What Goes Well with Coffee? Read On...

In keeping with the holidays, today I thought it might be appropriate to pass along a recipe for a dessert that goes great with coffee: Cranberry Streusel Coffee Cake.

Serving ten, the total cooking time is approximately 2 hours. You'll need the following ingredients to prepare this dish:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 2/3 cup all purpose flour or cake flour
• two tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 cup of pears packed in light syrup, drained
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg white
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 1 teaspoon of baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 and half teaspoon of sugar mixed with 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, for garnish
• 3 cups of fresh cranberries.

1. To make the streusel: Stir together brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Sprinkle in apple juice concentrate and oil and blend with a fork until crumbly.

2. To make the cake: Puree pears in a food processor or blender. Transfer to a wide saucepan and cook over medium to low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is reduced to 1/2 a cup, which should take 8 to ten minutes. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and let cool completely.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9 by 13 inch baking dish or cover with non-stick cooking spray.

4. Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the butter, swirling the pan until it turns a light nutty brown, which should take about 1 minute. Then whisk in the pear puree and add the sugar, egg, egg white, oil and vanilla, whisking until smooth.

5. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt, then add the pear mixture alternately with sour cream.

6. Spread half of the batter in the bottom of the oiled pan. Top with cranberries, then add the remaining batter. Then sprinkle the streusel over the top and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until a cake tester inserted into the centre comes out clean. Serve warm and enjoy!