Stumped on what to serve Christmas morning? Get up a few minutes early, stir together one of these quick, high-altitude coffee cakes, bake and serve warm, slices smeared with cream cheese.
Don’t want to make your own? Hit Rheinlander Bakery (5721 Olde Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada, 303-467-1810) to pick up one of Colorado’s best. Warm it in a low oven. (Gluten-free options, too.)
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
From “The New High Altitude Cookbook,” by Beverly M. Anderson and Donna M. Hamilton (1980 edition). Makes 1 cake.
Ingredients
STREUSEL TOPPING
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/2 cup chopped pecan or walnut
COFFEE CAKE
1/2 cup softened butter
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
2 eggs
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup sour cream
2 cups sifted cake flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour 10-inch tube pan.
Make streusel topping: In mixing bowl, blend flour, cinnamon and sugar together. Work in butter. (The mixture will be crumbly and dry.) Add chopped pecan or walnut meats. Set aside.
Make cake: Cream butter and shortening with sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
Dissolve soda in sour cream.
Mix and sift flour, salt and baking powder together.
Add dry ingredients alternately with sour cream to the butter mixture, mixing well after each addition. Add vanilla extract. Mix well.
Pour batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with Streusel Topping.
Bake 1 hour, or until cake center springs back when pressed with fingertip.
Cocoa Swirl Coffee Cake
From “Crème de Colorado,” by the Junior League of Denver. Makes 1 cake.
Ingredients
1/2 cup sugar
4 1/2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
4 eggs
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 cup raisins (optional)
3/4 cup chopped pecans
Directions
Preheat oven to 325. In small bowl, combine 1/2 cup sugar, cocoa and cinnamon; set aside. In large mixing bowl, cream butter. Beat in cream cheese, 1 1/2 cups sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each. Add flour, baking powder and raisins, if using, stirring until smooth. Generously grease a 10-inch tube pan and sprinkle pecans over bottom. Spoon 1/2 batter into pan. Cover with 1/2 cinnamon-cocoa mixture. Spoon remaining batter into pan. Top with remaining cinnamon-cocoa mixture. Bake at 325 degrees for 65-75 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Invert onto wire rack to finish cooling.
Halo Coffee Cake
Recipe by Helen Dollaghan, from the Sept. 29, 1968, edition of The Denver Post. Recipe calls for raspberry pie filling, but cherry also works nicely. Makes 1 cake. Also works in a tube pan.
Ingredients
2 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar minus 1 tablespoon
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk plus 2 tablespoons
6 tablespoons cooking oil
1/2 can (about 2 1/2cups) raspberry pie filling
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Sift together flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Blend egg, milk and oil. Add flour mixture, mixing until smooth. Pour half of batter into greased ring mold (6 1/2 cup).
Combine the pie filling and walnuts. Carefully spoon this mixture around ring in center of batter. Cover with remaining batter. Bake about 40 minutes. Frost with powdered sugar icing if desired.
