Brownie Bottom Raspberry Coffee Cake

I could eat coffee cake every day, it's one of my most favorite things. It's delicious any time of day, and it's a perfect portable treat for office parties, brunches or just because you feel like baking and want to share it! I really love the crumb topping and soft texture of the cake. Extra points for fresh berries or a ribbon of cream! This recipe pairs the perfect texture of coffee cake, with a delicious crumb top, a ribbon cream cheese, fruit preserves and (that's right AND) a rich, decadent brownie bottom! What could be better?!

This coffee cake is super simple and absolutely delicious! You can start with any brownie recipe you like, or even grab a box mix if you really want to simplify! The other half is my favorite coffee cake recipe. It's so tasty and so versatile!



For the brownie bottom,

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp instant coffee powder
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the coffee cake,

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 cup sour cream or greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
• 8 ounces of cream cheese, softened
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup raspberry jam

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°
2. For brownie base, combine butter, sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl. Add eggs and mix until well blended.
3. In separate bowl, combine flour, cocoa baking powder and salt. Gradually add dry mixture to wet mixture and beat well between each addition.
4. Spread brownie batter evenly into bottom of greased 9x12 pan or 18 muffin cups.
5. For coffee cake, combine flour and sugar in a medium bowl. Add butter and blend with a pastry cutter until mixture resembles course crumbs. 
6. Set 1 cup of crumb mixture aside. 
7. Add baking powder, baking soda to mixture and blend.
8. In a separate bowl mix sour cream, vanilla bean and 1 egg.
9. Add wet mixture to dry mixture and stir until just moistened.
10. Pour mixture on top of brownie base and spread evenly.
11. In another bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla extract, 1 egg and 1/3 cup sugar. Beat until smooth. Pour cream cheese mixture on top of cake batter. 
12. Spoon dollops of raspberry jam onto top and gently run the spoon through the batter to swirl in.
13. Sprinkle reserved crumb mixture generously on top of cake.
14. Bake for 40-45 minutes or about 20-25 minutes if making individual coffee cakes in muffin pan.
15. Coffee cake will be done when edges turn golden.

I hope you enjoy these tasty treats as much as I did! These pregnancy cravings are bringing together some pretty delicious recipes ;)

*Tips*

The coffee cake batter is very thick, especially if you use greek yogurt, so I added a 2-3 tsp of milk to make it spreadable. You want the crumb mixture for the coffee cake batter to be pretty fine, but you want the crumb topping to be pretty chunky so when you reserve 1 cup of the crump mixture for the topping, I like to add an addition 1 Tbsp of butter and cut it in to the mixture to make the crumbs larger for the topping. I like to use coconut oil to grease my cake pans, it doesn't add any coconut flavor and it's so easy to rub into the pan.

Samantha
Flour De Lis