Sprinkle in butter cubes and incorporate with a pastry blender until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs. Remove 1/2 cup and set it aside.
5. Combine the sour cream, egg and vanilla in a glass measuring cup. Add to the large flour mixture. Mix well.
6. Using a little over half the cake batter, drop dollops of batter into pan. Pat batter across bottom of pan and about 1 inch up sides; mixture will be very sticky and somewhat uneven.
7. Add the strawberry purée, making an even layer across bottom of pan and leaving a rim of dough above it.
8. Cover with remaining cake mixture.

To Prepare the Crumb Topping and Bake:

1. In a medium bowl, combine reserved 1/2 cup dough and Demerara sugar or turbinado sugar.
2. Stir with a fork to mix. Sprinkle evenly over cake.
3. Bake cake until lightly golden, about 35 minutes in a convection oven or up to 45 minutes in a standard oven. (I baked mine for 37 minutes on convection.)
4. Cool completely before serving. (We ate it warm! This may have created the oozing filling- which we loved.)

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

I woke up on a cold and rainy morning and read a post about this delicious coffee cake…had to have it. 🙂 My daughter and I started making it almost immediately.

The recipe was adapted from Nancy-C.com. She makes all sorts of crowd-pleasers. I modified the technique used to make the streusel topping, making it with melted butter to replicate my favorite New York-style crumb cake. The original recipe makes one 8 x 8-inch coffee cake.  I doubled the recipe and baked it in a 9 x 13-inch pan. Next time, I may make two 8 or 9-inch rounds so that I could freeze one to enjoy later.

Yield: One 9 x 13-inch cake or Two 8 or 9-inch cakes, about 16 to 20 servings (see note)

For the Coffee Cake:

• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2/3 cup canola oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 15 oz can pumpkin purée

For the Crumb Topping:

• 1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
• 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 8 T (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• powdered sugar, for serving

To Make the Crumb Topping:

1. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, flour, salt, and cinnamon.
2. Melt the butter in the microwave or small saucepan.
3. Pour the butter mixture and mix until all the butter is absorbed and you have a uniformly moistened crumb mixture.  Set aside while you make the cake batter.

To Make the Cake Batter:

1. Preheat oven to 350˚F. Grease or spray preferred baking pan, line with parchment paper, lightly spray parchment; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ginger.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, eggs, sugar, and pumpkin puree, blending everything well.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry flour mixture, stirring until just combined.
5. Spread batter into the prepared pan.
6. Crumble the crumb mixture over the top, until the batter is completely covered.
7. Bake at 350˚F for 20 to 25 minutes for 8 or 9-inch rounds, 30 to 35 minutes for a 9 x 13-inch pan, or until lightly browned on top and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean or almost clean. (I rotated the pan halfway through the baking time.) 
8. Remove the cake from the oven and cool on a rack; dust the top with confectioners’ sugar, if desired. (I let the cake cool completely before dusting with confectioners’ sugar.)

Note: Half the recipe will fill an 8×8-inch pan. Use 1 cup of pumpkin purée. (Refer to the link above to the original recipe for proportions.)

Raspberry Crumb Muffins

A couple of my friends thought that I was joking when I told them that I try not to bake that much! I am trying not to… 😉

That being said, I was dying to make these as soon as I saw them on Marisa’s Italian Kitchen.  She made them in the most darling muffin pan too. This recipe was adapted from New York City’s Clinton Street Baking Company Cookbook, via Marisa’s Italian Kitchen. I incorporated white whole wheat flour, modified the proportions, and reduced the baking time.

They were a very special breakfast. 🙂

Yield: 10 muffins

For the Crumb Topping:

• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 2 T unsalted butter, cubed

For the Muffin Batter:

• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• a teaspoon grated lemon zest
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ½ cup sour cream
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries or blueberries, plus 10 additional raspberries for topping (or 20+ blueberries)
• Crumb Topping (above)

1. In a small bowl, mix together all the Crumb Topping ingredients using a pastry blender, until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate the crumb mixture until your ready to use it. (This can be prepared in advance.)
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F, preferably on convection.
3. Line a muffin pan with 10 paper muffin cups or coat with cooking oil spray.
4. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
5. Add the egg and the lemon zest to the mixture and blend until combined.
6. Whisk the flour, baking powder and baking soda in a separate bowl.
7. Mix in ¼ cup of the sour cream into the butter mixture, then half of the flour mixture and repeat with the rest of the sour cream and flour mixture. Do not over mix!
8. Gently fold in the 1 cup of raspberries with a rubber spatula until evenly distributed.
9. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups and top each muffin with 1 tablespoon of the Crumb Mix and a raspberry.
10. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, on a middle rack, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of a muffin comes out clean.
11. Allow to cool, then serve.

One Year Ago: Crisp Toffee Bars

Three Years Ago: Tate’s Shortbread and Gooey Cinnamon Squares

Four Years Ago:

• Vanilla Bean Macarons
• Warm Chocolate Puddings

Five Years Ago:

• Banana-Blueberry Buckwheat Pancakes
• Low-Fat Crumb Cake Muffins
• Blueberry Scones

Snickerdoodle Crumb Bars

I am drawn to cinnamon-sugary desserts in the fall. Especially if streusel is involved. 🙂 I wanted to bake this snickerdoodle-coffee cake hybrid dessert the second I saw the recipe. I was not disappointed! These cookie bars are not only delicious, they are versatile as well. They could be served for a special breakfast, snack, or dessert.

This recipe was adapted from Martha Stewart Living. We ate them for dessert. They were extra-fabulous served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

For the Streusel:

• 1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 stick cold unsalted butter (4 tablespoons), cut into pieces

For the Topping:

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

For the Bars:

• 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled, plus more for dish
• 1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs, room temperature

1. Make the Streusel: Whisk together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using your hands or a pastry cutter, cut in butter until small to medium clumps form. Refrigerate until ready to use.
2. Make the Topping: Stir together cinnamon and granulated sugar; set aside.
3. Make the Bars: Preheat oven to 350 degrees, preferably on convection. Butter an 8-inch or 9-inch square baking dish and line with parchment, leaving a 2-inch overhang on two sides. Butter parchment. (I used cooking oil spray.)
4. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, and salt.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, both sugars, and eggs. Add flour mixture; stir to combine.
6. Spread half of batter into bottom of dish.
7. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon sugar.
8. Dollop remaining batter on top; spread evenly with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon.
9. Sprinkle evenly with streusel, then remaining cinnamon sugar.
10. Bake until a tester inserted in middle comes out clean, 25 to 28 minutes in a convection oven, or 30 to 35 minutes in a standard oven.
11. Let cool completely. (In order to keep the layers intact, the cake must be completely cool before cutting it into bars.)
12. Transfer to a cutting board using parchment overhang and cut into bars to serve, or store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 3 days.

One Year Ago:

• Churro Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting
• Red Velvet Brownies

Two Years Ago:

• Buttermilk Biscuits

Three Years Ago:

• Oat Cake with Blackberries & Blueberries
• Cookies & Cream Ice Cream

Four Years Ago:

• Buttermilk Cake with Raspberries
• Giant Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Ice Cream Sandwiches
• Biscoff Crunch & Swirl Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Five Years Ago:

• Glazed Maple Cookies