Cherry Streusel Coffee Cake

The occasion of a friend’s birthday brunch and my interest in making use of my new cherry pitter collided this past weekend. Said collision resulted in a cherry streusel coffee cake and a fine tasting one at that. The coffee cake recipe is from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook.

As I often do, I modified the ingredients just slightly. Because cherries are in season and I have an awesome cherry pitter, I used fresh instead of frozen. Also, instead of using two cups of all purpose flour, I used one and a half plus a half cup of whole grain pastry flour. Sometimes I can’t help giving a baked item a tiny nudge in the nutritional profile. The result was fantastic.

I was a little worried that when I tried to remove the cake from the tube pan all the streusel topping would fall off, but it came out so easily it didn’t need to be inverted. I used a pan with a removable bottom, and I was able to pick it off the base with no problems. The cherries in the middle of the cake were both pretty and delectable, and the cake was enjoyed by all.