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Christmas Morning Coffee Cake

Christmas morning just got sweeter with Christmas Morning Coffee Cake. Tart dried cherries join salty pistachios for hints of festive red and green, with a warmly spiced streusel topping and sweet vanilla glaze. Perfect for Christmas morning, teatime or anytime you slice it!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 5 minutes
cool time30 minutes
Total Time1 hour 50 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: Christmas, coffee cake, dried cherries, pistachios, powdered sugar glaze, streusel topping
Servings: 12 servings

Equipment

  • 9.5-inch or 10-inch tube pan

Ingredients

Cake:

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp. baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 cups granulated sugar
  • 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks) softened
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 4 large eggs room temperature
  • 2 cups sour cream (full fat for best flavor and texture) from [16-oz.] container
  • 1 cup dried tart cherries chopped (from [5-oz.] pkg.)

Topping:

  • 3/4 cup shelled roasted salted pistachios chopped
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/3 cup unsalted butter melted

Glaze:

  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 5 Tbsp. heavy cream / half and half
  • 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Instructions

Prepare oven and pan:

  • Preheat oven to 325°F. Spray a 10-inch tube pan with baking spray with flour.
  • Prepare the Cake:
  • Whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a bowl.
  • Beat together sugar and butter on medium-high speed with a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
  • With mixer on low speed, add vanilla and eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture and sour cream alternately to butter mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Fold in dried cherries.
  • Pour batter into prepared tube pan.

Prepare the Topping:

  • Stir together pistachios, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt until combined. Stir in butter. Sprinkle over batter.
  • Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 65 to 70 minutes. Cool in pan 30 minutes. Remove from pan; place streusel side up on a platter.

Prepare Glaze:

  • Whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla extract and cream or half and half until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Notes

  • Swap out pistachios for pecans or walnuts, or omit the nuts if you prefer.
  • For best texture and flavor use full fat sour cream. The fat content in the sour cream shortens the gluten strands in the flour making for a tender, moist and rich cake. Sour cream also adds acidity which activates the baking soda for a better rise.