Lemon Raspberry Coffee Cake

Hey there–  This coffee cake was inevitable.  Andi from next door dropped by with a big bag of lemons.  There were leftover raspberries moldering in the fridge.  Then I ran across this pretty coffee cake on Pinterest.  It all came together for a tender tart fruity cake warm from the oven.  I think it will show up again soon around here…

LEMON RASPBERRY COFFEE CAKE

Streusel:
1/ 2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)

Cake:
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
2  1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup unflavored yogurt
1/4 cup canola oil
1 egg
2 tab. lemon juice
1 tab. finely grated lemon peel
1  1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Glaze:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tab. lemon juice

To make the streusel, mix together the 1/2 cup sugar and 1/3 cup flour in a small mixing bowl.  Then cut in the 1/4 cup butter with a pastry blender (or two forks).  Set aside.

For the cake, in a mixing bowl stir together the 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.  Then add the milk, yogurt, oil, egg, lemon juice and grated lemon peel and stir it all until it is blended together.  Then gently fold in the raspberries.

Spoon the batter into a 9″ cake pan (or I used a 10″ tart pan) and then sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.  Pop it into a 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes.

After you pull the cake from the oven, let it cool 10 or 15 minutes and then drizzle the glaze over the top.  Beautiful– and ready to eat!

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Pecan Pie Coffee Cake

Hello– I love those industrial size bags of pecans from Costco.  A couple years, my mom has given me Costco bags of pecans and walnuts for a birthday gift (she knows what I love!) and it feels luxurious having all those nuts ahead in the cupboard.  Sad to say, making this cake, I poured out at the last dregs of pecans. Time to restock!

And the cake– sweet and rich because you poke holes in the baked cake to let the “pie sauce” seep down inside.  And then there’s all those pecans!!  Perfect for breakfast coffee, or add a scoop of ice cream for a fine dessert.

PECAN PIE COFFEE CAKE

Cake:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick), room temperature
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unflavored yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1  1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup buttermilk*

Topping:
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped
1 egg
garnish:  powdered sugar

To make the cake, beat together the 1/4 cup butter, sugar, yogurt, egg and vanilla with an electric mixture until it’s smooth.  Then beat in the flour, baking powder  and salt.  Finally beat in the buttermilk.

Spoon the batter into a 9″ cake pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Put it into a 350 degree  oven for 30 to 35 minutes, until it is firm to the touch.

For the topping, mix together the corn syrup, brown sugar, melted butter, pecans and egg until it’s thoroughly blended.

Poke holes into the cake with the handle end of a wooden spoon.  Then drizzle the pecan topping over the cake, letting the syrupy part fill in the holes.

Pop the cake with the topping back into the 350 degree oven for 10 minutes more. Sprinkle powdered sugar over the cake sifting through a sieve.   Delicious served warm from the oven!

*If you don’t keep buttermilk (who does?), pour 2 tab. cider vinegar in your measuring cup and add milk to make 3/4 cup.  Let it sit a few minutes to thicken.

Blueberry Streusel Coffee Cake

Hi friends– This is not the first blueberry cake to cross paths with this blog.  It’s an old favorite of mine and when I saw this streusel-ly version I jumped right on it.

I’m taking it to “Snack’n’Yak”.  Our group at church skips class time this first Sunday of the year.  We all just bring food and catch up after the busy Christmas break– hear all the news about kids come home for Christmas, about celebrations and about plans ahead for the New Year.  I’m looking forward to it…

BLUEBERRY STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

Streusel:
1/4 cup melted butter (4 tab.)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped fine

Cake:
1/2 cup sugar
6 tab. canola oil
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup flour
1  1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cup blueberries, divided*

Glaze:
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tab. milk

To make the streusel, melt the butter in the microwave.  Then stir in the 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar and walnuts.  Set aside.

For the cake, stir together the sugar, oil, sour cream, milk, egg and vanilla.  Then mix in the flour baking powder and salt.

Scoop the batter into a 9″ or 10″ cake pan than has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle 1 cup of the berries one the batter.  Then with your fingers, sprinkle the streusel over the top.  Take the remaining blueberries and distribute them over the streusel.

Pop the coffee cake into a 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes until it is firm to the touch and cooked through.

While the cake is cooling, whisk together the powdered sugar and milk for the glaze.  Add one tab. of the milk first and if it seems too thick, add a bit more.  Drizzle it over the cooled cake and you are ready to eat it up!

*I used Trader Joe’s tiny organic frozen berries.  I like how they look pretty on a cake.

Creamy Citrus Cake

Hey there– In the grayish days of winter, we could all use a little sunshine– like this bright orange/lemon little coffee cake.

There’s lots of baking around here– so I try to have just one piece of what comes out of the oven and share the rest around.  But this cake stayed on our counter and I ate most of it– inch by inch, lemony nibble by nibble, every time I walked by in the kitchen.  It didn’t take long to polish it off!  It’s a good cake.

CREAMY CITRUS CAKE

Topping:
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
3 tab. butter
powdered sugar for dusting

Cream Cheese Layer:
8 oz. cream cheese–at room temperature*
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1  1/2 tsp. lemon juice

Cake Layer:
1  1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup yogurt
1 egg
grated peel of 1 lemon & 1 orange
3 tab. lemon juice

To make the crumb topping– Mix together the flour & sugar.  Then cut int he butter with a pastry blender or 2 forks until it looks like coarse crumbs.  Set aside.

To make the cream cheese layer– with an electric mixer beat together the cream cheese and sugar.  Then beat in the egg and lemon juice.  Set aside.

To make the cake layer– Stir together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar.  Then mix in the oil, yogurt, egg, orange & lemon peel and the lemon juice.

Spoon the batter in to a 9″ square or round pan** that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Then spread the cream cheese layer evenly over the cake batter.  Top it all by sprinkling the crumb mixture over the top of it all.

Pop it into the oven at 350 degrees for 34 to 40 minutes, until it’s firm to the touch.

Let the cake cool just a bit and then dust the top of the cake with powdered sugar shaken through sieve.  Delish with mugs of tea– hope you like it!

*If your cream cheese is coming out of the fridge, take off the wrapper and microwave it for jut 5 or 6 seconds to warm it up a bit.
**I used  10 1/2″ tart pan– so it’s flatter cake, and the cooking time was a couple minutes less.

Cranberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Hello there– I made a couple of these coffee cakes for a Thanksgiving breakfast with about 30 girl friends from church.  It was a grand morning.  They all streamed talking and laughing and pulling out phones to show the the latest grand-kid pics.

We sat down to breakfast all over the house and spilling out from room to room.  Then Sue and Carol tuned up their violin and guitar for some sweet Thanksgiving hymns and we talked and prayed through all our Thanksgiving blessings.  I love those friends– so thankful.

CRANBERRY CREAM CHEESE COFFEE CAKE

Cranberry topping:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tab. cornstarch
1  1/2 cup fresh cranberries
1/2 cup water

Cream cheese layer:
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg

Cake layer:
1  cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

Make the cranberry topping first.  Stir together the 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch in a stove top pan until the cornstarch is all dissolved into the sugar.  Then drop in the cranberries and water and bring it to a simmer stirring for 5 or 6 minutes until the cranberries all pop their skins and the sauce thickens.

Set it aside to cool.  (I put it in another cool pan and stuck in the fridge to cool– just because I’m impatient!)

Next, make the cream cheese layer.  With an electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese, 1 egg and 1/4 cup sugar until it’s smooth.  Set that aside as well.

For the cake, Stir together the 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder and salt.  Then mix in the oil, sour cream, egg and vanilla.

Spray a 10″ round pan or a 9″ square (I used my 11″ flatter tart pan) with cooking spray.  Then spoon the cake batter into the pan.

Gently scoop the cream cheese mixture over the cake batter.  Then drizzle the cranberry sauce over the top of the cream cheese layer.

Put it into the oven at 350 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes.

Orange Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake

Hello friends–  There’s a reason I love coffee cakes– They’re easy and homey and always good with mugs of tea (or possibly coffee, being “coffee cake”!!)   This one has a lot to recommend it– a pronounced citrusy flavor, tiny bits of sweet chocolate, and that crumbly, nutty streusel over the top. Yogurt makes it moist.  It’s pretty darn good!

ORANGE CHOCOLATE STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE

Streusel:
1  cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1 cup walnuts (or pecans), chopped

Cake:
3 cups flour
1 1/3 cups sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1  1/2 cups unflavored yogurt
1  1/2 tsp. vanilla
grated peel of one orange
1/4 cup orange juice
1 cup mini chocolate chips*

To make the streusel, stir together the brown sugar and 1/2 cup flour.  Then cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or use a food processor if you don’t mind cleaning it all up!) until it’s like coarse sand.  Mix in the walnuts and set it aside.

For the cake, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.  Then mix in the oil, eggs, yogurt and vanilla.  Finally blend in the orange peel, orange juice and chocolate chips.

Spoon the batter into a 9″x13″ baking dish (or I used an 11″ spring form pan) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  The sprinkle the streusel over the top.

Pop it into the oven at 35o degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, until it is firm to the touch.

Honey Pecan Oatmeal Cake

Hello there–  What’s more warming and wholesome than a big bowl of oatmeal for breakfast?  My Larry has Olympian size bowls of oats most mornings for to start off this day.  And I occasionally brew up a bowl of my own.

But when Glenda asked me to bring along something for breakfast with friends at her house one Saturday morning I knew I couldn’t just be oatmeal in a bowl. So I did they only thing that made sense– Oatmeal in a cake!  Not too sweet and oatmeal hearty.  Just about right for a sunny fall breakfast with friends around the table.

HONEY PECAN OATMEAL CAKE
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup butter, melted
2 tab. light corn syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 cup old fashioned oats
1  1/2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup shopped pecans (again)
1  1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk*
1/4 cup butter, melted
1  1/2 tsp. vanilla
extra honey to drizzle on the cake

In a small bowl combine the 1/2 cup honey, the 1/3 cup melted butter, corn syrup and 1/2 cup of the pecans.  Pour this mixture into a 9″ or 10″ cake pan sprayed with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.  Then mix in the eggs, buttermilk, 1/4 cup melted butter and vanilla.  The batter will be a little lumpy (in the nicest sort of way).

Carefully spoon the batter over the top of the of the pecan mixture in the cake pan, spreading it evenly.

Bake up the cake in a 350 degree oven for 30 to 35 minutes until the cake is cooked through and firm to the touch.

Then immediately invert the cake pan on to a pretty plate.  Scoop any pecan mixture that sticks to the pan and add it to the cake.  Drizzle a little extra honey on the cake if you want it to be extra good.  Best eaten with friends!

*If you don’t have that a carton of buttermilk in your fridge, just pour 2 tab. of cider vinegar into your measuring cup and fill with milk to the 2/3 mark.  Let is sit a couple minutes to thicken.

Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

 

Hello friends– this little coffeecake comes to you thanks to an earthquake.  It’s a long story.  But after our recent big shake here in California, another school in town was closed and their students moved in with us.  We went from 315 to 800 students overnight!

So it seemed like everyone had the same idea– fill the teacher’s room with goodies every day to keep us all going.  This was my little contribution to the “Welcome Fanning School Food Fest!”  We nibbled our way through the first week together with those intrepid Fanning teachers and bonded over bagels and berry cakes. It’s gone just fine.

BLUEBERRY SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

Streusel:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1  1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup (or more if you love almonds like I do) slice almonds

Cake:
3/4 cup canola oil
1  1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tab. vanilla
1  1/3 cup sour cream
2  1/2 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cups blueberries*
powdered sugar to dust the cake after it bakes

In a small mixing bowl, stir together the melted butter, 2 sugars, flour and almonds.  Set aside.

For the cake, mix together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and sour cream.  Then blend in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Finally fold in the blueberries.

Spoon the batter into a 9″x13″ baking pan (or a 11″ springform pan) that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle the streusel on top, breaking it up with your fingers.

Pop it into a 350 degree oven for 40 to 50 minutes– until it’s firm to the touch.  After it’s cooled, dust it with powdered sugar through a sieve.

*You can fresh or frozen berries– I like the frozen tiny berries from Trader Joe’s.  But if you used frozen berries, add them in frozen.  Defrosted berries will color the batter purple!

Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Hi there– All the years we lived in Spain we had a fun friend Carolyn, who mailed us peanut butter and books for kids and best of all– fresh cranberries every Thanksgiving!  They were a treasure!  –a little worse for wear having come through the postal systems, but we loved those things  — and all the cranberry bread and cranberry sauce and cranberry cheesecake they would provide.  Thanks once more dear Carolyn!

Now this old family recipe doesn’t use fresh cranberries.  You can just buy a can of them any old time of year and have your cranberry coffee cake.  The sour cream makes it tender and it has frosting!  Who doesn’t love frosting?  Hope you like it as much as we have over the years…

CRANBERRY SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE
1/2 cup margarine, room temperature*
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (8 oz.)
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. amaretto or almond extract
1 14 oz. can whole cranberry sauce
1/2 cup walnuts (or more if you like nuts as much as I do)

3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. amaretto
few drops of water

With the electric mixer cream cream the butter, eggs, sugar and sour cream together.  Then mix in the flour, baking powder, salt and amaretto.  Spoon the stiff batter into a 10″ springform pan (or a 9″x13″ pan) that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Top the cake with the cranberry sauce– I spoon it out and break it into small pieces with my fingers to cover the cake.  Sprinkle on the walnuts and pop it into a 350 degree oven for about 35 to 40 minutes until it is cooked through.

When the cake is cooled mix the powdered sugar and amaretto and a couple drops of water to mix up a thick glaze (just keep adding water one drop at a time until is is the consistency you want).  Drizzle it over the cake and serve it up with something hot to drink.  Perfect.

Raspberry Almond Coffee Cake

Hello there–  Saturday we all landed at Jenni’s for the happiest of occasions– a wedding shower for our Sally!  There was the adorable bride, piles of  gifts, a wise words of advice, lots of laughter and cake, or course, cake!  Coffee cake along with baked eggs and ham and fruit with cream.  It was a marvelous, memorable morning…   So here’s the coffee cake for your next wedding shower.  Or just just for breakfast on the weekend ahead…

RASPBERRY ALMOND COFFEE CAKE
5 tab. canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. amaretto (or 1 tsp. almond extract)
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cup flour
2/3 cup buttermilk*
8 oz. raspberries
1/3 cup slivered almonds
sugar for dusting

Stir together the oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla and amaretto.  Then mix in the baking powder, salt, flour and buttermilk.  Stir just until it’s all blended.  Save out a small handful of the raspberries and then carefully fold the rest of them into the batter.  Spoon the batter into a round cake pan or 9″ springform pan, sprayed with cooking spray.  Top with the remaining raspberries and the almonds.  Lastly sprinkle on the sugar and pop it into a 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes, until it is golden and firm to the touch.

*For the buttermilk you can substitute regular milk mixed with a couple tablespoons of cider vinegar.  Let it sit a few minutes to thicken.

  
Here’s the cute bride with her mom, Betty.  Debbie giving Sally a little wife-ly advice.  Sally opening gifts– what fun to see all those shiny new kitchen things she’ll use ahead!  

Apricot Coffee Cake

Hey there–  I’m not a coffee drinker.  I keep thinking I should learn to love it so I can ditch my diet coke habit. I’ve tried, but failed to make the switch.  I do love coffee ice cream.  And am definitely a fan of all kinds of coffee cake (even farther afield from real coffee).  So leaving coffee behind, here’s a lovely tender coffee cake, good with whatever you choose to drink with it…

APRICOT COFFEE CAKE
5 tab. canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk*
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. amaretto** (optional, of course)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 14 oz. cans of apricots (or ten fresh apricots if it’s summer!)
1 cup sliced almonds
powdered sugar

Drain the apricots and cut them into small chunks.  In a large mixing bowl, mix together the oil, sugar, eggs. buttermilk, vanilla and amaretto.  Then stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.  Finally, carefully fold in the bits of apricot.  Sprinkle on the sliced almonds and throw it into at 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes until it’s browned around the edges and firm to the touch.  Let it cool a bit to serve and dust it with powdered sugar sifted though a sieve.

*I just use regular milk mixed with 2 tab. of cider vinegar–let it sit a couple minutes to thicken.
**I love a big bottle amaretto.  It lasts forever and is so much less expensive than those little bottles of almond flavoring extract.

Heath Bar Pecan Cake

Hello to you all– I had the unfortunate circumstance of making this truly delicious cake the very same week I decided to really watch what I was eating.  So I only ate one piece!  Now that I’m back to my happily sweet-eating self, I’ve just got to make another one of these things.  That one piece I did eat was so, so good– tender and brown sugary cake topped with a pebbly, chocolaty top.  You can’t beat that– delectable.

HEATH BAR PECAN CAKE
2 cups flour
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
2/3 cup pecans, chopped
6 Heath* toffee candy bars, chopped
1 egg
1 1 /4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Mix the flour and brown sugar.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender (or food processor) until coarse crumbs form.  At that point remove 1 cup of this mixture and stir it up with the pecans and Heath bar in another bowl.  Set this aside for the topping of the cake.  Then back to the original bowl, add the egg, baking powder, salt, milk and vanilla.  Stir it together and spoon it into a 9″x13″ pan sprayed with cooking spray (or a large 11″ round springform pan).  Sprinkle on the pecan/candy/flour topping and pop it into the oven at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.This is like making your grandma’s old fashioned coffee cake– but with a little chocolaty crunch on top.  I don’t actually recommend eating it for breakfast (but I know some people who would!) — warm from the oven with the old mug of tea, it is a homey dessert.

*If your market does not have Heath Bars on hand, Skor candy bars are essentially the same.

Blueberry Cake

Hello there– Do you have a cake recipe that you make again and again because it’s easy and quick, it’s homey and tender, just sweet enough?  This one is mine.  I love it hot from the oven and the blueberries and pecans give it the right amount of sweetness and texture.  Delish.

BLUEBERRY CAKE
3/4 cup sugar
5 tab. canola oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2  tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. amaretto
2/3 cup buttermilk*
2/3 cup pecans, chopped
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)**
powdered sugar

Stir together the sugar, oil and eggs.  Then add in the flour, baking powder, salt, vanilla and amaretto.  Next mix in the butter milk.  Stir in the pecans.  And finally lightly mix in the blueberries–don’t stir too much or you may turn the batter blue!  Spoon the batter into a 9″ cake can or springform pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  When it’s cooled, sprinkle on powdered sugar through a sieve.  Eat it for breakfast plain or pile on the whipped cream for a simple dessert.

*I used regular milk with a splash of cider vinegar–let it sit a couple minutes to thicken.
**Frozen berries tint the batter as they defrost, so stir them in gently just until mixed in.

Cranberry Orange Pecan Coffee Cake

Hi everyone– Found these friendly little paper baking pans at a Daisy store in San Francisco and I couldn’t resist filling them up with coffee cake to take to my teacher buddies at school.  Tried this cranberry version of my old trusty rusty blueberry coffee cake recipe and it turned out just fine.

CRANBERRY ORANGE PECAN COFFEE CAKE
1  cups cranberries, chopped to bits
1 orange rind, grated
5 tab. canola oil
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp.vanilla
1 tsp. amaretto
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
powdered sugar

Chop the cranberries to smaller bits and grate the rind off one orange.  Then mix together the oil, sugar, eggs and buttermilk.  Stir in the baking powder, salt, vanilla, amaretto and flour.  Then fold in the cranberries, orange rind and pecans.  Bake it all up in a 10″ square (or round) baking dish at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes until pretty and brown on top.  When it cools a bit, sprinkle on powdered sugar through a sieve.

That’s it.  Pretty easy and delicious, just the thing to pop in the oven for Christmas house guests to serve along with a pot of hot coffee.

Pumpkin Pecan Maple Coffee Cake

Hello friends– Can I throw in just one more pumpkin recipe?? After all, in a couple weeks pumpkin will be fairly obsolete– and we’ll all be browsing sugar cookies and spiced wassail recipes.  This coffee cake is moist and a little spicy.  If you have Thanksgiving guests for the weekend, this would be a lovely Friday morning brunch treat.  Or if you don’t have guests–it’s OK to make one all for yourself!

PUMPKIN PECAN MAPLE COFFEE CAKE

Cake:
1 1/2 cup flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice* (or cinnamon)
2/3 cup buttermilk**
1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup canola oil
3 tab. maple syrup
2 eggs

Pecan Topping:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon)
4 tab. butter (1/2 stick)
1 cup chopped pecans

Mix up the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and spice in a bowl.  The stir in the buttermilk, pumpkin, canola oil, maple syrup and eggs just til they’re all blended.  Spoon the batter into a 9″ square pan of a springform pan sprayed with cooking spray.

For the topping, mix the sugars and spice.  Cut in the butter with a pastry blender or 2 forks until it looks all crumbly.  Stir in the pecans and sprinkle half of the mixture gently over the coffee cake.  Bake it at 350 degrees for 15 minutes and then carefully put the rest of the topping on the cake and bake for about 20 minutes more until the cake is firm to the touch and nicely browned.

Delicious warm from the oven and need I add it would be lovely to pile on some whipped cream if you are serving it for dessert.  Hope you like it!

*I get yummy pumpkin pie spice at Trader Joe’s at a great price.  But they only have it in November!  So I got 5 bottles to see me through all year.
** If you don’t have buttermilk (and I don’t) just pour a couple tablespoons of cider vinegar into your regular milk and let it sit a couple minutes.  It will work just fine.