High Altitude Almond Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

Almond cake and pastries are some of the best sweet treats there are. My love of almond extract runs deep, thanks to my Danish heritage. If you hand me a tray of pastries to choose from, I’ll pick the one filled with almond paste. It’s just so good. Today’s high altitude almond coffee cake features a light, fluffy and very moist cake, made with butter and sour cream, and subtly spiced with nutmeg and cloves. Inside the cake is a sweet and creamy layer of cream cheese and almond paste. A crumbly almond streusel topping adds crunch, and the sweet almond icing drizzled over the top is the perfect finish.

As a bonus, I’ve also included in today’s post a variation for cranberry almond coffee cake, which is just bursting with bright red, tart cranberries. It makes a perfectly festive breakfast for the holidays!

Looking for more recipes like this? You’ll love these almond crumb bars, almond biscotti, and almond cream cheese scones.

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Scandinavian Almond Pastries

Denmark is famous for its delectable pastries, and with a family of Danish ancestors, I grew up eating almond pastries. My mom and grandparents loved them, so I loved them too. Once a week, one of them would go buy a warm almond kringle from a local bakery, and I can still taste the soft, flaky pastry with that irresistible sweet almond filling.

Whether you give me a kringle, croissant, puff pastry braid, bun or a buttery almond pound cake, it’s all good. Add some almond extract or almond paste and a drizzle of sweet almond icing, and I’ll happily eat it for breakfast with a cup of strong coffee. It was with those pastries in mind that I made this almond coffee cake, with plenty of almond flavor thanks to the almond paste, almond extract and chopped almonds.

This recipe uses almond paste as a filling inside the cake batter. So let’s discuss what almond paste is, and how it differs from almond pastry filling and marzipan. You’ll find all three on the baking aisle at your grocery store, and while they all contain almonds, they are very different products and are not interchangeable in recipes.

Almond Pastry Filling

• Also Called: Almond Cake and Pastry Filling
• Ingredients: Corn syrup, sugar, water, almonds, evaporated whole milk, modified corn starch, coconut, salt, artificial and natural flavors, vanilla extract, and citric acid.
• Packaging: In cans, jars or tubes.
• Taste and Texture: Almond pastry filling is very sweet, with a thinner jam-like consistency that’s easily spread.
• How to Use: Use it as a filling for cakes, pastries and cookies. A little goes a long way as it is very sweet.

Almond Paste

• Ingredients: Blanched almonds, sugar, water, natural flavor. These are the same ingredients as marzipan, but with less sugar and almost double the amount of almonds. Sometimes almond extract is added.
• Packaging: In boxes, tubes, cans, tubs, or bags. A box, with a foil-wrapped package of paste inside is common.
• Taste and Texture: Coarser and less sweet than marzipan. It has a moist, crumbly, stiff texture that’s not spreadable.
• How to Use: Crumble and sprinkle it over batter, dough or pastry to use as a filling in pies and cakes. Bitter almond paste is used to make Italian amaretti cookies. Almond paste is my preferred product for baking with. I love to sprinkle it over batter, or inside cinnamon roll dough. I’ve even added it to crumb toppings. It adds a delicious almond flavor to baked goods. If leftover almond paste dries out in the package, you can still use it by grating it or chopping it up in a food processor, and then re-hydrate it with a little water.

Marzipan

• Also Called: Almond Candy Dough
• Ingredients: Almonds, sugar, glucose syrup, and water. Gluten-free versions are available. It can also sometimes contain egg whites.
• Packaging: In tubes, cans, or tubs.
• Taste and Texture: Sweet and smooth, with more finely ground almonds for a smoother texture; can be brilliant white in color.
• How to Use: To decorate cakes or confections like fondant, or just eaten like candy. Marzipan is often dyed into other colors and molded into shapes and decorations around the holidays.

Making this almond coffee cake does require a few steps, as there is the cake, the filling, the crumb topping and the icing. But each step is easy, and the process goes quickly. When you taste how delicious this almond coffee cake is warm from the oven, you won’t be sorry.

Coffee Cake Instructions

Make the cake batter.

• Preheat the oven to 350 F, and spray a 10-inch square baking pan with non-stick spray.
• In a bowl, whisk together the sugar, melted butter, eggs, sour cream, milk, vanilla and almond extracts.
• In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt, nutmeg and cloves.
• Add the dry ingredients to the wet, and whisk briefly just to combine.
• Set aside while you make the filling.

Make the filling.

• With an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese and almond paste for about 30 seconds until combined.
• Spread half the batter into the bottom of your pan.
• Dollop the filling over the batter, then use a small icing spatula to spread the filling out or just lightly swirl it in.
• Spread the remainder of the batter over the filling.

Add the crumb topping and bake the cake.

• In a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, salt and melted butter until moistened and crumbly. Stir in the almonds (reserving 1-2 tablespoons to sprinkle over the icing later, if you like).
• Sprinkle the streusel over the batter.
• Bake the cake on the center oven rack, for about 40-50 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Set aside to cool while you make the icing.

Drizzle with icing.

• In a bowl, stir together the powdered sugar, cream and almond extract until smooth, and has a thick drizzling consistency.
• Drizzle the icing over the hot cake, and sprinkle with the remaining chopped almonds.
• Let cool 20-30 minutes, then serve warm, or at room temperature.

This almond coffee cake is incredibly good with the addition of tart cranberries. These are the changes I made for a cranberry almond coffee cake.

Recipe Variation with Cranberries

Batter.

• Add 1/2 cup almond flour to the dry ingredients.
• Omit the nutmeg and cloves, and add 1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom.
• After mixing the batter, fold in 1 1/2 cups frozen and thawed cranberries. (If your cranberries are still cold or partially frozen, your cake will take a little longer to bake.)

Filling.

• Omit the cream cheese/almond paste filling.

Crumb Topping.

• After sprinkling the topping over the cake batter, scatter a few cranberries over the topping before baking. This makes the coffee cake so pretty!

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a 9-inch pan instead of a 10-inch pan?

You can use a 9-inch pan, but the pan will be very full, and the cake will brown a bit more around the edges as it tries to spill over the edges. If you don’t have a 10-inch pan, I’d suggest baking the cake in a 9-inch pan, but reserving about 3/4 cup of batter to bake in a smaller pan, or as two muffins.

Do I have to use whole milk?

You can use any type of milk, including non-dairy options.

Will this recipe work without the filling?

The filling is optional. I’ve made this coffee cake with and without the cream cheese and almond paste filling, and it’s great either way.  The cream cheese adds a moist, creamy, slightly dense layer inside the fluffy cake.  Another option would be to just crumble and sprinkle a layer of almond paste over half the batter, without the cream cheese.

How long does this coffee cake stay soft?

Leftover coffee cake should be stored in an airtight container at room temperature, for up to 3 days.  It’s fantastic leftover, and can be rewarmed for 20-30 seconds in the microwave for that “just-baked” texture.

What’s the best type of pan to use?

Because of the long bake time, you may find that the bottom of the cake browns quite a bit if you use a glass or ceramic pan (which conducts more heat).  A light-weight aluminum pan conducts less heat and should result in less of a browned crust at the bottom of the cake.  I used a ceramic pan, though, and didn’t mind the golden brown crust at the bottom, so it’s just a matter of preference.

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