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.