Streusel Coffee Cake with Cherries

I know it's not cherry season anymore around here, but I'm holding onto summer for as long as I can and saw these in the grocery store flown in from Chile, and they sucked me in and said "buy me" and make Streusel Coffee Cake with Cherries.

When I got home, I googled and found out that Chile is 5,454.47 miles (8,777.88 kilometers) from Ottawa. I also found out it would cost me $1,145 to fly from Ottawa to Santiago so that I could taste the local cherries. So, $10 for one pound of cherries means I'm actually being financially responsible!

This recipe comes from my aunt who owns an apple orchard in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia and uses the cherries and apples from her garden for this cake. Most summers, we would drive out to visit my aunt and uncle, and we would stop at all the fruit stands along the way, picking up buckets of freshly-picked cherries. Then, we'd devour them as we continued driving through the Rockies, spitting the pits out the window until our stomachs ached.

This coffee cake would be perfect the morning after Thanksgiving or Christmas. If you want to be more seasonal and responsible, you could also use apples (or pears, nectarines, peaches or plums).

Recipe

1 9x9 pan or 12 muffin-size cakes

Cake:
¼ cup unsalted butter
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs, separated
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ cup milk
2 cups fresh fruit (cherries, plums, apples, pears), pitted or cored and halved or sliced

Streusel Topping:
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of allspice

Glaze:
¼ cup confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon milk
¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Butter a 9x9 inch pan or line a muffin tin.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the egg yolks and beat until fluffy. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and baking powder. Stir the flour and baking powder into the creamed mixture alternately with the milk, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold the egg whites into the batter.

For the streusel topping: Combine all the streusel ingredients.

Fill the pan with the batter. Arrange the fruit on top. Sprinkle streusel on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool.

For the glaze: Mix the glaze ingredients until spreading consistency. Drizzle over cooled cake.

Note: I used the silicon shot glasses for baking some of the batter in, inspired by Hannah from BitterSweet who baked the cutest cupcakes in them.

My Bucket List

Visit Santiago, Chile and taste the cherries when they're in season.

Other breakfast ideas:

Sour Cream and Yogurt Cinnamon Coffee Cake

Black-and-White Banana Loaf

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins baked in cookie cutters

Check out these coffee cakes from other food bloggers:

Apple Praline Coffee Cake

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

Spiced Pumpkin Sour Cream Upside-Down Coffee Cake

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