Strawberry Sour Cream Streusel Cake
Published July 20, 2004
Craig Lee for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
FOR THE STRAWBERRY PURÉE
8 ounces strawberries
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
FOR THE CAKE
Vegetable oil, for pan
¾ cup sugar
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
12 tablespoons (1 ½ sticks) cold butter, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup sour cream
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING
2 teaspoons Demerara or turbinado sugar
Preparation
- Step 1
Prepare strawberry purée: In a blender, combine strawberries and jam. Make a paste of cornstarch and vanilla, and add to blender. Purée until smooth.Set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare cake: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Oil a 9-inch springform pan and set aside. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Sprinkle in butter cubes and rub them in by hand until mixture resembles large coarse crumbs. Remove ½ cup and set it aside. To large bowl, add sour cream,egg and vanilla. Mix well.
- Step 3
Using a little over half the cake batter, drop dollops of batter into pan. Pat batter across bottom of pan and about 1 inch up sides; mixture will be very sticky and somewhat uneven. Add strawberry purée, making an even layer across bottom of pan and leaving a rim of dough above it. Cover with remaining cake mixture.
- Step 4
Prepare crumble topping: In a medium bowl, combine reserved ½ cup dough and Demerara sugar. Stir with a fork to mix. Sprinkle evenly over cake.
- Step 5
Bake cake until lightly golden, about 45 minutes. Cool completely before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
This was delicious but I wasn't sure it would turn out that way. The batter is very thick and sticky, almost like dough, though not hard to pat across the bottom of the pan. However the puree was very liquidy. Thick, sticky batter doesn't spread over a soft liquid surface. The batter and the puree just got mixed together as I tried to distribute the batter on top of the puree. I thought it would be a disaster but in the end it worked out great and everyone loved it.
Made a half recipe of this. It fits well in a 6" dia springform pan. I used canned apricot halves and apricot jam for the puree. Also diced up some dried apricots, then macerated overnight with a little Cointreau, to go on top of the puree. Swapped out 1 tsp vanilla with almond extract and added sliced almonds to the crumble topping. Got raves from the friend I made it for -- she says it needs to be in the permanent rotation.
I made the recipe as is and it was great - a big hit at a brunch. Here's my tip - coat a spoon with oil or cooking spray to make spreading the batter easier. Also, I just dropped spoonfuls of batter on top of the strawberry mixture and didn't try to spread it - that was not going to work. This meant that the batter did not fully cover the strawberry mixture. But, not to worry b/c I sprinkled the crumb topping over the whole cake and it filled in where the batter did not go. Success!
The recipe is written almost like a scone, so I treated it as such and used my Cuisinart to cut in the cold butter to the dry ingredients, and it worked beautifully. I substituted peaches for the strawberries and having no jam, just added a little sugar and extra peaches (weighing them out I actually think it was three times the mass of the strawberries recommended). I did cook them down on the stove with the cornstarch and sugar and a tiny bit of water just to get it to dissolve, but I tried to cook a lot of the moisture off on the stove first. I then refrigerated that along with the dry/ butter ingredients and baked it all off in the morning. I did not experience the butter oozing out of the pan I think because I chilled all my ingredients again, like a scone the butter should be cold when you bake it. Use a flax replacement because I’m egg intolerant. Had to bake it for an hour and 15.
For those who are plant-based, I adapted this recipe with fantastic results. I used non-dairy yogurt I had on hand (1-5.3 oz Siggi’s Vanilla Cinnamon high protein yogurt plus homemade thick soy yogurt I wanted to use up). For egg, subbed 3 T Aquafaba whisked slightly by hand with 1/4 t cream of tartar and used Country Crock plant based sticks for butter. Cut sugar to 2/3 c since the Siggi’s yogurt was sweetened. The batter looked a bit scant for a 9 inch pan so I used my 8 inch springform instead, which worked perfectly (I did have a small amount of puree leftover). Chilling the assembled cake for 20 minutes worked well. I think this helped the crumb topping stay crisper and more defined. This was excellent!! I wanted to share my revisions for those who are vegan or serving vegan guests. This recipe adapted well!
Recipe wasn’t hard per se but did use several dishes/bowls/utensils. The cake itself, made according to instructions, turned out delicious. I was doubtful about the texture of the batter which was notoriously difficult to press into a neat layer, but ultimately used my spatula and fingers to pat it into place. I still couldn’t form an even layer though. I do agree that the batter needs a pinch of salt. The cake, when sliced turned out exactly like the picture, with a thin line of strawberry running through the center. Was a hit with my in-laws.