How To Make Coffee Cake
I ask you – Is a coffee break complete without coffee cake? I say no. More often then not, I like the coffee, but I think we should make coffee cake more central to the whole coffee break experience. When I say coffee cake, I mean the kind with a dense cake, perhaps some fruit and a tender streusel. Perhaps it is just where I live, or the coffee joints I go to, but there seems to be a lack of coffee cake. What? We don’t make coffee cake anymore? It seem that on every shelf there is croissant or a massive 13 layer carrot cake or a cookie the size of my head, but no coffee cake. For Shame. So lets make coffee cake!
How To Make Coffee Cake – The Cake
To make coffee cake is to consider how said coffee cake can enhance the coffee – and vice versa. This means considering the flavors in the cake that go well with coffee. A vanilla cake is always a good choice as vanilla does coffee good. A subtle tart note in the cake – like from greek yogurt, is also good as it will bring out the sweet notes in the coffee. As an aside, I like my cake a little dense – this puts the coffee to work as a “washer downer” of the cake which, like dunking, really is the best way to go when enjoying treats with coffee.
Make Coffee Cake With Fruit
Fruit in a coffee cake is perhaps optional, but going back to the idea of constructing a coffee cake that enhances the coffee makes the addition of fruit a great idea. A tart fruit, like raspberry, brings out the sweetness of both the coffee and cake, while providing a nice acid balance. Plus, raspberry matches nicely with coffee. The fruit could be taken in many directions – blueberries are very nice, apple certainly works, cherry is divine, and pineapple would work so long as you add a dash of coconut to the streusel! The bitter notes in the coffee will help to bring out the nuances in the fruit, too. BTW, if you have to go frozen, no worries. Frozen fruit will work just fine, canned too if in a pinch. Just make sure it is drained well.
Make Coffee Cake – The Streusel
The top layer of every great coffee cake is the streusel. I admit that when I think about coffee cake the first thing to pop in to my head is the buttery, crunchy, tender streusel. When I make coffee cake, I never ever ever have thought that it would ever be a good idea to skip the streusel. That would be sacrilege and a sin against the coffee and the cake. The cinnamon, brown sugar and almond are, again, coffee enhancers and vice versa. The streusel also plays nicely with the cake and fruit. It adds a different texture to the coffee cake which is a bonus. `Another bonus – the cinnamon, brown sugar and almond do very well with a variety of fruits, not to mention the vanilla in the cake.
Coffee Cake and Coffee
When you consider your coffee break, try having it with a coffee that is less sweet than usual. Let the bitter notes in the coffee bring out the sweetness and flavors in the coffee cake and let the coffee cake bring our the nuances in the coffee. You won’t be disappointed!
The “how to make coffee cake” video is below. The full recipe follows.
- 2 cups of flour
- 2 teaspoons of baking powder
- ½ teaspoon of baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon of salt
- ½ cup of flour
- ¼ r cup of brown sugar
- ¼ cup of white sugar
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
- 6 tablespoons of cold butter, cubed
- 1/4 cup of sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup of softened butter
- 1 cup of sugar
- Two eggs
- 1 teaspoon of vanilla
- 6 ounces of fat-free Greek yogurt
- 1/2 pound fresh raspberries
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Butter and flour a 9 inch spring form pan.
- In a medium bowl mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl make the streusel topping. Mix the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg mix well. Rub the cold butter into the streusel mixture until it looks Sandy. Stir in the almonds. Mix well.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar with a handmixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time whipping in between additions making sure each egg is well incorporated.
- Add the vanilla and Greek yogurt. Mix well.
- With the hand mixer on low speed slowly incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.
- Top the batter with the fresh raspberries making sure they're spread evenly across the top.
- Top the raspberries with the streusel mixture making sure it is spread evenly across the top.
- Bake the coffee cake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Let the coffee cake cool in the pan. Remove the ring and serve.
- Blueberries can be used instead of raspberries. Frozen fruit can also be used.
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How do you make coffee cake? Let us know in the comments or on Facebook.
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