This Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake will be a hit with your friends and family. With flavors of raspberries and orange and a luscious cream cheese filling, it’s a delicious way to start the day! Serve this as part of a Holiday Brunch on a Budget or tuck it into Meal Prep Breakfast boxes.
This Cream Cheese Coffee Cake recipe is super versatile, as you can swap out the raspberries for a number of different flavor combinations, including blueberry, strawberry, or chocolate chip. Love cinnamon? Be sure to try our Cinnamon Coffee Cake Recipe!
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If you’ve ever enjoyed Entenmann’s Cheese Danish Twist, then you’re going to love this Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, with its cream cheese layer and streusel topping dotted with fresh raspberries. Similar to a Polish Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, it’s the ultimate breakfast or brunch treat!
Why Make This
It’s easy to make at home. If you love cheese danishes, you will be a quick fan of this easy-to-bake coffee cake. You can mix the streusel topping, the cake batter, and the cream cheese mixture in one bowl or food processor.
It’s super versatile. This basic cream coffee cake can be adjusted to suit whatever fruit or flavorings you have on hand. I tested frozen blueberries, chocolate chips, and fresh raspberries, but the sky’s the limit in how you want to jazz it up.
Everyone loves it! This is a must-make for holiday brunches, lazy weekends, and after school pick-me-ups. Seriously, my kids inhale a full pan of this crumb cake in about fifteen minutes. So easy, and so good! You’ll love serving this at holidays all year round. It’s a beautiful addition to a table of Easter Dessert Recipes!
Need more ideas? Check out our 40+ Easy Brunch Ideas & Recipes.
Ingredients
Here’s what you’ll need to make this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake:
flour – I typically use unbleached, all-purpose flour in baking, but you can use whatever you normally use for quick breads. If you’d like a whole grain option, consider using whole wheat pastry flour.
sugar – Granulated sugar works well here, as does brown sugar. You’ll use it in three of the four layers: the streusel, the cake batter, and the cheese filling.
butter – You can use salted or unsalted butter in this recipe. You can also use a plant-based butter or a neutral cooking oil.
leavening (baking powder, baking soda, salt) – These are non-negotiable ingredients. Don’t omit them.
milk – Whatever milk you typically keep on hand is fine for this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake. If you are out of milk, you can substitute buttermilk, sour cream, or yogurt, though you might need to add a little water to help the texture.
eggs – You’ll need two eggs for the cake layer. If you prefer, use Flaxseed Meal Egg Substitute if you want to bake without eggs.
orange zest – Freshly zested orange zest adds amazing flavor to this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, but you can use another type of zest, such as lime, lemon, or grapefruit. To go in another direction, you can also use ground cinnamon.
cream cheese – For best texture, make sure the cream cheese is softened to room temperature. You can use full fat or neufchâtel cheese is fine, too. Love cheesecake? Be sure to try our Easy Cherry Cheesecake Recipe.
vanilla extract – Vanilla adds great flavor to the cream cheese filling, but feel free to try a different extract like almond or lemon. Homemade vanilla extract is the most economical.
raspberries – I tested this with chocolate chips and blueberries as well as raspberries. My testers preferred the raspberry, but the beauty of this recipe is that you can use whatever fruit you have on hand.
Variations
This recipe lends itself to experimentation. You can substitute the raspberries with whatever type of fruit you prefer, including blueberries, chopped peaches, sliced strawberries or cherries, cranberries, chopped apples or pears, or chopped plums or apricots. You can also substitute the raspberries with chocolate chips, nuts, or dried fruits.
Step-by-Step Instructions
One of the things that I love about this recipe is that despite its four layers, it’s a one-bowl or one-food processor recipe. You can mix it by hand with a whisk, but I found that the electric mixer or food processor got better texture than by hand. Using the food processor is, of course, the easiest.
Here’s how to pull together this Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake:
1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the flour, ¾ cup sugar, and the butter. Pulse until coarse crumbs are formed.
2. Remove ½ cup of the crumb mixture from the bowl and set aside.
(Alternatively, you can do this without a food processor. Add the ingredients to a mixing bowl and cut the butter into the flour and sugar with a pastry blender.)
3. Add to the mixture in the food processor: the baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, 1 egg, and the orange zest.
4. Pulse until a smooth batter is formed.
(If you’re not using a food processor, use a hand mixer to combine the wet and dry ingredients until well combined.)
5. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Spread this batter along the bottom of the prepared pan.
7. Add the cream cheese and remaining ½ cup sugar to the empty processor bowl. No need to wash it. Blend until smooth.
8. Add the remaining egg and the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and blend until smooth.
If you’re not using a food processor, use the mixing bowl and hand mixer from previously.
9. Pour this mixture over the cake batter in ribbons, allowing spaces for cake batter to show. Sprinkle the berries over the batter. Sprinkle the streusel over the berries.
10. Bake the coffee cake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheesecake areas are set and a tester inserted into a cake area has a few crumbs attached. Cool on a rack. Refrigerate the coffee cake prior to serving for more a cheesecake-like texture.
Store any leftover cake in the fridge and consume within 4 days.
FAQs
It is best to store cream cheese coffee cake in the fridge. It tastes better and will help preserve the cheese layer. Avoid leaving it at room temperature for more than 2 hours. Consume the cake within 4 days or freeze it for later.
You can use frozen berries in coffee cake. It’s best not to thaw them as their juices will color the cake batter. Add a few minutes baking time to allow for extra moisture from frozen berries.
Freezing coffee cake is a great way to enjoy it longer than a few days. Once you’ve baked the cake, allow it to cool completely. Wrap and chill it for several hours before storing in the freezer. To serve, thaw it in the fridge in its wrappings. Serve cold.
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Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake
Equipment
- food processor
- large mixing bowl
- pastry blender
- hand mixer
- rubber spatula
- 9×13-inch baking dish
- parchment paper
Ingredients
- 2 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cup granulated sugar divided usage
- ½ cup butter
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 egg divided usage
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- 1 8-ounce package cream cheese softened, neufchatel cheese is fine, too.
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 6-ounce package raspberries frozen berries can also be used, do not thaw
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9×13-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, combine the flour, ¾ cup sugar, and the butter. Pulse until coarse crumbs are formed. Remove ½ cup of the crumb mixture from the bowl and set aside. Alternatively, you can do this without a food processor. Add the ingredients to a mixing bowl and cut the butter into the flour and sugar with a pastry blender.
- Add to the mixture in the food processor: the baking powder, baking soda, salt, milk, 1 egg, and the orange zest. Pulse until a smooth batter is formed. If you’re not using a food processor, use a hand mixer to combine the wet and dry ingredients until well combined.
- Spread this batter along the bottom of the prepared pan.
- Add the cream cheese and remaining ½ cup sugar to the empty processor bowl. No need to wash it. Blend until smooth. Add the remaining egg and the vanilla extract. Scrape down the sides and blend until smooth. Pour this mixture over the cake batter in ribbons, allowing spaces for cake batter to show.
- Sprinkle the berries over the batter. Sprinkle the streusel over the berries.
- Bake the coffee cake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cheesecake areas are set and a tester inserted into a cake area has a few crumbs attached. Cool on a rack. Can be refrigerated for more cheesecake-like texture.
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on November 8, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Leslie
I’m going to try this with cranberries next week. We tried it with frozen blueberries, in part to get rid of the bag that’s been in the deep freeze forever, and the kids loved it.
Jessica Fisher
Can’t wait to hear how it goes, Leslie.
Theresa
I’m trying this tonight! With blackberries we just picked.
Jessica Fisher
How did you like it?
Cheri A
Do you think this could be made ahead and frozen?
AmyG
My daughter and I made this tonight for dessert and it was absolutely wonderful! I can’t even tell you how much we enjoyed it. I thought it would be good, but it was amazing, the layers of cake, cheesecake and streusel were wonderfully complimented by the fresh raspberries. We made half the recipe, which was enough for my husband and I, our daughter and and her boyfriend. I have 2 small portions left for breakfast in the morning, although my daughter’s sweet boyfriend would have gladly eaten that given the chance, but he had eaten a fourth of the cake already after downing six sweet pork tacos for dinner :)! I baked the half recipe in a deep glass pie plate (I weighed my beaten egg and added half to the cake batter and half to the cream cheese portion) and it took about 28 minutes, I wasn’t sure if the middle would be done, but it set up beautifully. I can’t wait to be invited to brunch because this will make a new and different treat to take. Thank for for posting this and know that my daughter’s boyfriend, who was raised in France, was impressed by the recipe.
Mary
I just made this using frozen (picked from fresh this summer) raspberries. In my oven it was 35 min to cook.
I also didn’t have any oranges to zest, so subbed orange juice. It doesn’t have as orangey a flavor but it is still there.
It was SO good and super easy and fast to put together. The only problems are the smell about killed me as I was waiting for it to cool enough to slice, and I might eat the whole pan before the kids get home. 😉
Jessica Fisher
YAY! Thanks for giving a second opinion on the baking time! Glad you enjoyed it!
Diana
My son has requested “raspberry cake” for his birthday in January. Wonder if this would satisfy him?! 🙂
I’m leery of being able to find good quality fresh raspberries in January, though. Do you think frozen raspberries would keep some of the wow factor, based on your other tests?
Diana
He says this will work–hurrah! I was wondering how to fulfill a request for “raspberry cake” without turning to raspberry jello, which I would prefer not to do 🙂 Can’t wait to give it a try–so glad you posted it!
Melanie A.
I cannot wait to try this, it looks amazing! Thank you!
Joshua Hampton
This coffeecake sure looks festive. I’d love to try this with blueberries, as blueberries are a family favorite.
Kelly
I can’t wait to try this! You mentioned that frozen raspberries caused the baking time to increase, so I assume you used them frozen. Did the juice from the frozen berries change the texture?
I have a recipe for cranberry orange bread that we love, and I’m thinking I could incorporate those flavors into this, mmm, glad I have 3 pounds of cream cheese to use!
Jessica
I tested it many times with frozen blueberries. I left them frozen. Baking time could increase 10 to 15 minutes for some reason. Once I discovered that the fresh raspberries had a wow factor, I didn’t go back to frozen.