Banana Streusel Coffee Cake
This is high-class banana bread. The kind you invite to brunch and then ply with champagne to get it to stay until dinner, and perhaps…after….Sleek and low-riding, with a toffee-streusel racing stripe that undulates through; this cake lets you know it doesn’t settle for second-best and neither should you.
This is the kind of cake that makes you mix metaphors faster than a Kitchen Aid Pro 6000.
Tender and full of banana flavor, this cake features streusel in the middle and on the top. The streusel isn’t the chunky, crumbly kind you find on traditional New Jersey coffee cake, but much softer; the streusel bakes into a ribbon of cinnamony soft caramel, disappearing into the batter in some places and leaving pockets of gooeyness in others.
Don’t have any speckled, overripe bananas around? Ask your neighbors. That’s what I did and was gifted with enough to make this cake and more enticements for a later date. In exchange, the neighbors receive cake.
Banana Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
For the Streusel Filling and Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 ounces (1 stick) butter, cold and cut into 4 pieces
Optional: 1 1/2 cups chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts
For the Cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 ounces) whole wheat flour (don’t have whole wheat flour? all-purpose white flour is fine)
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 ounces (1 1/2 sticks) butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream or plain yogurt (preferably full-fat)
1 1/2 cups (or so) mashed over-ripe bananas (about 4 medium or 3 large ones)
How to:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray with non-stick spray or grease a 13 x 9-inch metal baking pan (if you use glass, lower the heat by 25 degrees and watch the timing carefully).
First make the loose-l/ streusel. In a food processor, combine the flour, brown sugar and cinnamon and pulse to blend. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is well-incorporated and the mixture looks like wet, coarse sand. Pour the mixture into a bowl, and using your hands, gather the mixture together to form large clumps, then break them down again into smaller pieces. You are looking for a variety of sizes, from pea size to lentil size to a few grape-size ones for the top. Set aside.
(I used a food processor for speed’s sake — and because I’m lazy — but this can be done by hand.)
In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together. Set aside.
With a stand or hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar together on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Be patient. Light and fluffy takes time. Remember to scrape down the sides frequently. (ABS: Always be scraping).
Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the side between additions. Add the vanilla and the sour cream and mix until incorporated and no longer sploshy looking.
Add the flour mixture and the mashed bananas, alternating between the two and beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape down the bowl (I bet I don’t even have to remind you at this point!) Blend for 30 seconds to create a smooth batter. Well, as smooth as a batter with mashed banana in it can be.
Spread half the batter into the prepared baking pan. Sprinkle half the streusel mixture evenly over the batter. Dollop the remaining batter across the streusel and spread. An offset spatula or the back of a spoon will make this easier. Scatter the remaining streusel across the top and pop this bad boy into the oven.
Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until browned and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If it starts to get worryingly brown yet still appears gooey in the middle, lower the heat to 325 degrees F and continue baking until done.
Let cool on a rack before serving. Photo below of what happens to things I tell people to let cool before eating:
