Plum Streusel Coffee Cake

If you are looking for an easy and delicious coffee cake for lazy weekends, this recipe is just the one for you!

About this Streusel Coffee Cake

Czechs love quick cakes (and who doesn't). Every family has a tried and true recipe that will have you conjuring up your favorite dessert in no time. 

This streusel cake is my grandmother's recipe. It is interesting because the batter doesn't contain any vegetable oil but only heavy cream. 

The cake is covered with plums and topped with streusel (posypka, drobenka). Its name in Czech is something like "švestkový drobenkový koláč."

You might also like this Apricot streusel cake or German Zwetschgenkuchen.

Plums in Streusel Cake

Plums are a typical Czech fruit, pretty common here in the Czech in autumn.

However, if you don't have any fresh plums, use canned plums and let them drain on a sieve. Frozen plums are also suitable, but allow them to thaw well beforehand, don't put them in the cake frozen.

Equipment

Czechs most often bake cakes on a rectangular baking sheet. That's what I used today. 

According to this recipe, the Streusel cake is designed for a baking sheet of about 12x14 inches (30x35 cm), base measurement. 

Don't forget to grease and dust the sheet with breadcrumbs before you start baking!

Ingredients

CAKE BATTER:

• All-purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Granulated sugar
• Heavy cream; fat content around 35 % 
• Milk
• Lemon zest; ideally freshly ground
• 3 eggs

STREUSEL TOPPING:

• Cinnamon; ground
• Butter; unsalted
• All-purpose flour
• Granulated sugar

• Pitted plums; (canned, fresh, or frozen/thawed), ideally cut into smaller pieces for easier cutting the cake.

You'll also need vegetable oil (e.g., sunflower or canola) and breadcrumbs to grease the baking sheet.

Instructions with Photos

Steps before baking

1. About half an hour before you start baking, take the eggs, milk, and heavy cream out of the fridge to bring them to room temperature.
2. Grease a baking pan and dust it with breadcrumbs. 
3. Cut the plums into little pieces. 
4. Preheat the oven to (340 °F) 170 °C.
5. Make streusel topping: Cut butter into flour, add sugar, and ground cinnamon. Using your fingertips, work everything into a crumbly mass. 

Let's bake!

STEP 1: Combine plain flour and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add sugar, heavy cream, milk, lemon zest, and eggs. Start stirring with a fork, then use a hand-held mixer and mix on a lower speed until a semi-liquid batter is created. 

STEP 2: Pour the batter into a dusted baking pan. Put the plums regularly over the entire surface of the cake.

STEP 3: Sprinkle with the streusel topping as the final step.

STEP 4: Bake the streusel cake for 30 minutes until the surface is golden brown. 

Serving

Let the sheet cake cool down, then cut into regular rectangles and serve on a dessert plate as a coffee cake. You can also dust the cake with powdered sugar before serving.

Cook's Tips

• Plums are not a necessity in this streusel cake. If you don't have plums, other fruits are also suitable, for example, raspberries, strawberries, or grated apples.
• The amount of batter in this recipe fits a rectangular baking pan measuring approximately 12x14 inches (30x35 cm). The cake is relatively thin but moist. If you want a higher layer of batter, use a smaller-sized baking pan.

🍰 More Czech desserts:

• Kaiserschmarrn – Czech trhanec, shredded pancake
• Apple Strudel – delicious roll pastry
• Hřebeny – puff pastry with poppyseed filling

Recipe