Monday, June 25, 2012

Classic Crumb Coffee Cake

Hello friends,

I'm at it again with the snack cakes. First Homemade Hostess Cupcakes, now a Crumbly Coffee Cake that knocks the socks off of Hostess' or even Entenman's combined.


After the Hostess Cupcakes, my brother not so discreetly mentioned "dude if you can make me coffee cake I will love you." Little brother, shouldn't it be "I'll love you more?" Hmm I see how this works. Thankfully I make wicked good cakes so I wasn't too worried.


Though you wouldn't have known it from the first attempt I had at making this classic; I had a recipe for Classic Crumb Style Coffee Cake in Peter Reinhardt's Artisan Bread, which I guess was my first mistake. Why would a cake recipe be in my bread book? But I thought why not and painstakingly began the 12+ hours of involvement required in creating bread dough and letting it rise overnight while you fidget impatiently in your bed, imagining how delicious it will be once it's complete.


Friends, delicious it was not.

The crumb topping was just about the only thing that went right with this recipe. I do think that the dough was fine; for something like cinnamon rolls, you know, a bread-like recipe. This is cake darnit and under the crumb topping lay a bland, chewy piece of bread.
Well, back to the cutting board I guess.

So where did I go when my other recipes weren't up to par? I just so happened to pin a NY Style Coffee Cake from Tracey's Cullinary Adventures that featured a sour-cream based cake with a seriously thick crumb topping.



Now that is what I call coffee cake.

I'd like to say I made too much; that we had to give it all away because we got tired of it, but the truth is my friends, we devoured this cake as if it were the last one in the state of Florida. It was that good. And so, I earned my brother's love with a coffee cake that has no rivals, especially not a store-bought one.


Next up on the blog: Hurricane Debbie has come to stay and make a rainy mess of my backyard. What is a girl to do but curl up with a good book, a hot cup of coffee, and a delicious batch of homemade...

You'll have to check back later this week to find out!

Happy Baking!


NY Style Crumb Coffee Cake Via Tracey's Culinary Adventures

for the crumb topping:
1 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup white sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup melted butter, still warm
2 1/2 cups flour

for the cake:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/4 cups sour cream
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease one 9x13 inch pan with butter/cooking spray*

1. Make the crumb topping: Whisk together brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, salt, and flour. Pour in melted butter and begin mixing with large spoon. Use finger if necessary to form crumbly texture. Set aside until ready to use.

2. Make the cake: Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl. Set aside.

3. In bowl of stand mixer (or large bowl with a hand mixer) beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add in eggs, one at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Beat for an additional 30 seconds after the last egg.

4. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat until well combined. Slowly fold flour mixture into egg mixture, being careful not to overmix.

5. Pour batter into prepared pan, then cover with crumb topping. Bake at 350 for 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan at least 30 minutes before cutting and serving.

29 comments:

  1. Sunday brunch at college always had coffee cake just like this on the buffet line. I would easily have two or three pieces (don't worry they were small) each week. I looked forward to that morning all week long before I would have to hanker down and study. It fueled my brain. Great recipe!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks Emily!

      Don't worry; I wouldn't judge if they WERE giant pieces of coffee cake - sometimes you need some sugar support during those all nighters!

      Delete
  2. Yummm I LOVE coffee cake! This looks amazing!

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    1. Thank you Awkward Kitchenette!

      It tastes even better than it looks :D

      Delete
  3. that looks so delicious! i'd love a piece please :)

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    1. Thanks Jenn!

      Can you believe it's all gone? It disappeared into our mouths so much quicker than I expected!

      Delete
  4. You are too funny! Thanks so much for the good chuckle! And thank for Pinterest! Your Crumble Coffee Cake looks marvellous!

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    1. Thanks Ellen!

      I am so glad you found it amusing. I find myself funny (shh don't tell anyone) but that's usually just seen as sarcastic or dry by most people. :D

      Delete
  5. You are killing me with all these post of my favorite childhood snacks. WOW, that Crumble Coffee Cake looks awesome, I can't wait to try it!!! We are weathering out Debby here also, had to let water out of our pool twice all ready. You are making sweets, I am making comfort food, a big pot of short ribs with fennel and lemon.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Thanks Shari!

      Can you believe that after I posted this we lost power because of Debbie?! We thankfully got it back in a few hours so we can continue to bake up yummy treats to make it through the storm.

      Wish we had some of those short ribs though ;) .

      Delete
  6. LOVE coffee cakes..especially the crumb topping. These look amazing and your pictures are really awesome! Thanks for your comment on my page earlier :)

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    1. Thanks Ashley!

      And no problem :D If it looks yummy - then I shall comment :D

      Delete
  7. OMG! I want that so badly right now. I love, love, love good crumb cake. Saving the recipe and making soon!

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    1. Thanks Anita!

      I hope you enjoy it as much as we did :D

      Don't forget the powdered sugar!

      Delete
  8. I want nothing more than to reach in there and steal all the topping off of this!

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    1. Thanks Janet!

      Trust me; any topping that fell off during cutting a slice was promptly picked up by someone and inhaled immediately. :D

      Delete
  9. Classic no doubt, this looks incredible :D

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

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    1. Thanks Choc Chip Uru!

      Incredible is what I aim for ;)

      Delete
  10. This looks so good! I love coffee cake! I almost wish that I had a reason to curl up all day with a good book and coffee cake!

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    1. Thanks Binomial Baker!

      I actually wish we had more rain so I could've had an excuse to make more coffee cake as soon as we finished it ;)

      Delete
  11. I love a classic and this looks perfect and moist. I can just imagine the flavor. Mmmmmm!

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  12. Looks Soft and Spongy... Love the coffee flavor...

    First time here glad to be in touch with you..

    -Mythreyi
    Yum! Yum! Yum!

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hello Mythreyi!

      Nice to meet you and so glad you stopped by my blog :D Hope you try this coffee cake out for yourself one day !

      Delete
  13. Wow, the streusel to cake ratio is pretty amazing!

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    1. Thanks Cucina49!

      If I had it my way I'd just eat the streusel and call it "cake" heehee :D

      Delete
  14. I'm a sucker for coffee cake - and this looks HANDS DOWN amazing.

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  15. I'm a big fan of these cakes and I have to say this one really does look particularly delicious. X

    ReplyDelete