Cherry Coffee Cake from Gather Around the Amish Table Cookbook

I woke up on the weekend after reading the Gather Around the Amish Table Cookbook and I was inspired to start cooking some of the recipes. (see full review for the whole book here)

I decided to start with the cherry coffee cake because I had all the ingredients and it was still breakfast time so it would be fun to have a breakfast treat.

I pulled out all the ingredients just to be super sure that I had everything that I thought that I did in the new kitchen.  The only thing that I was running really low on was stick butter so I used a little of the coconut oil Melt that I got.  I love the flavor of coconut oil but I tried it on some things and it wasn't what I expected.  I have been using it in my loaves of bread which have been really tasty so I figured that this would be perfect for this recipe.

 I measured the butter and sugar and put them in the mixing bowl.

I creamed the butter and sugar until they were incorporated.

Then, I started adding the eggs one at a time.

I added the dry ingredients to the mixture.

Then, I mixed the batter together.  It made a thick batter but I expected it to be a little thicker like cookie batter so I sat down to try to remember if I missed any flour but after a few seconds of pondering, I was sure that I counted right.  If your cake turns out different, let me know because I didn't put in the right measurement of flour.

I greased the pan and spread the layer across the pan.  It said to use 2/3 and I am not sure how close I got but it seemed like I was pretty close.

I opened up the can of cherry pie filling with my can opener and spread it across the batter.  It looked so good and I wanted to steal a cherry but I left them all there....I might have licked the spatula with the cherry goodness.

Then came the hardest step (other then not eating the canned cherries with a fork), putting the batter on top by spoonfuls.  I figured that it didn't have to be pretty so here is what mine looked like in the new oven and ready to bake.

The top spread out really nicely while cooking to make a wonderful finished product.  Mine took a little on the longer side to start to brown (although the recipe said nothing about browning but I thought it would look better).

The top was very pretty with the cherry peaking out but it wasn't a lot because the dough on top spread out a lot in the baking process.

We ate a few sliced hot out of the oven and a few after they cooled off and a few the next day.  I think that this is one treat that does taste better cooled off and maybe even the next day.  They were tasty and interesting because I was still thinking that it was going to turn out more like a sugar cookie with cherries in the middle but this was a nice big slice of cake that had great flavor.  When served hot, I thought that cake was a little dry but after you let it sit (like you are supposed to but I never have patience for), the moisture soaks into the cake.  It was like a really good shortcake recipe that you could make ahead almost as tasty as a pound cake without being as heavy.

I hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.  I would like to share but there is none left.  

The recipe called for an icing glaze which I thought might be nice but my husband doesn't like icing so we tried it just as it was.  I hope that you try it and let me know what you think with or without the glaze!

Cherry Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 can cherry pie filling (21 oz)

Cream the butter and sugar. Add eggs, one at a time. Beat well after each. Add vanilla. Blend in remaining ingredients except cherry pie filling including flour, baking powder and salt. Spread 2/3 of dough in a greased 9 x 13 pan. Cover with pie filling and spoon the rest of the batter on top. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350° F or until golden brown.

Glaze (optional):

1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoon milk

Gradually add the powdered sugar to the melted butter, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides frequently. Then add the milk (use warm milk to make thin consistency), 1 tbsp at a time until the glaze is smooth. Drizzle over warm coffeecake.

Other options:  Bake in a jelly roll pan (10½" x 15½") for a thinner coffee cake which will feed more people if serving a crowd.  Bake for 20 to 30 minutes at 350° F or until golden brown.