Lemon Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

• FOR THE STREUSEL
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups packed light-brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 6 ounces (3/4 cup) cold unsalted butter
• 
  
• FOR THE CAKE
• 5 Meyer lemons, cut into paper-thin slices, ends discarded
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for pan
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons finely grated Meyer lemon zest (from 4 to 5 lemons)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 
  
• FOR THE GLAZE
• 1 cup confectioner's sugar, sifted
• 2 tablespoons Meyer lemon juice

Directions:

1. Make the streusel: Mix together flour, brown sugar, and salt. Using a pastry cutter or your fingers, cut butter into the flour mixture until small to medium clumps form. Cover, and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 3 days).
2. Make the cake: Cook lemon slices in a medium saucepan of simmering water for 1 minute. Drain and repeat. Arrange lemon slices in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-inch angel food cake pan. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Beat butter, granulated sugar, and lemon zest with a mixer on medium speed in a large bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. With the mixer running, add eggs, 1 at a time, then the vanilla. Reduce speed to low. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream.
4. Spoon 1/2 of the batter evenly into cake pan. Arrange 1/2 of the lemon slices in a single layer over the batter. Spread remaining batter evenly over the top. Cover with the remaining lemon slices in a single layer. Sprinkle the chilled streusel evenly over the batter.
5. Bake until cake is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack set over a baking sheet, and let cool in pan for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan, and remove outer ring. Let cool on rack for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the center of the tube. Slide 2 wide spatulas between the bottom of the cake and the pan, and lift cake to remove from the center tube. Let cool completely on rack.
6. Make the glaze: Just before serving, stir together confectioners' sugar and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Drizzle over cooled cake, letting excess drip down the sides. Let glaze set before slicing, about 5 minutes. (Cake can be stored for up to 3 days. The lemon flavor will intensify with time.) Serves 10 to 12

Almond-Cranberry Coffeecake

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk or yogurt (low-fat is fine)
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup whole berry cranberry sauce
1/2 cup blanched slivered or sliced almonds, toasted*

Glaze
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

*Spread almonds in an ungreased 9" round cake pan, and bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown.

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-cup (9" to 9 ½") tube pan or bundt-style pan.

In a large bowl, beat the butter and sugar till smooth. Beat in the eggs, then the buttermilk or yogurt and almond extract. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl, and beat briefly again, to make sure everything is well combined. Add the baking powder, baking soda, flour, and salt, stirring just to blend. Grease and flour a tube pan. Spoon half of batter into pan. Spread half of cranberry sauce evenly atop batter, then spread remaining batter over that. Top with remaining cranberry sauce, and sprinkle toasted almonds evenly over sauce.

Bake the cake for 55 minutes, tenting it with foil for the final 15 minutes. When it’s done, a cake tester inserted into the thickest part will come out clean, and the top will spring back when you press it gently. Remove the cake from the oven, and cool it in pan for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, turn it out of the pan onto a rack set over a piece of parchment, and stir together the glaze ingredients.

Drizzle the thin glaze over the warm cake. Let the cake cool completely before serving.
Yield: 1 cake, 14 to 16 servings.

Yogurt-Cranberry Coffeecake

This moist, tender coffeecake bakes in a sheet-cake pan and makes 24 servings.

Ingredients:

Streusel
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) butter
1/2 cup (3 3/4 ounces) brown sugar, firmly packed
big pinch of salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup + 2 tablespoons White Whole Wheat Flour

Filling
1 cup (9 1/2 ounces) whole-berry cranberry sauce

Batter
1/2 cup (1 stick, 4 ounces) butter
1 cup + 2 tablespoons (8 1/2 ounces) brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup (8 ounces) plain or flavored yogurt
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups White Whole Wheat Flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch pan.

To make the streusel: In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar, salt, cinnamon, and vanilla. Add the flour, beating until even crumbs form. Scoop the mixture into a smaller bowl, and set it aside.

To make the batter: In the same bowl in which you've just made the streusel (you can use a different bowl if you want, but this saves on washing dishes), cream together the butter and brown sugar, beating until smooth. Beat in the eggs, scraping the bowl and again beating until smooth. Beat in the yogurt, extracts, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and flour. The mixture will be fairly stiff. Scoop the batter into the prepared pan. Dollop the cranberry sauce on top, breaking it up with a fork first, if necessary. Sprinkle the streusel over all.

To bake the coffeecake: Bake coffeecake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove it from oven, and cool for 30 minutes before serving (or serve it hot from the oven, if you don't mind it crumbling a bit!) Yield: 2 dozen 2-inch squares.