Coffee cake is very delicious and comes in the category of tasty and magical cakes. Classic coffee cake can be eatable at any time of the day, but primarily people eat it at supper. Most surprisingly, a classic coffee cake has zero coffee itself. It means that commonly coffee cake is served with coffee.
Usually, in coffee cakes, there is the incorporation of streusel. It means it is a rich yellow cake made with cinnamon and topped with as much crumble as the cake can handle. Now, the question arises: what is streusel? Let’s discuss this thing in detail.
What is Streusel?
It is to note that without streusel, your coffee cake is incomplete. This crunchy crumbles topping changes the cake from a regular cake into a classic crispy cake. Therefore, after adding streusel, your coffee cake is the perfect traditional coffee cake. Therefore, streusel is a thick layer in the middle of the cake.
Now another question arises in your mind, how to make the streusel, It is straightforward, and we will discuss this in detail later in the post. However, in just one line, streusel is a crunchy crumb topping made by combining sugar, flour, and butter.
Another thing is that you have to make this streusel by mixing them by hand. The reason is that while adding butter, there are chances of making lumps of butter. So it is better to mix it by hand.
After mixing, this streusel is baked into a crunchy crumb when the cake is baked. You will be surprised to know that while eating a classic coffee cake, streusel is one of the dreamy taste things in the world. This is the difference that makes the coffee cakes so iconic.
Best Classic Coffee Cake Recipe
Equipment
- 1 mixing bowl
- 1 whisk
- 1 9-inch round cake pan
Ingredients
Brown Butter Streusel topping
- 1 stick Unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp Ground cinnamon
- ½ cup (65g) All-purpose flour
- ¼ tbsp Kosher salt
- ¾ cup (150g) Granulated sugar
Filling
- ½ tbsp Ground cinnamon
- 1 cup (200g) Brown sugar
Cake
- ¾ cup (180g) Whole flat plain yogurt or sour cream
- 3¾ cup (465g) All-purpose flour
- 1¼ tbsp Kosher salt
- 1½ cup (300g) Granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup (65g) Brown sugar
- 1 tbsp Vanilla extract
- 3 pitch Large eggs
- 1½ sticks Softened unsalted butter
- 2½ tbsp Baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Grease and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.
- In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then stir in the vanilla.
- Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream.
- Combine the melted butter, sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl for the cinnamon swirl.
- Spoon half of the batter into the prepared cake pan. Sprinkle the cinnamon swirl over the batter, then spoon the remaining batter over the top. Sprinkle with the crumb topping.
- Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
- Cool the cake in the pan for 15 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Steps for Making the Best Classic Coffee Cake
1. Preheating the Oven
First, preheat the oven to 180°C or 350° F. Take a 9×13 inch baking dish and lightly grease it with a brush. You can also use nonstick Spray.
2. Make the Brown Butter Streusel Topping
Take a small saucepan and heat the butter over medium heat. Wait for the butter to melt completely; you can swirl the pan. Then take a heatproof spatula and continue mixing and stirring with it.
You will see that the butter bubbles and make foam. Then wait for the butter to become brown. At this moment, you can easily smell the incredibly nutty butter. All this process takes almost 5 to 8 minutes.
Then you have to transfer it to the heatproof container. You should get all the delicious brown bits from the bottom. Wait for the mixture to cool at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Mix the Ingredients
Then, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, salt, and sugar in a medium bowl. Then take the browned butter and stir everything with the rubber spatula. Make sure that all the ingredients are well combined.
4. Making the Filling
Then take another small bowl and mix the cinnamon and the brown sugar.
5. Making the Cake
Then take a medium bowl and whisk together the sour cream and milk. Make sure that they are well combined.
6. Mixing the Flour, Salt, etc.
Then take another medium bowl and whisk together the baking powder, salt, and floor to ensure they are well combined.
7. Mixing the Sugars and Cream
An electric hand mixer is used to mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, and butter. Mixing these things on medium speed until you feel a light and fluffy layer in 2 to 3 minutes is better. Then add the vanilla extract add the eggs, and mix the things with the electric hand mixer. Adding the eggs one at a time and beating well after each addition is good.
8. Adding the Flour to the Butter Mixture
Then you have to add the floor to the butter mixture. It is now better to beat on low speed to combine. Then add half of the milk mixture and again mix with the beater. Then keep on adding things. Adding the things gradually will result in better mixing. It is always recommended not to over-mix the ingredients because they will form lumps.
9. Pouring the Butter into the Baking Dish
First, pour half the batter into the prepared baking dish and spread the mixture to the edges. You can spread 1 ⅓ cups batter in each pan if the pan size is 9 inches. After adding the batter into the two pans of 9 inches, you have to sprinkle the filling evenly on the batter.
Make sure that the filling is spread evenly to the edges. After that, take a butter knife and gently swirl the filling into the batter. Take the streusel and spread it evenly on the top.
10. Time for Baking
It is time to bake the coffee cake and wait until it becomes golden brown around the edges. A toothpick inserted in the cake’s center will indicate whether the cake has been baked. A toothpick embedded into the cake should come out clean. The cake will bake in almost 55 minutes.
11. Removing the Cake from the Oven
After 55 minutes, remove the cake from the oven and let it cool for 20 minutes before slicing. You can serve it straight from the pan or can serve it after refrigerating it.
FAQs
Is there any coffee in a coffee cake?
From the name, it looks like you will have to add coffee to a coffee cake, but that is not true. You will be surprised to note that an American coffee cake has normal brown sugar, cinnamon, and streusel.
It is called coffee cake because it is normally served with a cup of coffee or a foamy latte. This is for the American coffee cake. But if we talk about the coffee cake in Ireland, it has a flavor of coffee in it and is usually served with tea. However, in this post, we have discussed American coffee cake.
Normally, the coffee cake is very moist and has a very soft tenderness. Keep in mind that there might be a difference in flavor and texture between the coffee cake from the store and a homemade coffee cake. The reason is that there might be differences in the making of the cake and the ingredients.
What do you use to bake your coffee cake?
You can use a flat sheet pan for making the coffee cake, but unfortunately, it does not have deep walls to make the layers. You can use a 9-and-a-half-inch cake pan because it allows the making of the layers. It also gives a beautiful finish to your classic coffee cake.
How can we store and freeze the classic coffee cake?
Another specialty of classic coffee cake is that its flavor is enhanced after 1 or 2 days. The moisture in the cake remains, and the texture is also improved. You can also freeze the cake according to your liking.
First, cool the cake in the refrigerator and put it in the freezer. Make sure you wrap the cake in a layer of plastic followed by foil. It is better if you double-wrap it because it prevents the cake from drying out in the freezer. You can also defrost the cake until it reaches room temperature. Many people like the half-frozen coffee cake, which is still very delicious.
How can we increase the flavor of the coffee in a simple cake?
You can add the flavor of the coffee to a simple cake by adding espresso powder and a little spice to bring out the flavor. For this purpose, you can add cardamom and cinnamon because they will play up the coffee flavor beautifully.
Why is your coffee cake dry?
Sometimes, your coffee cake becomes dry because of the wrong ingredients. It might also dry because of the mistakes while making the batter. Sometimes, you cook the cake too long or at too high a temperature.
Why is my coffee cake bitter?
It is a common mistake, and your coffee cake becomes bitter when you add too much baking soda or baking powder. When you add too much baking powder or baking soda to your cake, it will become bitter and make a mess in the kitchen.
Final Thoughts
Classic coffee cake is a simple sponge cake usually served with coffee. The primary specialty of the classic coffee cake is that it is delicious and soft from the inside. Another special thing is that it is usually topped with a sweet streusel topping. It is a treat that is perfect for any occasion and is sure to please anyone. At supper time, combining cake and coffee creates a rich, delicious flavor that will surely hit family and friends.
Azizul Hakim is a content creator and the co-founder of www.queekcoffee.com. He has been writing content and reviews for over five years. He loves to brew coffee and serve it with his colleagues.
