Almond Poppyseed Coffee Cake
Good morning, bakers! Or good evening? Whatever time of day it is where you are I’d like to introduce you to the Almond Poppyseed Coffee Cake. Breakfast cake, snack cake, any time of the day cake; I’m here for it. I don’t know who made the rules, but somehow cake without frosting is appropriate at any time and coffee cake is truly an underrated classic.
When I was brainstorming ideas for my next blog post, I knew I wanted to bring a little nostalgia to the timeline and racked my brain for inspiration. I have fond memories of snacking on this classic cinnamon streusel after school at KinderCare, or during my high school shifts at Starbucks so I knew that’s where I wanted to start. Why not combine two of my favorite childhood breakfast pastries? Coffee cake and (monstrous) Costco poppyseed muffins. Hence this almond poppyseed coffee cake was born. If you’ve never had a Costco muffin while camping, all I can say is you are missing out. They’re the same size as a small child's head and are packed with flavor. Poppyseed has always been my favorite. Now imagine those same flavors in a light fluffy cake with streusel topping and a sweet swirl… it’s heaven. The perfect accompaniment to your morning or afternoon coffee.
While this recipe will take up multiple medium-to-large bowls (sorry Mom!), it’s easy enough to whip up with a hand mixer and can be in the oven within a half hour. The crispy-sweet streusel, moist interior and flavor-packed lemon poppy swirl will leave you coming back for more. And more. And even more. Literally my husband and I ate a whole pan of this coffee cake over the course of the week. It’s addictive. I hope you enjoy as much as I did!
Almond Poppyseed Coffee Cake
Streusel Topping
1 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cubed
Lemon Poppyseed Swirl
3 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp and 1 tsp poppy seeds
Almond Poppy Cake
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tsp poppy seeds
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter (12 tbsp)
1/4 vegetable oil
1 1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 eggs, room temperature
Recipe:
Preheat your oven to 325°F. Butter and flour a 13 x 9 baking dish. I used a ceramic baker.
In a large bowl, make your streusel topping. Whisk together your flour sugar, poppyseeds, and salt. Add in your butter, gently tossing all the cubes to be coated. Smush the butter cubes between your thumbs and pointer fingers, mashing and breaking the butter into crumbles until you get a texture of tiny pebbles. The topping should look crumbly, with no large pieces of butter. Set mixture aside.
In a small bowl, mix together your poppyseed swirl, combining your lemon zest, sugar, and poppyseeds. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients for your cake including flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.
In a separate medium bowl, or large measuring cup, combine your sour cream, almond milk, vanilla, and almond extract.
In a stand mixer (or large bowl and hand mixer), beat together your butter, oil, and granulated sugar on medium-high until mixture has grown in size and become light and fluffy. This will usually take about 3-5 minutes. Scrape down the sides with a spatula and then beat again for another 30 seconds.
Reduce the mixer speed to very low and add in your eggs, one at a time. Let each one emulsify into the batter before adding another. Scrape down the sides to ensure a smooth batter.
Next, alternate adding your wet and dry ingredients; begin and end with the flour mixture. Start with one third of the dry ingredients and slowly mix in until the flour disappears. Next, add in your almond-sour cream liquid, and continue to alternate back and forth. After adding the last of your flour, use your spatula to scrape down the sides once again, and beat for a final 20 seconds. Fold in your poppy seeds.
Pour half of your cake batter into the prepared baking dish, spreading with an offset spatula until flat. Sprinkle your lemon poppyseed swirl over the top, evenly.
Finally dollop the remaining batter over your poppyseed mixture, spreading until you have an even surface. Sprinkle your streusel toppings over the entire cake.
Bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. It’s okay if the middle of the cake still looks a little jiggly, you are just looking for that clean tester/toothpick. Let cake cool for one hour before digging in (you’ll get cleaner slices). Bon Appetit!
