Streuselkuchen
By Cat, Nov 2007 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)
- Includes: 1. Berry Coffee Cake (with white flour); 2. Berry Coffee Cake with Pre-soaked Whole Grain Flour
- See also: 1. Using a Springform Pan, and an Alternative; 2.
Cakes & Tortes Menu; 3. Cobblers, Shortcakes & Crispes Menu
Like their cousin teacakes from the British Isles, coffee cakes are rich and sweet, and may be flavored with spices. Many include nuts or fruit such as berries or raisins, and may also have a steusel-like filling or topping. Or they may be topped with a glaze (such as bundt coffee cakes). They are not usually made with coffee, although they may be.
Coffee cakes are also similar to the German Kuchen, especially my Butter Kuchen recipe with its streusel topping.
The French and Scandinavian cuisines also have a version of coffee cake that is made with a rich pastry dough similar to croissant dough that may be filled with nuts and dried fruits. We call this “Danish,” but the Danes call it Kringle or Wienerbrød.
Berry Coffee Cake
I include two versionsL the Original, which is made with all-white flour, and pre-soak whole grain flour version. Both recipes are adapted from “Huckleberry Coffeecake” in the Kim Williams Cookbook and Commentary (1). I’ve only tested the pre-soak version.
Kim lived in Montana and wrote her book about using foraged food from the surrounding local area. Huckleberries are a wonderful summer treat from Montana’s mountains (but watch out for bears because they love them too). They are closely related to blueberries and cranberries. You could make this cake with any berries, such as raspberries or blueberries from your garden.
I’ve made the following changes to Kim’s recipe:
- Her original recipe uses all-purpose flour (first version, below), but I prefer to use unbleached flour, or pre-soaked whole grain flour (second version).
- I also prefer to use stevia instead of sugar, but I provide amounts & instructions for either choice.
- Use butter instead of margarine: Back when Kim’s cookbook was written, many people believed that margarine – made from plant oils – was more healthful than butter which is made form cream, because of the saturated fat in butter. We now know that margarine’s trans-fats are not good for us, and evidence is mounting to support the healthfulness of good old butter.
Original Version (all white flour)
This uses unbleached white flour (wheat), but unbleached spelt or Kamut white flour could be used; note that if you use spelt, you will need less liquid or more flour, because spelt is not as dry as wheat.
Ingredients & Equipment:
- 2 cups unbleached white flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt
- pinch cinnamon
- ¾ cup Rapadura sugar (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 2 Tbsp honey or 2 – 4 Tbsp Rapadura sugar)
- ⅓ cup butter
- 2 eggs, separated
- ⅔ cup milk
- 2 cups fresh huckleberries or other fresh berries, rinsed and dried in colander
Equipment
- 2 small bowls
- large bowl
- egg whip
- wooden spoon
- 9-inch square cake pan
Method:
- Preheat oven to 350°F; grease 9″ square cake pan.
- Sift flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and stevia (if using). Set aside.
- Beat egg whites until stiff and set aside.
- In large bowl, cream butter, egg yolks (and sugar or honey, if using). Add flour mixture alternately with milk, stirring until just blended.
- Stir in berries, the fold in beaten egg whites
- Pour into greased cake pan. Bake 35 – 45 minutes, or until done (test with toothpick).
- Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut in squares and serve warm.
Berry Coffee Cake: Soaked Whole Grain Version
For the pre-soak, I replace the fresh milk with cultured or clabbered milk to provide an acidic medium for the pre-soak. Options include:
- buttermilk
- soured raw milk
- yogurt – either all yogurt (my preference), or a yogurt-water mix
- kefir
- real sour cream (for extra-rich cake)
- fresh milk clabbered with vinegar
With any of these choice you will need less baking powder and added baking soda, as modified in the recipe.
I’ve written this to use spelt but you could use any whole grain flour. However, if using other whole grains like wheat or kamut, etc., you will need more moisture, as these are all drier than spelt. Or you could use less flour.
See below for testing.
Ingredients & Equipment:
Pre-Soak Flour
- 1 ½ cups whole spelt flour
- ⅓ cup butter
- 1 cup buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt; or milk clabbered with ¾ tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice (
⅔ cup)
Next day:
- ½ cup unbleached white flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp unrefined sea salt
- pinch cinnamon
- ¾ cup Rapadura sugar (or ¼ tsp stevia extract powder plus 2 Tbsp honey or 2 – 4 Tbsp Rapadura sugar)
- 2 eggs, separated
- 1 Tbsp honey or maple syrup (if using stevia)
- 1 – 2 Tbsp cream, if needed
- 2 cups fresh berries
Equipment
- wooden spoon
- bakers parchment, oiled; or waxed paper
- large bowl
- small bowl
- egg whip
- wooden spoon
- 9-inch round cake pan
Method:
Pre-Soak Flour
- Sift flour into bowl. Cut in butter.
- Stir the cultured or clabbered milk/cream into the flour to make a soft dough. If dough is hard to work, you need more moisture; add 1 Tbsp warm water at a time until the right consistency is reached.
- Press sheet of oiled bakers parchment or waxed paper over the entire top surface of the batter. Cover with a towel and let sit on the counter overnight, 12 – 24 hours.
Next Day
- Preheat oven to 350°F; grease cake pan.
- Sift together white flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon, and stevia (if using).
- Separate eggs; beat whites until stiff and set aside.
- Whisk together yolks and sugar. Stir into soaked batter, with sifted dry ingredients. If too stiff, add cream or milk, 1 Tbsp at a time until can work the batter (it should be a little stiff). Then stir in the berries. Fold in beaten egg whites.
- Pour into greased cake pan. Bake 35 – 45 minutes, or until done (test with toothpick).
- Sprinkle lightly with powdered sugar, if desired. Cut in squares and serve warm.
Testing
6/2/10: Made with stevia and sugar, and used blueberries for the fruit. Followed as written for the soak (1 ½ cups spelt, ⅓ cup butter, ⅔ cup yogurt). Soak mixture was too stiff – not enough yogurt, but I was able to get it mixed. Next day, just too stiff to work in the egg yolk and flour mixture, so I added cream (to approximate the yogurt/butter mix) 1 Tbsp at a time, total 4 T (1/4 cup) milk before folding in the egg whites and fruit. The batter was still thick but with care I could fold in the whites and blueberries. OOPS, I added the whites before the fruit – backwards. Next time: use 1 cup buttermilk/yogurt for the soak. May still need to add milk with the yolks the next day. Result: Delicious, with a muffin-like texture. Would be great made in muffin pans, tho a shorter cooking time would be required.
9/8/11: Made with stevia and sugar, and used blueberries for the fruit. Used 1 cup whole spelt, ¼ cup each whole oat and barley flours for presoak, and ½ cup unbleached white flour next day. Used 1 cup yogurt as discovered during previous testing. Much easier to work the dough. However, added 1 Tbsp cream when folding in the blueberries because it was a bit too stiff. Then folded in the whites like a charm. OOPS, forgot the honey (beaten with yolks), so won’t be as sweet. Result: very good, not too sweet, nice muffin-like texture. Probably would be even better with the honey…
References
- Kim Williams Cookbook and Commentary, by Kim Williams
