Raspberry Coffee Cake recipe

From our teen chef, Kayla of The Nerdy Chef:  Making this Raspberry Coffee Cake is one of my favorite things to do for my mom on Mother's Day is to cook her breakfast. She loves raspberries, she loves almonds, and she definitely loves chocolate, so this is one of her favorite treats. You can make it for breakfast or brunch then have some later in the day as a snack or dessert because coffee cake is great at any time of day. Plus, this raspberry coffee cake recipe is perfect for just about any occasion; it is colorful, sweet, rich, and just plain delicious.

The base is a light, fluffy vanilla cake, which is studded with melty chocolate and raspberries. You can use either fresh or frozen raspberries, but, since it's not quite raspberry season yet, I used frozen. They can get pretty liquidy, so I toss them in some cornstarch so that they don't turn the whole cake pink. That would be pretty, but I love the contrast between the cream-colored cake, the dark chocolate, and the bright red raspberries. Anyway, I top the whole thing with buttery almond streusel. It's the same streusel that I use in my Peach Crumb Cake, but, instead of cinnamon, I use almond extract and mix in some almonds. They add even more crunchiness and balance out the sweetness of the cake, the bitterness of the chocolate, and the tartness of the raspberries. This cake is a must-have for brunch, dessert, or just a snack because there are so many different textures and delicious layers of flavors.

Makes 1 9" Square, Recipe Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction

3/4 + 1/3 Cup Sugar 1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar 1/2 + 1/8 tsp Salt 1 Stick Butter, Melted 1/2 Stick Butter, Softened 1/8 tsp Almond Extract 1 3/4 Cups Cake Flour 2 Cups Flour 1/2 Cup + 2 T Slivered Almonds 1 Cup Milk 1 tsp Vanilla 2 tsp Baking Powder 1 Egg 3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips 1 Cup Raspberries (Fresh or Frozen & Thawed) 2 T Cornstarch

Whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, brown sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, melted butter, and almond extract. Stir in cake flour and almonds. Chill until cold.

Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment. Heat oven to 350F.

Beat the softened butter and remaining sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla.

Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Fold the flour mixture into the batter in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions.

Combine the raspberries and cornstarch.

Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the raspberries and chocolate, then top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remaining raspberries and chocolate on top, and top with the streusel.

Bake the coffee cake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

For more delicious recipes by our Teen Chef, Kayla, check out her blog, The Nerdy Chef!

Raspberry Coffee Cake

Recipe Type: coffee cake

Cuisine: American

Author: popcosmo.com

Coffee cake perfect for any occasion. The base is a light, fluffy vanilla cake, and is studded with melty chocolate and raspberries.

Ingredients

• 3/4 + 1/3 Cup Sugar
• 1/3 Cup Dark Brown Sugar
• 1/2 + 1/8 tsp Salt
• 1 Stick Butter, Melted
• 1/2 Stick Butter, Softened
• 1/8 tsp Almond Extract
• 1 3/4 Cups Cake Flour
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup + 2 T Slivered Almonds
• 1 Cup Milk
• 1 tsp Vanilla
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Egg
• 3/4 Cup Chocolate Chips
• 1 Cup Raspberries (Fresh or Frozen & Thawed)
• 2 T Cornstarch

Instructions

1. Whisk together 1/3 cup sugar, brown sugar, 1/8 tsp salt, melted butter, and almond extract. Stir in cake flour and almonds. Chill until cold.
2. Line a 9" square baking pan with parchment. Heat oven to 350F.
3. Beat the softened butter and remaining sugar together until fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla.
4. Whisk the flour, salt, and baking powder together. Fold the flour mixture into the batter in three additions, alternating with the milk in two additions.
5. Combine the raspberries and cornstarch.
6. Pour 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half the raspberries and chocolate, then top with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remaining raspberries and chocolate on top, and top with the streusel.
7. Bake the coffee cake for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

3.2.1230

Happy early Mother's Day!!

Thank you, thank you!!

Seriously? Are you kidding me? Is that us being featured in a story in the Huffington Post? THE HUFFINGTON POST? Holy Sh Cow! The article is about Pinterest, which is completely, totally and utterly Chloe's expertise, and there are some fantastic tips. To sum up the article: if we can create viral pins, so can you! Chloe is the master pinner and visual designer of Popcosmo... and, because she creates and curates beautiful Pinterest boards, you should be following us on Pinterest, like now! And if you want to know our most popular and viral pins, check out "What You're Loving" on the right and click on the stories to see what people are pinning. But back to the Huffington Post: thank you Jayson DeMers for your fantastic article! Go read it :)

And being in the Huffington Post was the cherry on top of what has already been an enormous chocolate ice cream sundae of a month (and it's only the 3rd day)! We were featured on the cover of Today's Woman Now for our story about Moms and daughters working together. The COVER, y'all! And pages 6 and 32. We didn't know about being cover gals until we saw it... and we were both speechless, which is really and truly rare. And considering it's the shoe issue, I'd say it's the perfect cover for us, haha! Again, thank you Today's Woman and what an honor.

Today was Oaks Day, tomorrow the Kentucky Derby, then my hubbie's birthday... whoa, I think my head needs to stop spinning. May is turning out to be quite a month! Hope your May is just as lovely, just as lively, and just as exciting!

XO ~Kim & Chloe

What does your desk say about you?

Does your desk inspire you? No, it's not a rhetorical question... we really want to know! We see so many desk and workspace makeovers on Pinterest and are obsessed with them, that we were inspired to give ours a spring makeover, thanks to the super-duper awesome folks at Russell + Hazel. Which got us thinking, does our desk reflect our inner selves and how we work? What does it mean if your desk is immaculate or messy; sparse or stuffed to the gills; bright and cheery, or monotone?

Since Chloe and I have completely different personalities and work differently, we took a look at our desks and our desk accessories to see if they reflected how we work or our personalities. The only thing we have in common is that we love pretty things, we both work in silence, and we both work (or go to school, in her case) at  home! Here's what we found out:

Kim: My house & home have to be immaculate. Perfectly organized. Everything has it's place and it better be in it. But my desk and work area are another story. They are where I gather my inspiration, or just procrastinate & think, work, pay bills, and manage the household. My work area is not picture-worthy, which is why the photos we've taken are of Chloe's desk, because my desk is a jumbled up mess of  notes + papers + notebooks + sticky notes.

Everyone in the house fusses at me about my messy desk, but nobody dares touch it, because they know, to me, my desk is absolutely organized! It's color-coded and organized in sections.

The desk accessory I use constantly is an acrylic collator. All of my papers are visible in one place so nothing, absolutely nothing, gets lost of forgotten on the bottom of the pile. It has saved me! All of my desk accessories are color coded:

• sticky notes coded by household, work, personal, ASAP
• mini binders are awesome for also separating tasks and I have a notebook (in each color) for each project I have going on. They fit in almost any purse, so I can throw the right one in for the right meeting and not have to lug a big notebook.
• file folders to gather scraps and loose leaf, to do notes, etc. Of course the tabs are color coded!

The verdict: My desk IS a visual sign of how my mind works: nothing is linear, everything sprouts from a central idea in a zillion directions because I"m usually working on zillions of things at a time. If my mind was mapped, it would be my desk. It's organized to me in sections, but it's kind of hectic in there. It's how I roll, and I think I like it kind of busy like that!

Chloe: My room and closet are ALWAYS messy. Always. But, my desk and my computer desktop are almost always spotless. I can handle my room and closet being messy, but when my desk and computer desktop aren’t organized and inspiring, I can’t concentrate. One of my favorite things that I love about my desk is that it’s bright and cheery.  It might sound cheesy, but I really do think that a person’s desk should motivate them and my bright desk does! Since I go to an online school, I need my desk to be organized and I keep it perfectly clean so that I can start each day fresh. I use to-do lists and leather desk accessories to organize my pens and pencils. My favorite is the gold leather laptop case. Talk about functional chic - it's perfect for school and work.

The verdict: So, yeah, I think my desk represents a part of me. I like bright and cheery, I am a total "color" person, and I like to start each day fresh.

Pretty interesting and something we didn't realize until we jotted it down in this post! We'd love to hear your thoughts! How about you? What motivates you while you work? What does your workspace look like, is it a visual representation of you?