strawberry-cream cheese coffee cake (via Amanda Clarke on seriouseats.com)
Sunday, November 28, 2010 at 8:08PM
When we lived in the Chicago area, Oak Park to be exact, I had a reverse commute for a year out to Downers Grove. Though considering Chicago traffic, a reverse commute means very little in terms of saving time. The company I worked for was housed in a nondescript building behind the Hooters (I still have never had their chicken wings. Honest). It was a lot of life spent in the car, listening to WBEZ, Chicago's NPR station, pretending I would have a story good enough for Ira Glass to put on This American Life (the closest I came was talking to him at Fox & Obel one day), taking comfort in the fact that we lived three blocks from Peter Sagal, host of Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me. Maybe a life of public radio wasn't in the cards, but at least we could wish Peter good night every time we drove past his house ( all together now..."Goodnight, Peter"). And honk at him while he raked leaves. NPR stalker.
The best thing about the commute out to Downers Grove? A drive past the local plant of a very well-known bakery brand. Coffee cakes. Pound cakes. Cookies. Danish. You know the one. They had a store at the plant that was open to the public. My favorite was the "reject" section, full of boxed baked goods that weren't fit to ship to supermarkets. This often meant the icing machine had gone haywire, leaving a half-inch thick coating of white sugary love on 3/4 of the danish. To me, this represented a new and improved feature, not a cause for rejection. 15 seconds in the microwave, and I was blissed out in butter and sugar and strawberries. A big cup of coffee, and I was buzzed for a good long while, listening to Weekend Edition, to Car Talk, to Wait Wait, to TAL, when the sugar and caffeine would wear off, and I'd realize that hopes are nice, dreams are better, but a warm danish could soothe a lot of the falling short.
This coffee cake from Amanda Clarke on seriouseats.com is about ten times better than anything we picked up from the reject pile. Homemade is usually better, right? But this one, this strawberry cream cheese coffee cake, moves into the territory of hopes and dreams. Four layers: a buttery soft crust, a layer of diced strawberries , smooth+sweet cream cheese, and perfect crumb topping full of brown sugar and butter. Really this is one for the books.
Hint - Frozen strawberries work perfectly here. So do raspberries. Blueberries. You get the point.
You can have this prepped in 20 minutes, bake it for 35. Full on love under an hour.
recipe | strawberry-cream cheese coffee cake (via Amanda Clarke on seriouseats.com)
breakfast, coffee cake, seriouseats.com, strawberry 
Reader Comments (10)
"moves into the territory of hopes and dreams"
Wow!!! That says it all!!! =)
Oh Good God. That looks too good for words. Do you think I could use the strawberry jam that didn't set up completely?
As Chris & Karen's next door neighbors we get to sample lots of their treats (I can prove it because we have several of their serving plates in our cabinet that we never remember to return). This crumb cake is consistent with everything else they bring over......ridiculously delicious!
@MrsWheelbarrow - I think strawberry jam, especially YOUR strawberry jam, would be complete perfection. Do it!
@aol.com (aka, our neighbor, Matt) - You're the best. Now give us back our plates.
One of the things I love about this blog is that you don't feel compelled to post constantly but when you do, you post something fun with great writing and a story. This post does not disappoint. And I have some frozen strawberries and frozen raspberries in the freezer, where do I start??
Oh boy, I wish I didn't click on this link. Please Fed-Ex this to me, stat. Thank you :)
Phew.. thank goodness the kids are upstairs doing homework right now and not peering at my laptop!! Otherwise, the nagging would commence "Mom, CAN'T you make this RIGHT now???"
Well, I won't be making this right now, but it's on the menu for the weekend - my oldest loves strawberries and cream cheese ..'nuff said!!!
hello YUM!! i've been craving coffee cake for weeks and this one sounds amazing - thanks for posting!
If the picture of your coffee cake wasn't enough to want anyone reading this to rush into the kitchen to bake it, then the endorsement from your neighbours certainly seals the deal!