Almond Streusel Cake

Feeling very much in the mood for something fresh-baked today, I poked around on my cookbook shelf until my eyes fell upon this forgotten gem.

A tattered old recipe card from—gracious, could it be?—the first year of my marriage!

An oldie (like me) but a goodie.

This coffee cake is dee-licious, friends. So moist! So yummy! Bake it up, you won't regret it. Better yet, have your hubby make it for you.

~ Almond Streusel Cake ~

Streusel

1 C. firmly packed brown sugar

1 C. sliced almonds (more or less)

¼ C. all-purpose flour

3 T. melted butter or margarine
(but I never use margarine)

1 tsp. grated orange zest

Cake

½ C. (1 stick) butter, softened.
(You could use margarine. Don’t.)

½ C. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. grated orange zest

½ tsp. vanilla
(I always use more.)

2 C. all-purpose flour
(or 1 C. white and 1 C. wheat)

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

2/3 C. orange juice

Glaze

½ C. confectioner’s sugar

2 ½ tsp. orange juice

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9- or 10-inch tube pan. (Otherwise known as an angel-food cake pan.)

2. Mix your streusel together in a bowl until it’s crumbly.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, and then add the orange zest & vanilla.

(Don’t skip the orange zest! Just…don’t. Get a zester if you have to—they’re cheap—and then chop up the strips into bite-sized bits.)

(Trust me. The chopping is both fun and therapeutic.)

4. In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Alternately add the flour mix and the orange juice into your egg mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.

5. Spoon half of the batter into your prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the streusel. Top with the remaining batter and streusel.

6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the glaze.

7. Carefully turn the cake out onto a serving plate and drizzle with the cake.

8. Serve with coffee, tea or cold milk…or cut off a piece and eat it right there. You deserve some pampering, Mom!

Here is a printable version of the recipe: Almond Streusel Cake

Love from the North Star State!



Ed. Note: I am cross-posting this to my cooking blog, just to be anal. Also, in today's recipe I did substitute one cup of white whole wheat flour and I couldn't even tell. Better yet, nor could the children.