Part danish, part coffee cake, this Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake is a delicious way to enjoy breakfast…or better yet, brunch!
I’d estimate that at least 1/3 of the conversations in our house center around food. Sure, there’s the usual conversations about what we’re going to have for dinner. (The answer to that – at least in my perfect world – is always grilled hamburgers or pizza.) But we often find ourselves in other food conversations, too. “What if you used this leftover spinach in a bread recipe?” Thus, the Spinach Artichoke Bread. “What if I take the flavors of a reuben sandwich, but used them in a different way?” Thus, the Braided Reuben Bread.
Well, the other day, Laura and I got to talking about favorite breakfast foods. I absolutely love breakfast – like I go to bed at night thinking about the next morning’s breakfast. Laura? Not so much. However, she does have a soft spot for a classic danish pastry. The cream cheese filling has always been one of her favorites. Coffee cakes and cinnamon rolls are my personal favorites. In fact, there have been years when I requested a coffee cake instead of a birthday cake. Truth! So with that in mind, I set out to combine a danish pastry with a coffee cake. And that’s the story behind this Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake.
Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake
Raspberry Danish Coffee CakeFor this coffee cake, I started with my go-to coffee cake recipe. I’ve used this base recipe a number of times, and I’ll add different spices or even fruits to mix it up. It’s a classic coffee cake, and it’s delicious. (Of course, the brown sugar – cinnamon streusel on top is what seals the deal for that cake!) Then I whipped up a simple danish filling of sorts. I wanted to add some fruit flavor to this cake, so I mixed some raspberry jam into the danish filling.
When making classic cheese danishes, the filling is spooned into the center of the pastry. I used that same technique here, and then I topped the filling with the brown sugar – cinnamon streusel. Everything looked good when it went into the oven, but then something unexpected happened. As this Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake baked, the danish filling + the streusel sunk into the middle. Apparently the weight of these ingredients was too much.
When I first opened the oven to check on this cake, I was dismayed. I thought it was ruined. The center was all sunken in while the outside baked up as expected. But I stuck with it just to see what would happen. I was 99% sure I would be going back to the drawing board with this recipe. However, I was pleasantly surprised once I cut a slice of this finished cake. Sure, the middle stayed sunken in a bit. But so what? Laura and I both took bites and gave this one a 2-thumbs up.
Next time, I might omit the streusel topping to reduce some of the weight in the center. Oh, who am I kidding? I can’t leave out the streusel! A coffee cake without a streusel is like bacon without a sizzle. It’s required! So with that in mind, the next time I make this cake I might sprinkle the streusel around the edge of the cake and leave the danish filling alone in the center. I think that might work! No matter how you make this cake, I can promise the flavors are delicious. Grab a cup of coffee and sit down with a slice of this Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake. Cheers!
Did you make this Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’m curious how you topped your version!
Raspberry Danish Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the Streusel
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 3 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
For the Coffee Cake
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1¼ cups sour cream
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz. cream cheese softened
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup raspberry jam
For the Glaze
- 1½ cups powdered sugar
- 3 Tbsp milk
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
For the Streusel
- Using a medium bowl, add sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg; stir until well combined.
- Add the melted butter; stir until well combined.
- Add the flour; stir until well combined. Set Streusel aside.
For the Coffee Cake
- 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 sugars and butter until light and fluffy (~2-3 minutes on medium speed).
- Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition.
- 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.
- Spread batter evenly into prepared pan.
- Using a small bowl, add all of the ingredients for the cream cheese filling (cream cheese, sugar, egg and jam); mix until well combined. Pour mixture on top of dough, leaving a 1½” border around outside.
- Crumble streusel mixture evenly on top of cream cheese filling. (Note: See comments in post. Another idea would be to spread streusel on top of dough portion rather than the cream cheese portion.)
- Bake at 350°F for 55 minutes. Tent the top of the cake with foil and continue baking for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into cake comes out mostly clean. (Note: Insert the toothpick into the cake portion rather than the cream cheese filling portion.)
- Place cake on cooling rack for at least 30 minutes before removing sides of pan.
- Using a medium bowl, add all of the glaze ingredients; whisk together until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cake before slicing.
Looking for more delicious coffee cake recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
How fun it must be in your house especially all the food conversations. I love how you are so inventive and come up with great ideas. Coffee cake is a great reason to eat cake for breakfast! 🙂 And I totally agree with you – it must have the streusel topping! This looks delicious!
Haha – we do talk about food a lot around here. There are a lot of ideas that get discussed but never make their way into reality…but as soon as we talked about combining coffee cake and danish? That had to happen! 🙂 Thanks, Kathy!
Oh my goodness! Wow! Just wow! A streusel topped coffee cake WITH a creamy filling! Gosh! I so firing up my drone now – so save me a slice! And am so glad you posted this with that sunken center – kinda gives it character as a coffee cake! Also this lune “ A coffee cake without a streusel is like bacon without a sizzle” gave me a good chuckle!
Happy weekend, my friend!
Haha – thanks, Shashi! There really is a lot going on with this coffee cake. It’s so good, too! (Well, it WAS so good. Hah.) This was a great combination of one of Laura’s favorites with one of my favorites – and it was a fun excuse to get into the kitchen to play around a bit, too. Hope you have a great week ahead, my friend!
I love a good coffee cake, and the fact that you’ve made a danish-style cake is just genius! And I agree, streusel is a MUST for coffee cake!! Have a fantastic weekend, David!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I really did have a lot of fun playing around with this idea – after all, isn’t that what the holidays are all about? Baking and then enjoying the fruits of your labor? 🙂
Your home sounds kinda like ours!! We’re pretty much talking about food a good chunk of the time. I just love it too much, LOL. Speaking of which, this cake! Wowzers! What a beauty … and I bet it tastes even better!! Happy weekend, my friend 🙂
Haha – I knew you would identify with us talking about food all the time, Dawn! (And when it’s not food, it’s wine or bourbon.) I had a lot of fun “inventing” this coffee cake – and trust me when I say it didn’t last long here!
Truth! Food conversation inspire. I’ve developed many recipes inspired by Andrew’s ideas (I just don’t give him a credit for that lol.) This coffee cake looks and sounds splendid, and every single element is spot on. Love the addition of nutmeg and cream cheese. And if you use a cranberry (lingonberry) jam, this would be a perfect Christmas cake (It’s perfect with raspberries too. And yes, after many years of confusion and a plenty of coffee cake recipes on your blog, I’ve finally learned my lesson, and don’t expect to find coffee in the ingredient list. Now you should confuse me again and include espresso into your next coffee cake 🙂 Maybe like a tiramisu coffee cake?
You know, if we relied on my own creativity for recipes, then we would end up with a lot of coffee cakes. Delicious for sure, but you can’t exactly keep posting the same recipe, can you? 🙂
Also, a tiramisu coffee cake sounds amazing! I might need to figure out how to make that now. Great idea, sir!
I hear ya, David! I’d say at least 1/3 of our conversations are about food, lol!
What a swoon-worthy coffee cake, David. Loving the raspberry and that streusel top. What a perfect holiday breakfast idea!
Thanks so much, Marissa! I’m glad Laura gave me the idea to combine breakfast danish with coffee cake – this was a fun baking adventure, for sure! 🙂
I LOVE the idea of mixing up the flavours of coffee cake and danish! Especially since I love coffee cake and I love danishes – how could I possibly go wrong making this dessert? And yes, I very much enjoy talking about food too so definitely can relate to the conversations you’re having at home – how fun. Thanks for the ongoing inspiration, David!
I’m with ya, Katerina! Coffee cake is one of my all-time favorite treats, so I’m pretty much always game to bake one up. This version was a fun twist on the classic, and it didn’t last long around here! 🙂 Hope you have a great week ahead, my friend!
i spend so much of my time thinking about food, reading about it, talking about it and eating it. a great joy! your cake sounds delicious, david.
I’m with ya, Sherry! Food definitely brings us great joy, too – and that includes more than just eating it. It’s a shared language for sure!
I need my coffee in the morning. It’s one of the things I most look forward to with my breakfast. But cake and coffee combined at breakfast? Now that’s my idea of a perfect breakfast! Love the streusel topping here. I definitely wouldn’t leave it out either!
Haha – Robbie keeps getting confused about the concept of coffee cake, too. “But why is it called coffee cake if there’s no coffee in it?” “Well, it’s because we eat it with coffee – and it’s an excuse to eat cake for breakfast!” 🙂 Thanks, Neil!
I really like the look of this cake, the shape of it and the decoration. I’d love to try a slice of this, anything with raspberries is always a winner!
Thanks so much, Caroline!! I agree with you on raspberries, too. The only problem is I usually eat them all before I bake with them. Haha!
Danish and Coffee Cake combo that sounds great! I love that filling. BTW I do have the same thoughts at night, thinking what will I have for breakfast, but I do think of what I will have or lunch and dinner as well :p
Haha – I hear ya, Raymund! If I’m not eating food, then chances are I’m thinking about it. 🙂 And this coffee cake was quite indeed tasty – a fun baking adventure for sure!