Christmas Morning

I love Christmas morning. As a kid I would often get up at 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning, knock on my parents door, and ask to open presents. The answer was of course "no" and I was told to go back to bed. I would lay in bed wide awake, waiting as the minutes slowly passed. Finally at 6:00 my mom would let me get up. I would then go wake my sisters screaming, "It's Christmas!" We would all file downstairs in our PJs and open our stockings. While we looked into the stockings my mom would start breakfast. Often she made this raspberry coffee cake.

Although I love big breakfasts, I am not a fan of spending too much time making breakfast. It is the morning after all and I'm usually hungry. This coffee cake is really easy to make though. My mom would whip it up as we unloaded our stockings, and then she would pop it in the oven to bake while she sat and watched us open the rest of our gifts. The cake is really, really good warm. She would let it cool just enough so that we could eat it, and while it cooled she would whip up a batch of scrambled eggs or other breakfast items.

Even though it's not Christmas yet, I found myself wanting this coffee cake the other day. So, I share the recipe with you now. Perhaps you will want to make it on Christmas morning, or some other day; it is really good any day of the year.

Miles loves looking at the lights on our tree. I can't wait for him to celebrate his first Christmas. I'm so excited that I'll probably wake up at 5:00 am that day.

Raspberry Coffee Cake

8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup whole or 2% milk
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
Powdered sugar, for dusting the cake

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray a 9 x 13 inch glass baking pan.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large mixer, beat the cream cheese, butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix to incorporate. On low speed add half the flour mixture, the milk and then the remaining flour mixture. Mix until just incorporated.

Spread the batter in prepared pan. Spoon the preserves in 12 dollops onto of the batter. Using a knife, swirl the preserves into the batter to form a marbled effect.

Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool for 10-15 minutes on wire rack. Sift powdered sugar over. Serve warm.

Serves 8-10

Notes: Although this is best eaten warm, it is still very good at room temperature.