Tuesday, February 9, 2021

Easy Cherry Streusel Pastry Cake for #ValentinesDay from author Cleo Coyle


From Cleo Coyle: Truth? I have never been a big fan of Valentine's Day. When I was a singleton, I felt left out. As part of a couple (though I do dearly love my husband), I find the whole holiday somewhat forced. Not that it's a bad idea to enrich hardworking chocolatiers, restaurateurs, and greeting card companies. The economy can use as much activity as earnest sweethearts can give it!

On the other hand, I can't help thinking of the many people who are not in the hearts and flowers mood this week. If you are among them, I'm here to help (if only a little) by suggesting...


(#1) We include our beloved pets in the
"Valentine Sweetheart" category and...


(#2) We indulge in little baking therapy. To wit...




This beautiful Cherry Streusel Pastry Cake that I'm re-sharing today is insanely easy to make yet impressive to serve. So bake up this blushing Valentine breakfast, brunch, or coffee-break treat, and consider celebrating Valentine's Day not as a couple's holiday, but as one that celebrates all who have love in their hearts, including love for children, grandchildren, siblings, best friends, and even those furry little souls (our pets) who bring so much joy and love into our lives.




☕ A Recipe Note from Cleo

Cleo Coyle has a partner in
crime-writing—her husband.
Learn about their books
by clicking 
here and here.
This recipe came to me years ago from an enthusiastic reader of our Coffeehouse Mysteries. I've adapted it slightly, writing my own directions, tips, and notes.

Thank you to Shirley Jackson for the original inspiration. I know she would join me in wishing you boundless joy in baking, eating, and living!

Note from Shirley: "I made this cake for the first time in Houston for a group of Red Hat friends. This cake tastes just like a yeast bread that has taken you a long time to make. Sure does make your kitchen smell cozy."

Note from Cleo: Shirley is absolutely right about the yeast and the coziness of this cherry streusel cake, which is why I call it a pastry cake. Over the years, I've seen many cake recipes with a cake mix as starter. I've seen many "pie-filling-over-cake-mix" recipes, too. But I've never seen yeast used as an ingredient. The use of yeast in this recipe gives the streusel cake a sweet bread-like flavor and texture, but without kneading or rising time. It's great with coffee so it works as a breakfast treat, afternoon snack, and an after-dinner dessert. May you bake it with love and eat with joy! ~ Cleo 


To download this recipe in a
free PDF that you can print
save, or share, click here.


🍒 Cherry Streusel Pastry Cake

from Cleo Coyle via Coffeehouse Mystery 
reader Shirley Jackson!

Ingredients:

For the dough base:
1 package yellow cake mix
1 cup all-purpose flour, unsifted
1 packet (1/4 ounce) dry yeast
2/3 cup very warm tap water
2 large eggs, whisked with fork

For the topping:

5 Tablespoons butter (salted is fine) 

1 can (1 pound 5 ounce) cherry pie filling
2 Tablespoons granulated sugar


Step 1 - Make dough base: First preheat your oven to 375° Fahrenheit and coat a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan with cooking spray (or grease and flour it to prevent sticking). Then, into a large mixing bowl, measure out 1-1/2 cups of the dry cake mix. (You are setting aside the remaining mix, which you will use for the topping.) 


Add the flour and dry yeast to the bowl. Now add the 2/3rds cup of very warm tap water. Allow the yeast to come alive and bubble for a minute. Finally, add the 2 eggs. Beat everything for 2 minutes at medium speed, scraping bowl often. Dough will be thick. Using a rubber spatula or back of a spoon, spread it across the bottom of your coated baking pan.



Step 2 - Make streusel topping: Melt butter in a saucepan and pour it over the remaining dry cake mix, which you set aside in Step 1. Mix the butter in well with the dry mix. It should be lumpy and crumbly. (See photo below.)




Step 3 - Assemble pastry cake: Spoon the cherry pie filling evenly across the top of the dough in the baking pan. Sprinkle sugar on top of the filling. Finally, using your fingers, crumble the streusel topping over it all. NOTE: Because there was so much topping, I held back some of mine so the bright redness of the cherries would show through, making a prettier presentation.

 


Step 4 - Bake and glaze: Bake the cake for 30 minutes in your preheated oven (375° F). Cool the cake on a rack, allowing air to circulate under the hot pan bottom. When the top is cool, drizzle with glaze. See my Quick Glaze recipe below. After cake is served, refrigerate leftovers to keep fresh. This cake is also delicious chilled!




Cleo's Favorite Quick Glaze


Cleo's glaze note: Shirley's cake glaze used corn syrup, water, and powdered sugar. With her indulgence, I am giving you my favorite butter glaze instead, which is what I use when I make this cake. Here is the simple recipe...

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons butter (salted is fine)
2 Tablespoons whole milk (cream or half-and-half)
1 cup confectioner's (powdered or icing) sugar, sifted

Directions: Over medium heat, warm butter and milk in a saucepan. Do not let this mixture brown, burn, or boil or you will have a scalded taste in your glaze. As soon as butter has melted, whisk in the sifted confectioner's sugar, a little at a time, until it is completely melted. You must work with the glaze quickly, while it is still warm. Drizzle the warm glaze over the cake using a rubber spatula, the tines of a fork, or a spoon. If the glaze hardens up on you, place the saucepan over the heat again and whisk well until liquefied and smooth once more.




Happy Valentine's Day to all those with love in their hearts, including all of you pet moms and dads out there. So many of us dearly love our furry friends. (Two of our many New York strays are featured in my photos today.) Without a doubt, they're our Valentine's, too.


from Mr. Fellows, Cleocatra, and...


New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries and
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries



This is us -- Alice and Marc.
Together we write as Cleo Coyle. 


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11 comments:

  1. I printed out this recipe several years ago when it first appeared on this blog. I made it a couple of weeks ago for a family get together and it is delicious!
    Do yourself and your family a favor and make it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So glad you enjoyed the recipe, Sharon! I first shared it here at Mystery Lovers' Kitchen nearly a decade ago, back in 2012. With so many new members and followers joining us on the blog, I thought it was about time I shared it again, especially to cheers us all up for this challenging Valentine's Day of 2021. Thanks for stopping by today. Be well, stay safe, and that goes for everyone...

      Happy Valentine's Day!

      ~ Cleo
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  2. Love your books, Cleo. Thanks for the great recipe.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Renee, for stopping by today. Cheers for loving the books. We love you for saying so, and we have brand-new titles coming out in both of our series this year, so do keep reading...and keep in touch! xoxo

      ~ Cleo

      Delete
  3. Best wishes to you two and all your furry loved ones!
    This looks like such fun. But I can't quite wrap my head around canned cheery pie filling. I'll have to think about what might do for a substitute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi, Libby - Thanks for the lovely wishes and we send them back to you! On the pie filling, the canned version is what the recipe called for because it's a quick & easy recipe. Making your own pie filling is certainly possible. It's basically fruit boiled down with sugar plus cornstarch for thickening. Try 3 cups of fruit to about 1 cup of sugar in a pan (less sugar for sweeter fruit); whisk 2 tsp. cornstarch into 1/2 cup or so of water with a little lemon juice and add the liquid to the pan; then bring to a simmer to dissolve the sugar and cook the fruit down (8 to 10 min.). You don't want the filling to be soupy and you don't wan to create jam, either; but the liquid should be well thickened as in the canned version. Add a bit more cornstarch, if needed (dissolving in water first helps to prevent lumps from forming). Be sure any cooked filling is cooled completely before using in a pastry recipe. If you try something else, let us know how it goes, and once again, we send our best to you and your loved ones for a...

      Happy Valentine's Day!

      ~ Cleo
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    2. Wow! Nice detailed instructions!
      Thanks

      Delete
  4. What a sweet recipe from my favorite author. I love the coffeehouse mysteries and Jack the tough guy ghost, too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aw, thank you, Angela! And Jack thanks you too. Our PI Ghost loves compliments. He also loves to haunt readers, and he will be haunting you again soon (along with Pen, our intrepid bookseller) in our 7th Haunted Bookshop entry, The Ghost and the Haunted Portrait. We can hardly wait for the book's release on May 4, and we hope you enjoy it! Cheers for stopping by today. We appreciate it.

      ~ Cleo
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  5. I just started Brewed Awakening and I can't wait to see what happens next. Thanks for a dessert to go with my reading

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. LOL, Patricia, we should all have desserts (and coffee!) to go with our reading. Marc and I hope you enjoy the rest of our latest Coffeehouse Mystery. Hang on, Brewed Awakening is a fun read and a great ride. There are plenty of entertaining twists and turns ahead. In the meantime, we thank you for stopping by the Kitchen today and hope you have a very...

      Happy Valentine's Day!

      ~ Cleo
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