Strawberry Coffee Cake

Buttery sweet coffee cake layered with juicy strawberries with a crunchy, pecan and brown sugar topping add up to a dessert I enjoyed so much – I had it again for breakfast with my coffee.

The unending debate over coffee cake comes to mind every time I make one. Is coffee cake supposed to be dessert, or is it breakfast, maybe just a snack? As far as I’m concerned, it’s simply delicious and strawberry coffee cake should be eaten as frequently as possible at any possible time of day.

Coffee Cake with Strawberries

When I stumbled on this recipe for blueberry coffee cake, made with a generous layer of blueberry filling in the middle, I knew exactly what I’d be making next out of the abundance of strawberries in my kitchen.

The recipe did not disappoint. I was a little nervous when I saw just how much of the strawberry filling I’d be pouring into the cake, but it worked out perfectly. There’s just the right amount of strawberry flavor with a great balance of lightly sweetened cake and cinnamon pecan topping.

There are quite a few ingredients to this cake and a few layers. But let me assure you, the ingredients are basic, and the layers come together very easily. You will have the strawberry coffee cake in the oven in no time at all.

Strawberry Coffee Cake

To make the strawberry filling for this cake, we’re going to make a compote very similar to the strawberry compote I shared earlier this week. The difference here is that we’ll thicken it with a small amount of cornstarch to make sure it holds up nicely between the coffee cake layers.

Combine the berries with sugar, lemon juice, and cornstarch in a medium-sized pot. Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let the sauce cool to room temperature.

After cooking, allow the sauce to cool to room temperature. It may seem like a lot of sauce initially, but the amount made will work perfectly in the cake.

Keep in mind that coffee cakes are similar to quick breads. Avoid over-mixing the batter. If it is over-mixed, the result can be a chewy or tough cake, instead of a pillowy, moist crumb.

Beat the butter and sugar together until fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time. Whisk together the dry ingredients and add half of the dry mixture to the wet mixture.

Stir in the sour cream and then add the rest of the dry ingredients. Stop mixing as soon as the batter is combined.

While you can certainly bake this in a well-greased pan, I prefer to use parchment paper. Parchment will make it easy to smoothly lift the cooled cake from the pan without the berry layer sticking to the pan. There’s no need to grease the parchment.

Spread half of the cake batter into the pan. Pour the room-temperature strawberry sauce over the cake batter in the pan.

Spoon the remaining batter over the berry sauce. An offset spatula is your friend for helping spread the batter more or less evenly over the sauce. Sprinkle the brown sugar and pecan topping generously onto the cake.

Strawberry Coffee Cake Recipe

To make this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• strawberries 
• fresh lemon juice
• sugar
• cornstarch
• butter 
• sugar
• eggs
• all-purpose flour
• baking powder
• baking soda
• salt
• sour cream
• almond extract
• light brown sugar
• ground cinnamon
• pecans

Take my advice here and do not try making this in a pan smaller than 10 inches square. This cake will rise considerably as it bakes. Mine almost escaped the pan.

If you don’t have a 10-inch pan, this will work in a 9×13 pan as well, it simply won’t be quite as tall. Watch for doneness, as it is finishing in the oven. It likely will not require the full length of the baking time in the recipe.

When I pulled this cake from the oven, it was all I could do to wait for it to cool before slicing a piece. It smelled simply divine. You can certainly try slicing it before cooling it completely, but in my experience, that doesn’t always turn out well. So, do so at your own risk.

Strawberry Recipes

Yellow cupcakes, whipped vanilla buttercream, and fresh berries make these strawberry shortcake cupcakes a fun variation of the summertime treat.

Fresh rhubarb and sweet strawberries topped with a crunchy oatmeal crumble makes a Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp that no one will forget. We like to serve this topped with whipped cream or ice cream for a special treat.

Fresh strawberries tucked into light and fluffy pancakes create the loveliest Strawberry Pancakes you can imagine.

Looking for more cake recipes? Sweet, moist Cherry Cake filled with cherries and drizzled with an almond glaze is a dessert you can pull together with minimal effort.