Lemon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
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I love to see signs of spring as winter begins to say goodbye. The colors begin to pop up from the bulbs planted in the ground like tulips, daffodils, and hyacinth. Why not celebrate with this bright and sunny Lemon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake!
I can feel the earth waking up from its winter slumber. Feeling the warm of the bright sun beaming on my face is something I look forward to. That is one of the reason I love living in Utah. I love being able to experience all of the seasons, no matter how short or long they may be. Winter is a ust for me in order to fully appreciate spring when it comes.
Also, I love to see the change in what I make in the kitchen at this time of year. I love to add a nice pop of flavor to my recipes. One of my favorite ways to do this is with lemon like in the lemon cream cheese coffee cake. That recipe is what I’m going to share with you today.
I love lemon!
Lemon is definitely a flavor that I enjoy so much at this time of year. I usually have an entire week full of lemon recipes planned to share with you. Lemon week is in the works to be coming very soon, but I just had to share one lemon recipe with you now!
The beautiful yellow color of lemons makes me smile. It makes me think of sunshine! If sunshine had a flavor, I really think it would be lemon. I love the flavor that you can get with lemon as an ingredient.
It’s bright citrusy flavor helps wake up your tastebuds! Plus, the smell is absolutely refreshing. That is why so many soaps and cleaners are lemon scented! Don’t you just feel fresh and clean when you smell lemon.
Today, the recipe is perfect to serve for a Spring breakfast or brunch, or even at a Bridal or Baby shower! I make this in conjunction with Kraft. This coffee cake has lemon located in every single layer. Firstly, you can find lemon juice and zest in the cake itself. Next, is the filling. There is a nice cream cheese layer there sandwiched in between the cake. It’s like a cheesecake layer. It also has lemon juice and zest in there.
Thirdly, it all gets a sprinkling of a sugary streusel topping. It adds a nice little crunch to the top of the coffee cake and guess what? There is lemon zest in there too. Lastly, there is still one more layer of lemon to finish off this beautiful lemony coffee cake. It gets a drizzling with icing made of lemon juice and powdered sugar.
Bright and Sunny Lemon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Real Mom Kitchen
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 2 8 oz pkg. Philadelphia light cream cheese, softened
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 egg
- ½ Tbsp lemon zest
For the cake:
- ½ cup butter softened
- 1 cup sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 cup Breakstone or Knudsen light sour cream
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 3 cups flour
- 1 tsp Calumet baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp lemon zest
For the streusel topping:
- ¼ cup sugar
- ¼ cup flour
- 3 Tbsp butter chilled and cubed
- ½ Tbsp lemon zest
For the glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
- To prepare the filling, add the cream cheese and sugar to a medium bowl and beat together until smooth. Add in the egg and lemon juice and beat until smooth. Fold in the lemon zest and set aside.
- To prepare the cake batter, add the butter and sugar to a large bowl and cream together. Add in the eggs one at a time and blend until combined. Add in the sour cream and lemon juice and blend until combined. Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and stir until just combined. Then fold in the lemon zest.
- Spread half of the cake batter into the bottom of the prepared 9 x 13 dish. Then place prepared filling over the batter by dropping by the spoonful. Carefully spread the filling over the batter. Next, drop spoonful’s of the remaining cake batter over the filling and gently spread the batter out over the filling.
- With a knife, cut through the layers a few times to marble.
- To make the topping, blend all of the ingredients together with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the cake batter.
- Bake the cake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Allow cake to cool.
- Before serving, mix the glaze ingredients together and drizzle over the cake.
