Friday, August 26, 2011

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

As soon as I saw this cake on American Test Kitchen I knew I have to try it out. This cake is different from the usual coffee cakes which have streusel in the middle and on the top. This cake has a cream cheese filling and crunchy lemon sugar almond topping. Like any recipes from American Test Kitchen it requires a bit more work but the results are well worth the effort.

Ingredients:
Adapted from American Test Kitchen

2 ¼ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
10 tbsp(1 stick + 2 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon zest
4 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups sour cream


Cream cheese filling:

8 oz cream cheese – I used the low fat cream cheese
3 tbsp sugar
4 tbsp lemon juice

Lemon Sugar-Almond Topping:

1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 cup sliced almonds

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Greased a 10” tube pan. Get ready the lemon sugar topping. Rub together sugar and lemon zest in small bowl until combined and sugar is moistened. Stir in almonds and set aside.
2. Combined flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside. In stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, beat butter sugar and lemon zest at medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.
3. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition, about 20 seconds, and scraping down beater and sides of bowl as necessary. Add in the vanilla and mix to combine.
4. Reduce speed to low and add one-third flour mixture, followed by half of sour cream, mixing until incorporated after each addition. Repeat, using half of remaining flour mixture and all of remaining sour cream. Scrape bowl and add remaining flour mixture; mix at low speed until batter is thoroughly combined.
5. Reserve 1 1/4 cups batter and set aside. Spoon remaining batter into prepared pan and smooth top.
6. Using the same mixing bowl beat cream cheese, remaining 3 tbsp sugar, lemon juice, on medium speed until smooth and slightly lightened, about 1 minute. Add ¼ cup of the reserved batter and mix until incorporated.
7. Spoon cheese filling mixture evenly over batter in the pan, keeping filling about 1 inch from edges of pan; smooth top. Spread remaining 1 cup of the reserved batter over filling and smooth the top.
8. With butter knife or offset spatula, gently swirl filling into batter using figure-8 motion, being careful to not drag filling to bottom or edges of pan. Firmly tap pan on counter 2 or 3 times to dislodge any bubbles. Sprinkle lemon sugar-almond topping evenly over batter and gently press into batter to adhere.
9. Bake until top is golden and just firm, and skewer inserted into cake comes out clean (skewer will be wet if inserted into cheese filling), 55 minutes to an hour. Remove pan from oven (top of cake may sink slightly). Cool cake in pan on wire rack at least 2 hours.
10. Gently remove cake from the tube pan and cut into slices and serve.

12 comments:

Elin said...

Awww...this is so delicious...you know though I don't get to eat your cake, I can imagine how good it will taste by mentally baking it and tasting it...LOL! see how glutton Elin is ! Yum Yum ! I like the sour cream in the cake.

Yummy Bakes said...

Wow ... looks delicious.

Katie said...

Looks wonderful. Love the sound of the strusel topping/filling. Delicious

Shereen said...

Ohhhh...drooling!Looking at the ingredients, I am very sure this cake will be so delicious.I'm bookmarking this!

J.Rolla said...

This looks scrumscious my mouth is watering

Sonia ~ Nasi Lemak Lover said...

nice to go with a cup of expresso!

Debbie said...

My kind of cake....looks so delicious. This recipe is a keeper!

ann low said...

Thanks for sharing Gert. This is the kind of cake I love very much. Beautiful!

Esz said...

This looks amazing! I want to make it this weekend :-D

Do you think it would still work in a round or square cake pan? I don't have a tube pan at the mo.

ICook4Fun said...

Elin, ha ha one day we have to get together and try out each other baking and cooking. We only get to see each other posting but not tasting it :)

Yummy Bakes, thanks.

Katie, oh yes the topping is the highlight of this cake :)

Shereen, hope you like this.

J.Rolla, thanks.

Sonia, yes. If you live nearby we can have coffee and tea with it.

Debbie, thank you.

Ann, thank you.

Esz, thank you. There is a reason for using the tube pan. It is for easy removeable because of the topping. But if you want to use round of square pan you sure can. Some of the topping might fall out when you flip them over :)

Jeannie said...

What a lovely looking cake! Would be so delicious with a cup of coffee indeed!

lena said...

i can already imagine how super delicious this is! i definately love the cream cheese filling in the cake!oh and thanks on the reply on that artificial crab meat..many people fry that for chinese new year giveaway too!