Elderberry Coffee Cake
Moist and fragrant with warm spices, this classic coffee cake features bursts of fresh elderberries and a crisp, buttery streusel topping.
Servings: 12 slices
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan or cake pan
Ingredients
Streusel
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter melted
Coffee Cake
- 1 ½ cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 3 eggs
- ¾ cup full-fat sour cream or plain greek yogurt
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter soft room temperature
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- Zest of 1 orange
- ¾ cup elderberries fresh or frozen
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch springform pan.
- Make the streusel. In a medium bowl, whisk together 1 cup flour, ½ cup almond flour, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ginger, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Add melted butter in a slow stream while stirring to combine. Mix just until dry ingredients are evenly saturated.
- Make the cake batter. Whisk dry ingredients (1 ½ cups flour, ½ cup almond flour, 2 tsp baking powder, ½ tsp baking soda, ½ tsp salt) together in a large bowl.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together 3 eggs, ¾ cup sour cream, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tbsp fresh orange juice.
- Place 4 ounces of butter, ¾ cup brown sugar, and orange zest in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or use a large bowl and electric beaters). Cream until well blended, 1-2 minutes.
- Add about ⅓ of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and blend until almost incorporated. Then add about ½ of the wet ingredients, blending lightly. Repeat alternating the dry and wet ingredients until all ingredients are almost blended, ending with the flour mix. Don't over-mix! Gently fold in ¾ cup elderberries.
- Layer in pan. Pour about ½ the cake batter into prepared pan. Top with about ½ the streusel mix, crumbling it a bit with your fingers as you go. Add remaining cake batter, spreading it carefully and evenly with an offset spatula or the back of a spoon. Crumble the rest of the streusel mix evenly on top. Optional: Add a tablespoon or two of additional elderberries on top.
- Bake. Place cake in preheated oven and bake until top springs back when touched and streusel is golden brown, about 50-60 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come back with only a few moist crumbs and the internal temperature of the cake should be 200-210° F.
- Place cake on a cooling rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes. Run a thin knife around the edges of the cake pan to loosen it, then remove the ring of the springform pan*. Allow to cool at least another 20 minutes before slicing.
- Serve. If desired, sprinkle cooled cake with a light dusting of powdered sugar. Slice and serve cake warm or at room temperature.
Notes
*If you're using a regular 9-inch round cake pan instead of a springform, you'll either need to invert the cake onto a plate or serve the cake straight from the pan. To invert the cake, place a plate on top of the cake and flip it over gently. Pull off the cake pan, place a serving plate on top of it, and invert again. You may lose a bit of crumb topping!