Cranberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping Recipe. Made from butter, flour, sugar and sometimes nuts, streusel cooks into a topping similar to the American crisp and the British crumble, terms that are often used interchangeably. Streusel can be sprinkled over muffins, cupcakes, pies or fresh, soft fruit before baking. In the oven, the butter melts and causes the dry mixture to cook into a crisp, crumbly topping. Without the butter, the mixture would simply scorch.
This recipe courtesy of Williams-Sonoma.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Breakfast, by Brigit L. Binns (Simon & Schuster, 2003).