raspberry-cream cheese crumb cake

By lisapearce

Ingredients

• Cake:
• 1/4 1/4 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for pan
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
• 2 2 2 TB sour cream
• 2 1/4 2 1/4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
• 1/2 1/2 2 cup + 2 TB granulated white sugar
• 1 1 1 ts baking powder
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 ts coarse salt
• 1 1 1 large egg
• 1/2 1/2 2 cup + 2 TB half & half
• 2 2 2 ts pure vanilla extract
• Crumb Topping:
• 1 1 1 cups flour
• 1 1 1 cups packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 3/4 3/4 ts coarse salt
• 1/2 1/2 1/2 TB ground cinnamon
• 1 1 1 stick unsalted butter, melted & cooled
• raspberry coulis:
• 1 1 1 pint fresh raspberries
• 2 2 to TB granulated sugar, or to taste
• 1 1 to TB fresh lemon juice, or to taste

Preparation

Step 1

For the coulis:
Put all the ingredients in medium sauce pan and cook over medium (not high!) heat until fruit is mostly dissolved and mixture has reduced a bit as well as thickened up; about 30 minutes or more. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, pushing down on the solids. You might have to let this sit for a while to finish draining—it takes a while. Don’t forget to scrape off the bottom side of the sieve for all the juicy, thickened pulp. Discard the seeds. Taste and add more sugar or lemon juice if needed; it shouldn’t need anything. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the crumb topping:
In a medium bowl, combine all dry ingredients, pour melted butter over mixture, and toss with a rubber spatula until large crumbs form. Set aside

Cream cheese mixture
8 ounces cream cheese, room temp.
1 large egg yolk
3 TB white sugar
1 TB fresh lemon zest
2 TB or more of the coulis (optional, but wonderful)

For the cream cheese mixture:
Mix all in a bowl (really well) until ready to use.

For cake:
Place rack in center of oven, and heat oven to 350°.
Lightly butter a 9 x 13 baking pan and dust with flour, and tap to remove excess. (I’ve also used the Pam with Flour and it worked just fine). Set aside. In a medium bowl, sift together 2 ¼ cups flour, add in the granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together egg, butter, half & half, canola oil, sour cream, and vanilla.
Using a rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into wet mixture.
Spread batter evenly into prepared pan, and set aside. (to keep batter from sticking to your hand or spoon, just wet or oil your fingers or a spoon and spread evenly throughout pan).
The batter should be about half an inch high. It will cook/rise to an inch thick. (Don’t worry if the batter is very thin and hard to get into the corners, it does spread out as it’s cooking). Use wet fingers to push batter into corners.

Next put on the cream cheese mixture either in one single layer, clumps or vertical lines. You can make swirls if you want too, I did not.
Next add on the crumbs. Then drizzle on the coulis (if it helps put the coulis in a pastry bag and draw lines).
Then transfer pan to oven, and bake for 14 minutes, rotate pan. Then cook another 10 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean. Check cake at 25 minute mark for sure. Let cake cool and set up before slicing.
Using a serrated knife or bench scraper, cut into 3-inch squares. Store in an airtight container for up to 2-4 days. cake: