Colorado Strawberry Buckle Coffee Cake

A high-altitude buckle made for Colorado kitchens: a tender cardamom-and-nutmeg cake loaded with fresh strawberries under a thick cinnamon streusel. Developed at 5,280 feet. Makes 9 squares.

Ingredients

Streusel

1 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ tsp cinnamon
⅛ tsp kosher salt
5 T unsalted butter, melted

Cake

2¼ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup granulated sugar
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp each nutmeg, cinnamon and cardamom
½ cup whole milk
¼ cup sour cream
2 tsp vanilla
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1 large egg
2 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and diced ½ inch, patted dry, tossed with 1 T of the flour

Instructions

Heat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9x9-inch pan.
Streusel: mix the flour, both sugars, cinnamon and salt, then stir in the melted butter until moist and crumbly. Set aside.
Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.
Whisk the milk, sour cream, vanilla, melted butter and egg in another bowl.
Fold wet into dry with a spatula just until a few streaks remain, then fold in the strawberries.
Spread in the pan and scatter the streusel evenly over the top, breaking up big clumps.
Bake about 45 minutes, until a tester in the center comes out clean. Strawberries are juicier than blueberries, so check for wet batter around them.
Cool 30 minutes on a rack and serve warm.

Plating

Serve warm with whipped cream or a drizzle of vanilla glaze. Keeps 2 days airtight or 5 days refrigerated; rewarm slices 15–20 seconds.

Tasting Journal

Altitude notes: Written for about 5,280 ft. Higher up (7,000+ ft), start checking at 40 minutes. Doubled, it bakes in a 9x13 with a longer time.

References

Adapted from Curly Girl Kitchen's High Altitude Blueberry Buckle, with Colorado strawberries in place of blueberries.