Just in Case You Want To Bake Up Something Sweet for Your Valentine...

If you want to bake a special little dessert for someone you love this Valentine's Day, then I have the perfect recipe for you.  No, it's not chocolate, but it's still really good.  Think layers of butter cake, cream cheese, raspberry preserves and a crumb topping.  Are you interested yet?  This Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake would be perfect on a brunch buffet, but I never serve brunch, so at our house, it's dessert.  If you added a little spoonful of freshly whipped cream and sprinkled some fresh raspberries on the plate, well, then you would have something really fancy.  We never get that fancy. I'm just saying, it would be pretty all dressed up like that. 

Here's how this cake comes together.  Start by mixing flour and sugar in a bowl.  

To the flour mixture, add softened butter.  I'm doubling the recipe here, so don't panic at the amount of butter.  I know, it looks like a lot.

I like to do this part with my hands.

Set aside a cup of the crumb mixture to be used later.  The remaining mixture will be added to a mixing bowl, along with baking powder, salt, soda, sugar, vanilla, eggs and sour cream.

This will become the cake batter that forms the first layer of the dessert.

Spread this into a buttered and floured springform pan.  I'm making several cakes today, one for the freezer, to be pulled out at a later date and a couple to give as gifts.  I like to use the small springform pans for these.   Two of these little guys equals one larger cake. 

The batter is spread over the bottom of the pan and about an inch up the sides.  

In the same mixing bowl (no need to wash it), I mixed up the second layer, with softened cream cheese, an egg and sugar.  Notice I used light cream cheese (but not fat free!), I almost always do, because when I bake, I can't tell a difference.  I also use light sour cream (but not fat free!).  Those two things don't make this a "light" dessert, but I cut back where I can. 

When this was smooth and creamy, I poured it over the cake layer in the pans, spreading carefully, so as to keep it on top of the cake batter, but not touching the sides of the pan.  Does that make sense?

The fruit preserves go on next.  I used raspberry jam (sadly, my last jar), but I think this would also be delicious with strawberry, blueberry or blackberry. 

I chopped up some pecans (sliced almonds would be good too)

and added those to the crumb topping that I had set aside.  This gets sprinkled on the top.  I baked the cakes at 350 for about 45 minutes.  After cooling on a wire rack for 15 minutes, you take off the side of the springform pan and cool completely.

Yum!  Can you feel the love?

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2 cups unbleached, plain flour

1 cup sugar, divided

3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 t. baking powder

1/2 t. baking soda

1/4 t. salt

3/4 cup sour cream

2 eggs, divided

1 t. vanilla

1 package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup chopped pecans

raspberry preserves

In large bowl, combine flour and 3/4 cup sugar.  Cut in butter until crumbly.  Reserve 1 cup crumb mixture; set aside.  To remaining crumb mixture, add baking powder, salt, soda, sour cream, 1 egg and vanilla.  Mix well.  Spread batter over bottom of a greased and floured springform pan.  In small bowl, beat cream cheese, remaining sugar and remaining egg until smooth.  Pour over batter in pan.  Spoon preserves over filling.  In small bowl, combine reserved crumb mixture and pecans.  Sprinkle over top.  Bake at 350 for 45- 55 minutes.  Cool on wire rack for 15 minutes.  Remove sides of pan.  Serve warm or at room temperature.