Coffee Cakes for Gifts

These are wonderful to make as gifts, or to make for your family for the holiday weekend.

Brioche dough (make the day before you plan to assemble the cakes)

1/2 cup warm water (105 to 115 F)

1 package dry yeast

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup butter softened

6 eggs

4 1/2 cups of flour

Sprinkle yeast over warm water in a large bowl of a stand mixer. Stir until dissolved. Add sugar, salt, butter, eggs, and 3 cups of flour. At medium speed beat for 4 minutes. Add remaining flour at low speed and beat until smooth about 2 minutes. Place in greased food storage container–at least 4 quart size–and put in the refrigerator overnight.

Streusel topping

1 cup firm butter

1 1/2 cups flour

1 cup white or brown sugar

Process in the bowl of a food processor until thoroughly combined. You will need to press it in your hands to make it clump together.

Cream cheese filling

3–8 oz packages of cream cheese

3 eggs

3/4 cup of sugar

Add ingredients to food processor and process until smooth. Pour into measuring cup–you should have about 4 cups of filling.

You will need either fruit jam–whatever flavor you like, or 2 cans Solo Pastry filling. I am making 2 cherry and 2 apricot coffee cakes.

Get a 10″ spring form pan and spray it well with baking spray. Weigh out 13 ounces of brioche dough and press it into the pan and up the sides. The dough is very sticky so you spray your hands or the dough with baking spray. Put the remaining dough back in the refrigerator.

Spread 1 cup of the cream cheese filling evenly over the bottom of the cake. Cover measuring cup with plastic wrap and put the cream cheese filling in the refrigerator.

Drop teaspoonfuls of filling or jam over the cream cheese filling–you will use about 1/2 a can.

Pinch the streusel topping into large crumbs and sprinkle over the top of the fillings.

Heat your oven to 175 degrees. When it has reached this temperature, turn off the oven and place the cake in the oven to rise for about an hour.

Heat to the oven to 350 degrees and bake the cake for 40 minutes until golden brown.

Allow to sit for about 10 minutes and remove the ring from the spring form pan.

Allow to cool for another 30 minutes and using a spatula remove the bottom of the pan from the cake. Once the cake is completely cooled, place on a cardboard round to give as a gift or on a plate. Wrap in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator.

Here it is dressed up as a gift.