Strawberry Coffee Cake

I have had the pleasure of joining world traveler and culinary expert Eleanor Ostman, a Midwest friend of Finnish heritage, on many international trips she has led for newspaper food editors, garnering recipes from Capetown , South Africa, to Sydney, Australia. When she relaxes at her family’s lakeside Minnesota cabin, a holiday outing involves picking “behemoth berries” at the nearby berry farm. The bounty goes into this luscious berry-laden cake to serve guests.

Originally published December, 2006
By Lou Seibert Pappas, author of Coffee Cakes (Chronicle Books, 2006)
Photo by Maren Caruso

• 8 ounces cream cheese at room temperature
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Butter and flour a 9-by-13-inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese , butter, and granulated sugar, and beat with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the milk, eggs, and vanilla and beat thoroughly. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to blend. Add to the cheese mixture and beat until smooth. Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Scatter the berries evenly over the batter. Dot the remaining batter over the berries. Mix the brown sugar and nuts together and sprinkle evenly over the batter.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the cake is golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.

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Excerpted from Coffee Cakes by Lou Seibert Pappas. Copyright 2006 by Lou Seibert Pappas (Chronicle Books). Excerpted by permission of Raincoast Canada. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.