Cranberry Coffee Cake

This was an extremely spur of the moment kind of cake. Honestly it's what I needed though, since I haven't posted in quite a while. Today was my last day of school before break and it was a lovely half day. And luckily, that means I get the house to myself for quite awhile when I get home and it is the best atmosphere. While listening to the entire Wedding Singer soundtrack, I was able to make a cranberry coffee cake.



I brought this cake to my grandparents house later that night and we all ate it blissfully. Even my dad, the pickiest eater known to man(no exaggeration here), ate it and liked it! Now that is saying something!

I had to borrow sour cream from a neighbor, so this cake almost didn't happen! But thank goodness it did. This is the first time I have ever baked with cranberries and I was really nervous. Joy the Baker never steers anyone wrong, so I knew I could trust her recipe.



While we ate our fabulous cake, so many stories were shared at the table. It was a really nice get together since my family won't be in town for Christmas. We are going to see my 91 (almost 92 year old grandmother).

**Big mistake: I used an extra stick of butter in the batter! Oh goodness what was I thinking! Well, there was no noticeable taste difference but I wouldn't recommend it.XD.
**The cake was a good three inches high in my 13 x 9 pan.
**The taste was exactly what I would hope a coffee cake to be. It was really moist and the crumb topping was OUT of this world!
**I was so happy about the cranberry taste. It was tarty goodness!
**The crumb topping could be eaten on its own. It is that good.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

4 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

4 eggs

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup sour cream mixed with 2 Tablespoons of milk

4 cups fresh cranberries, roughly chopped

Topping:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, well-softened
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans (Optional. I left these out so I could get greater appeal from my picky eaters)
1/3 cup quick oats

Put a rack in middle oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 9×13-inch pan and set aside.

Sift together flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Combine butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl and beat with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in almond extract. Reduce speed to low and add flour mixture and sour cream mixture in alternate batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and mixing until just incorporated. Fold in cranberries. Spoon batter into baking dish and spread evenly.

For the topping, place the flour, brown sugar, nuts, cinnamon and oats in a large bowl and stir well with a wooden spoon. Work the butter into the mixture with your fingertips until evenly distributed. Take two full handful of the topping and spread it over the cake batter. Use a knife to swirl the topping into the batter. Spread the rest of the topping evenly over the cranberry cake batter.

Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick or skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Serve in big warm slices with a cup of creamy coffee.