Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Crumble Topping

This cake is great to serve for breakfast or brunch. Bake it in a heart shaped cake pan and surprise your loved ones with it on Valentine's Day morning. Measure out the dry ingredients the night before and quickly stir the batter together in the morning. No need to bring out your mixer, it can all be done by hand. Best of all, it is made with ingredients you probably have on hand or in your pantry. As do most of my recipes, this one too lends itself well to modifications. The original recipe calls for a raspberry filling and almond extract to flavor the batter. Depending on your mood or what is in season, you can substitute blueberries and a touch of lemon juice and grated lemon rind. On occasion, I have even used chocolate chips instead of a fruit filling and added vanilla extract to the cake batter.

Ingredients  

Cake

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4  cup granulated sugar

1 tsp.baking powder

1/4 tsp.baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 large beaten egg, room temperature

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp. almond extract

1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries (can substitute blueberries or blackberries)

Cinnamon Crumble Topping

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Preparation:

Butter and flour a 8 inch round baking dish (or a novelty heart shaped cake pan that holds 4 cups).

In a large bowl mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine butter, sour cream, almond extract, and egg in another bowl. Whisk until well mixed. Add liquid ingredients to flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Do not overmix as you want the end result to be a tender cake.

To make the topping, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until coarse crumbs form.

Pour two-thirds of the cake batter into prepared pan and create a slight indentation in the center. Top with raspberries. Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls on top and sprinkle with cinnamon topping.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack for at least 10 minutes. The cake is most delicious served slightly warm with a dollop of whipped cream.