Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
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!
Ah, strawberries. Those beautiful red gems that signal the beginning of fresh fruit and vegetable season. Sure, you can buy strawberries year-round, but I’m talking about the local berries. The ones where you pick up the container and get hit with the most alluring smell. The ones where you can’t wait to get home and eat ’em all. Strawberries.
We often try to get out and do some u-pick fruit for the various seasons. There are bunches of farms in the Asheville area, and we’ve picked everything from strawberries to blackberries to fresh flowers (yup, flower farm!). A quick drive over the border into South Carolina last year allowed us to pick peaches, too.
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!
Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
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 overnight coffee cake 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!
Did you make this Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake at home? Leave a comment, or snap a photo and tag me on Instagram (@Spicedblog) – I’d love to see your version!
Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Ingredients
For the streusel
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter melted
- 1¾ cups all-purpose flour
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- 8 oz. cream cheese room temperature
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
For the Cake
- 1⅔ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- ¾ cup sour cream
- 1½ cups sliced fresh strawberries divided
Instructions
For the Streusel
- 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.
For the Cream Cheese Filling
- Using a small bowl, stir together the cream cheese, sugar and egg; set mixture aside.
For the 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 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.
Looking for more strawberry recipes? Check out these other favorites, too:
Cant wait to make this soon for me for the streusel can i use vegan butter / filling can i use vegan cream cheese and cake can i use vegan butter and coconut cream i never had strawberry cream cheese coffee cake before perfect for my after office snacks love your recipes as always brightens up my day everyday after work
Yes, I think the vegan substitutions would work well in this coffee cake, Ramya. It’s delicious (especially with that streusel topping!), and it’s great for this time of the year when the fresh strawberries taste SO good!
I know what you mean about strawberries from local farms – there’s one here called Washington Farms where the strawberries not only smell divine but taste so darn good. The big grocery store bought ones cannot compare! Last year I planted some strawberries, and they are all just ripening this year so next weekend when G is home I might just have to make us this coffee cake – which looks as divine as those farm-fresh/backyard strawberries! Hope y’all are keeping well!
The same goes for blueberries, too! We had a farm near us in New York that had the most amazing blueberries. I have a couple places bookmarked here that I want to check out once blueberry season arrives. In the meantime, it’s strawberry season! This coffee cake is a fantastic way to use those fresh berries. Also, I’m surprised the critters didn’t eat all of your berries – we finally had to stop growing them due to chipmunks eating them all when they were still green.
Believe it or not but just yesterday I had a thought that you hadn’t shared a coffee cake for a while. And just to be clear, “coffee cake” doesn’t confuse me anymore, so I didn’t expect to see any coffee in the ingredient 🙂 This is such a lovely combination, rich but fresh and a bit tangy. I will have a slice with my morning coffee and then another slice with my afternoon tea, if the tea is allowed 🙂
Haha – it has been some time since I shared a coffee cake. Seems unlike me, right?? Don’t worry – I’ve got another post all lined up ready to go. 🙂 This version was pretty fun since it used fresh berries. Laura loved it because it channeled the flavors of a good breakfast Danish. Tea is allowed!
This Strawberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake is the perfect way to kick off strawberry season! I love that cream cheese filling David, what a great idea! I can see why this cake is a hit with kids and adults. 😋. Also, I can’t get over the Bavarian elf attraction fact. That’s amazing! 😆
I love this time of the year! Fresh strawberries signal the beginning of a long run of fresh fruits and berries. It’s great! And since I have a strange fascination with coffee cakes, this was a tasty way to kick off strawberry season! And yes I also laughed at the Bavarian elves fact – make sure to share that one at your next get-together with friends. 🙂
sounds delightful David. cream cheese and strawberries and sour cream together are winners. But once again I had to laugh at calling this a coffee cake 🙂 Where’s the coffee? hehehe…
Haha – no coffee in this cake, Sherry! It’s meant to be eaten with coffee…although I did one time make a coffee cake with coffee in it (you know, just for fun and all). 🙂 The flavors in this cake were quite delicious!
Breakfast danish meets coffee cake? Yes please! I bet this smells as good as it tastes and looks. With rainy weather in the forecast, this is the perfect weekend baking project. I just need to put on a big pot of coffee and I’m set. 🙂
I love breakfast food! Seriously. I don’t think there is a breakfast food that I’d turn down. And one that breakfast food happens to be a combination of 2 classics like this one? Pour me another cup of that coffee, and I’m set, too! Thanks, Dawn!
I always look forward to when we can get fresh local strawberries here in Scotland, David, so I know what you mean about picking up the container and smelling them! Ours should be out soon, in a month or so. Love the cream cheese filling. Looks delicious! I’d definitely enjoy this with my morning coffee. Yum!
We’re in full-on fresh strawberry season here in the North Carolina mountains right now. I love it! And I’m just as excited for all of the other fruits that will be ripening soon, too. But since it’s strawberry season, that means it’s time to bake with strawberries! This coffee cake was a fun twist, and it was quite tasty!
Mind blown about strawberry seeds, I had no idea!
Even though we just finished breakfast, I’m hungry again after looking at these photos! Absolutely mouthwatering, David!
I know! Who would’ve thought strawberry seeds are so interesting. 🙂 I do love breakfast food, and this coffee cake was a fun combination of two classics! Thanks, Marissa!
Definitely when strawberry season comes in where I am, this definitely is the best way celebrating it, making this delcious coffee cake!
I do love a good coffee cake, and this one is great for fresh strawberry season! Definitely save it for when the fresh berries come in. 🙂