Moist Pistachio Coffee Cake With Streusel
A soft, buttery coffee cake layered with a crunchy pistachio streusel in the center and over the top. This bakery-style cake is tender, nutty, and perfectly balanced with warm buttery flavors, making it the perfect treat for breakfast, brunch, or an afternoon coffee break.
Servings 12 Slices
Ingredients
Pistachio Streusel
- 1 Cup (120g) Flour
- 1/3 Cup Sugar
- 2/3 Cup (100g) Chopped pistachios
- 6 Tablespoons (85g) Unsalted melted butter
Cake
- 2 Cups (240g) Unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2/3 Cups (100g) Ground pistachios
- 2 teaspoons Baking powder
- 3/4 Cup (180g) Sour cream
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
- 3/4 Cup (170)g) Unsalted Butter at room temperature
- 1 Cup + 2 Tablespoons (225g) Sugar
- 1/4 Cup (60ml) Oil
- 2 Large Eggs at room temperature
- 1 Large Egg yolk at room temperature
Instructions
Make the Streusel
- Measure the flour (120g), sugar (70g) and chopped pistachios (100g) in a large bowl and pure over the melted butter (85g). Use a fork or your fingers to distribute the butter until you have a moist streusel.
Lumpy streusel is great, so stop mixing once the butter has been fully incorporated and you do not have any more dry flour.
Make the Cake
- Preheat your oven to 325°F and grease the bottom and sides of one 9-inch pan, and line the bottom with parchment paper.
- Measure the flour (240g), ground pistachios (100g) and baking powder (2 teaspoons) in a large bowl and set a side. Mix the sour cream with the vanilla extract and set it aside.
- Cream the butter (170g) with the sugar (225g) until light and airy, about 4-5 minutes if using a stand mixer, or 2-3 minutes if using a hand mixer.
- Scrape the bottom and sides of the bowl, then with the mixer on high speed drizzle in the vegetable oil.
- Mix in the eggs, one at a time followed by the egg yolk.
- Reduce mixer speed to low, or using a whisk, add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the sour cream mixture in two additions starting and ending with the flour mixture.
- Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan, then sprinkle half of the pistachio streusel.
- Top with the rest of the batter then the rest of the streusel.
- Bake over the middle oven rack for 50-55 minutes, until a toothpick comes out from the center of the cake with a few moist crumbs. Allow the cake to set and chill before serving.
When mixing the flour and sour cream, there is no need to fully incorporate each addition, mix it half way then add the next addition.
The batter is very thick, and I scooped it over the streusel using a cookie scoop. It is easier to spread without mixing with the streusel.
Notes
- store the cake at room temperature, covered up to three days.
- Left overs can be wrapped with plastic wrap, placed in a freeze bag and frozen for up to three weeks. When ready, unwrap and place at room temperature.