Photo: Cranberry Walnut Crumb Cakes Recipe
Notes about the recipe: These sunny, seductive little cakes are perfect mouthfuls of coffeecake from the golden crumb to the zingy cranberry bits to the browned, chunky topping that crumbles apart in your mouth. A basket of these is equally good for breakfast, teatime, or as an autumnal dessert for Thanksgiving. Cranberries are indigenous to America and are harvested in the fall by flooding their fields with water. Each berry contains a bubble of air which causes it to float, float right off the branches of their bush. The only step left is to skim all the glissening garnet colored berries off the surface of the water--and they've already had their bath! All the old baking books in my collection include page after page of coffeecake recipes. Back then, the midmorning coffee break a stimulating cup and a bite of something sweet was a given. Don't we still deserve a little treat to get us through the rest of the day? Everything about the recipe can be done in advance, right down to filling the cups with batter. Just don't sprinkle on the topping (which you can make literally months in advance and keep in the freezer) until just before you bake.
Ingredients
Cake:
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature, plus more for the pans
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries, or raisins
Topping:
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans
- Equipment: A few 4-ounce cup muffin pans; ribbed paper cupcake liners
Directions
Make the Cake. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Line the muffin tins with paper liners.
In a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment (or using a hand mixer), cream the butter until smooth. While the mixer is running, slowly add the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, waiting for each to be incorporated before adding the next, and mix until light and fluffy.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Working in batches, add the flour mixture to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with dollops of sour cream. Mix in the cranberries. Pour or spoon the batter into the prepared tins, filling them no more than 3/4 full.
Make the Topping: Combine the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the butter pieces and, using your fingertips, pinch the ingredients together into a sandy, crumbly mixture. Add the walnuts and mix. Sprinkle the mixture over the cakes.
Bake until risen and browned, about 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes in the pan.
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By Awakencreation
on February 29, 2012
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been poking and prodding for this file to return to the database. almost made sponges outta someone. thank you, staff. :-p
By kmgerman
Denver, CO
on November 11, 2009
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All of my co-workers and my husband's co-workers thought these were fabulous. I personally rated them only "good" because they were not as moist as other muffins I have made and I typically do the same general substitutions in all of my baked goods. I assume that the use of butter instead of oil makes for a different consistency...don't get me wrong, they were still delicious.
I substituted 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour for one cup of all purpose. I was out of brown sugar and used a very granular cane sugar in the topping and it worked just fine. I also substituted full-fat greek yogurt for the sour cream to up the protein content a bit. Oh, and I added a tablespoon of vanilla extract to the batter.
On observation I had, as did one other person who enjoyed them, was that the cake had something of a cornmeal like taste and consistency. No idea why, but interesting.
By Becky MacEachen
Upstate, NY
on March 25, 2009
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Easy to make and the cake on the inside was moist and delicious. The topping was a little crunchy and crumbly... i was expecting it to be more buttery.. I brushed most of it off before eating it so I wasn't getting a mouthful of hard brown sugar. I also added 1.5 times the cranberries and I still don't think it was enough. Will make this recipe again with less sugar in the topping and more cranberries in the cake.
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