Streusel, made with graham cracker, sugar, nuts, and spices is layered in the middle and sprinkled on top of this delicious coffee cake.

Ingredients:

Streusel:

1½ cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs

¾ cup firmly packed light brown sugar

¾ cup walnuts, finely chopped

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon ground cardamom

½ cup unsalted butter, melted

Batter:

2 cups cake flour

1 cup granulated sugar

2½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

1 cup milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease an 8 inch baking pan or 9 inch spring form pan. Or, to make the baked cake easier to remove from the pan, lightly grease the pan, line with parchment paper, then lightly grease again.
   
   Streusel:
2. In a medium bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, cardamom, and melted butter. Stir to mix. Set aside.
   
   Batter:
3. In a large bowl, add flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; whisk together to mix. Add butter, eggs, vanilla, and milk; beat until mixture is smooth and thick, about 2 minutes.
   
   Assembly:
4. Spread half of the batter into the baking pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel mixture. Spoon remaining batter over the streusel, and then sprinkle the remaining streusel on top.
   
   Bake:
5. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack for 20 minutes then remove the cake from the pan and finish cooling on the wire rack. If pan was lined with parchment paper, grab the top edges of the parchment paper and lift cake from pan. Remove parchment paper and discard. If using a springform pan, remove pan from oven and let cool about 15 minutes. Loosen side of pan, then grabbing the top edges of the parchment paper, lift cake from pan and finish cooling on wire rack. Remove parchment paper and discard.
    
   Makes 8 to 10 servings.
   
   TheBakingPan.com