Last spring I spent over an hour in line with my friend Rita waiting to have Tom Douglas, the Grand Poobah of Seattle restaurateurs, sign his latest cookbook, The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook {Sweetness in Seattle}. I’m happy to report I’ve finally gotten around to baking some deliciousness from that book; sour cream coffee cake with cinnamon streusel and cherry almond scones.
I made the coffee cake for Christmas day breakfast. I splurged and used fresh raspberries. I also doubled the amount of streusel, as I do like my streusel; the recipe shows my revised streusel amounts. This coffee cake was a big hit with the Wilson progeny. The large 9×13 pan did not even last a full twenty-four hours….
I made the cherry almond scones the other day for the tennis ladies. Another success! I made one version with the dried tart cherries per the recipe and they turned out great. Taking a walk on the wild side, I then tried another version using canned tart cherries which didn’t turn out so great. I’m still working on the canned version as I really want it to turn out!
Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Streusel
adapted from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas
Ingredients:
- *****streusel topping*************
- 1 cup flour
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 t. cinnamon
- 6 oz (12 T or 1-1/2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter, diced
- *****cake *********************
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 2 t. baking powder
- 1 t. baking soda
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 T. vanilla extract
- 1 t. kosher salt
- 2 cups fresh or frozen berries, your choice
Cooking Directions:
- Make the streusel by combining the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut the butter in with a pastry blender until crumbly; set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, and baking soda into a bowl and then set aside.
- In another bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scrape down the bowl as needed. Mix in the sour cream, vanilla and salt. Add the flour mixture, a third at a time, mixing until just blended. Fold in the berries with a rubber spatula. The batter will be thick.
- Spread the batter in a buttered 9×13 baking pan. Spread the streusel over evenly.
- Bake at 350 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes – until a wood skewer comes out cleanly when poked into the center of the cake. Rotate the cake halfway through the baking time. Cool for at least 10-15 minutes.
Cherry Almond Scones
adapted from The Dahlia Bakery Cookbook by Tom Douglas
Ingredients:
- 2 1/2 cups flour
- 1/4 cup + a little more sugar
- 1 t. baking powder
- 1 t. grated lemon zest
- 3/4 t. kosher salt
- 1/4 t. baking soda
- 10 T. (1-1/4 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch dice
- 1/2 cup dried tart cherries, coarsely chopped
- 1/2 cup sliced, blanched almonds, toasted and cooled
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 t. vanilla extract
- 1/4 t. (but I used 1 t.) almond extract
- about 1/4 cup heavy cream for brushing
Cooking Directions:
- Toast the almonds by spreading on a baking sheet and baking for 5 to 10 minutes in a 350-375 degree oven. Stir occasionally and keep a close eye on them. Cool.
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, zest, salt and baking soda.
- Cut the butter into the dry mixture with a pastry blender until the mix looks like coarse sand. Mix in the cherries and the almonds.
- Gradually pour in the buttermilk and extracts and mix with a rubber spatula until the dough just comes together.
- Turn the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead lightly until the dough is smooth and the buttermilk is evenly incorporated into the mix. Do not overwork the dough. Pat the dough into a 9 inch round about 1 inch thick. Cut into 8 wedges ( I did 12).
- Place the wedges on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush each wedge generously with the cream and sprinkle liberally with sugar.
- Bake for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. Rotate pan and reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for about 15 minutes more.
- Yum!