Before we hop into today’s recipe for a delicious Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, I stumbled across some fun facts about strawberries that I thought might be fun to share.
Strawberries aren’t actually berries. Yup, you read that right. Berries have seeds on the inside, and strawberries have seeds on the outside. Instead strawberries are called a “false fruit” by botanists. Oh, and grapes? Those qualify as berries. So grapes are berries, and strawberries are not. Got it.Speaking of those seeds, strawberries have an average of 200 seeds each. And get this – each seed is considered to be a separate fruit.In parts of rural Bavaria (Germany), some folks still tie small baskets of wild strawberries to the horns of cattle. The tradition arises from the belief that the strawberries will attract elves who will then use their magic powers to ensure healthy calves and plentiful milk. Fun facts to know and share!
Switching gears from fun strawberry facts, let’s talk about a delicious way to use some of those berries…err, “false fruits.” I absolutely love coffee cake in all forms and styles. My mother makes a fantastic that has been a staple recipe in our house since, well, forever.
I recently hit the kitchen with an idea of combining breakfast Danish with coffee cake. The result was this Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. It’s quite tasty! I simply spread a cream cheese filling in between layers of coffee cake batter. Add in some diced strawberries and crumble a generous amount of streusel on top, and you’ve got a really fun breakfast (or brunch…or dessert) idea for summer!
Robbie, our 7-year-old son, was kinda skeptical of this Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake because he thought he didn’t like cream cheese. I told him to take a bite with some of the cream cheese, some of the coffee cake and some of the streusel. (He normally likes to deconstruct his food…) He was quiet for a minute, and when I looked back over, his plate was clean. Yup, this recipe is kid and adult-approved!
If you’re looking for a fun and tasty recipe using fresh strawberries, put this Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake on the list – Happy baking!
This Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake is a cross between a breakfast Danish and a coffee cake – it's a delicious way to celebrate fresh strawberry season!
5 from 5 votes
Prep Time: 20 minutes minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour hour 20 minutes minutes
Total Time: 1 hour hour 40 minutes minutes
Servings: 16
Calories: 378 kcal
Using a medium bowl, add sugars, cinnamon and salt; stir until well combined.
Add the melted butter; stir until well combined.
Add the flour; stir until well combined. Set mixture aside.
Using a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sugar and egg; set mixture aside.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease and flour (or spray with nonstick spray) a 9” springform pan; set pan aside.
Using a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt until well combined; set mixture aside.
Using a countertop mixer, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed).
Add eggs; mix on low speed until well combined.
Add vanilla, lemon juice and sour cream; mix on low speed until well combined.
Add dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on low until just combined.
Using an offset spatula, spread ~½ of the batter into greased cake pan. (Note: the batter will be thick, but still spreadable.)
Add the cream cheese filling (from above), leaving a 1” border around the edge. Top with 1 cup of sliced strawberries.
Add the remaining batter and top with the remaining ½ cup of sliced strawberries.
Crumble streusel on top of batter. (Tip: Leave some bigger chunks of streusel on top!)
Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. Open oven and tent the top of the cake with a piece of tin foil to prevent the streusel from burning. Continue baking for another 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out mostly clean.
Place cake on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before releasing springform pan and slicing cake.
