Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake

Sweet, tart, and nutty.  That's a lot going on in one little cake.  But totally delicious.  This coffee cake has a lovely crumb and the tart cranberries play well with the soft nuttiness of the almonds.  I took this to work for a meeting and everyone loved it.  There is one group member in particular who couldn't get enough.  And they were funny in selecting their slices.  Since it was an 8 x 8 inch pan and sliced into 16 pieces, there were four middle pieces and 12 edges.  The gobbled up the center slices before venturing into the edge territory--which was fine by me because I liked the balance of the slightest of crunchy, crispy edge with the soft interior.  But really, any way you slice it, this cranberry almond coffee cake is good.

I'd pinned this recipe from Shanon at The Curvy Carrot (love the name of her blog!) ages ago and when trying to decide what to take into work, I scoured my pin boards, hoping to find something easy that I already had ingredients to.  Since I still had cranberries in the freezer from the fall and just enough almonds, this was the perfect recipe.  Shanon's recipe needed no adjustments and it came together quickly and baked up perfectly.  This coffee cake has a pretty little presentation with the cranberries popping off the top of the cake, so it's great for guests or gifting as well.



Cranberry Almond Coffee Cake

Ingredients
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups flour
pinch sea salt
1 1/2 cups sugar, plus 2 Tablespoons for sprinkling
2 eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 1/2 cups cranberries, plus a few more to sprinkling
1/2 cup almonds

Melt butter in microwave in 30 second increments until completely melted.  Place in refrigerator to chill slightly until needed.


Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl.

Coarsely chop almonds.  Note: I used a mini chopper, but a knife is fine.  Set aside 2 Tablespoons of chopped almonds for sprinkling.

In the bowl of a stand mixer using a paddle attachment, or a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs until pale yellow and smooth, about 3 minutes.

Add cooled butter and almond extract and mix until combined.

Decrease mixer speed to low and gradually add flour, mixing until just incorporated.

Fold in cranberries and chopped almonds until evenly distributed.

Transfer batter to a greased 8 x 8 inch baking pan, evening out the top.

Sprinkle remaining cranberries, almonds and sugar over the top of the coffee cake. Note: you may want to press the cranberries in a bit to be sure they don't fall off.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 50 minutes or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove and place on wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

Makes 1 cake with 16 slices.

Happy Baking,
The Cookie Princess

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