Almond Streusel Coffee Cake

The Recipe


Streusel:
1 1/3 cup whole almonds (see note)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar (dark brown, right? RIGHT?)
1/4 cup AP flour
Grated zest of 1/2 orange
3 Tbsp butter, in small pieces

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup sugar
3 eggs
Grated zest of the other half of the orange
1 tsp almond or vanilla extract
2 Cups AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 Cup orange juice

Icing:
1 cup confectioner's sugar
1 Tbsp orange juice

Pulse almonds in food processor a few times, until chopped (not finely, chunky.) Add the sugar, flour and zest; pulse 2 or 3 more times. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly but still has big chunks of almond in it. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a tube pan.

Beat butter and sugar with mixer until very light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat for another minute or so after you think it's done. Add the zest and the extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining dry ingredients. Add flour and OJ to butter mixture in alternating steps, 3 additions of flour and 2 of OJ, beginning and ending with flour (you know this drill from other cakes.) Scrape down the sides well, and mix an additional 30 seconds or so.

Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the tube pan; scatter half the streusel over. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top, then scatter the rest of the streusel over. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Let cool at least 10 minutes in the pan before beginning the complicated removal from the tube pan; I find it easiest to slip the sides off, then loosen the cake as needed, and slip it off the tube assembly using two spatulas. Let cool another 10 minutes on the serving plate.

Mix the remaining OJ and confectioner's sugar until very smooth. Drizzle over the top of the cake in a pretty way. (You can add more OJ if you need to, but be sparing here)

The Story


On weekends we often have a nice family breakfast, waffles or pancakes or something. Breakfast cakes usually take too long in the oven; by the time you've woken up and baked for an hour or two, it's lunchtime. This one cuts the baking time by using the tube pan. Unlike many coffee cakes, it's not sticky sweet either. Who needs all that sugar?

Don't go out and buy almond extract for this. If you have a bottle that's been sitting around for three or four presidential administrations, here's the perfect time to use it up. If not, vanilla makes a lovely cake too.

If you don't have whole almonds, go ahead and use chopped or slivered; just wait to add them to the food processor until the end.