Christmas Morning Coffee Cakes

I love a good coffee cake, but I must admit that my first experiences with this baked treat weren’t too impressive. First of all, I questioned the audacity of a recipe to call anything that was not topped with icing a “cake”! Ha! Secondly, they just seemed a little blah. Until….

I became a COFFEE DRINKER!

I clearly remember my first piece of coffee cake with a cup of coffee. My goodness, it was so good! And then it became clear that my problem with coffee cakes hadn’t really been the coffee cakes themselves. My problem with coffee cakes was that they were truly meant to be eaten while sipping a cup of steaming coffee. The two compliment each other, and together they are a delight! Like tea and scones! (Mmm, I feel another post coming on.)

Today, I’d like to offer two very excellent coffee cake choices for your Christmas morning, perfect to accompany that cup of coffee you’ll need after staying up half the night finishing your cooking, gift wrapping, and toy assembly. And bonus, Gingerbread Coffee Cake and Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake are both made with kicked-up mixes and can be made the day before if needed.

Gingerbread Coffee Cake

(from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients:

1 box Betty Crocker gingerbread cake and cookie mix

1/4 cup hot water

2 Tbsp. butter, melted

1 tsp. grated ginger root (ground ginger is fine if you don’t have fresh)

1 (8 oz) container sour cream

1 egg

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1/3 cup butter, cold and cubed

3/4 cup crushed gingersnap cookies (about 12 cookies)

1/2 cup chopped walnut or pecans

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of an 8-inch or 9-inch square pan with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, beat the gingerbread mix, hot water, and 2 Tbsp. butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until blended. Add the ginger root, sour cream, and egg; beat until blended. Pour batter into pan.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, sugar, ginger, and cinnamon. Cut in the cubed butter with a pastry blender or large fork. Stir in the crushed cookies and nuts. Sprinkle over the batter.

Bake 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, but don’t overbaked. Cool in the pan on a cooling rack. Serve warm or completely cooled.

The soft cake with that sweet, crunchy topping is so delicious, and will team nicely with your Christmas blend cup of coffee!

My girls and I recently enjoyed a trip to The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina with friends (much more to come on this trip!) As always, after visiting Biltmore, I came back inspired to cook and bake from my Biltmore Traditions, a cookbook that I’ve treasured for many years. As a follow-up to our trip, my friend, Missy, hosted a Biltmore-themed Christmas brunch with recipes from the cookbook. She invited me to make the Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake and I gladly accepted.

Blueberry Almond Coffee Cake

I made a few tiny adjustments from the original recipe which are reflected here.

For the cake:

1 cup sour

1/2 cup milk

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. almond extract

2 (7 oz.) packages blueberry muffin mix

3/4 cup fresh blueberries

2 tsp. orange zest

For the streusel:

1/4 c. flour

2 Tbsp. cold, cubed butter

2 Tbsp. sugar

1/2 c. sliced. toasted almonds

For the glaze:

1 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 Tbsp. cream

1 1/2 Tbsp. orange juice

1/4 tsp. almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the sour cream, milk, sugar, and almond extract. Add the muffin mix and orange zest and stir to combine. Fold in the blueberries. Spread the mixture in a greased 8-inch or 9-inch square pan.

For the streusel, mix the flour and sugar. Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or large fork. Stir in the almonds, and spread the mixture over the batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until cake is golden and pulls away from the pan.

For the glaze, combine all glaze ingredients in a small bowl until blended. Drizzle over the warm cake, and let cook for 10 minutes.

This coffee cake is so moist. I love the combination of the almond and orange flavorings that accompany that burst of fresh blueberry in each bite!

It was so pretty plated on Missy’s Christmas china. Missy is a fabulous cook and hostess, and we had such a lovely time in her home and around her table. One step into her house would put even the toughest old Scrooge in the Christmas spirit! There is more to share about our Biltmore brunch, but I’ll wait until she posts on her own blog before showing them here, and I’ll be sure and share her link when she does.

Hope your Christmas week is off to a great start!