Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
First, let me just wish prayers, well wishes and safety to everyone in Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, the Caribbean and everywhere else that are being affected by these terrible hurricanes.
Second, today’s post is about doing things that I haven’t done for a while.
I haven’t traveled very far for a long time. The last time I was on a plane was when we made the cross-country move to California, almost exactly a year ago. Since then I’ve pretty much stayed on the west side. But that’s about to change.
By the time you guys read this post, I’ll have already hopped a Red Eye flight and arrived back in the Mitten for a visit, for the first time in a full year.
Apart from the fact that I cannot believe a full year has passed so quickly since the move, it’s going to be good to get back in my hometown to see my family again. We’re fortunate to live in a time where technology like Hangouts, Facetime and Messenger exists and I can video chat with them, but it’s not the same as in-person contact. The huge distance factor creates this feeling where you it’s like you’re out there in a kind of ‘bubble’ where you’re apart from other things that are going on.
I’m looking forward to taking a brief pause in the everyday routine and get back to something that I’ve been away from for a while. Sometimes it takes actually revisiting a memory, place or person to make you realize how much you missed them. That’s certainly the case with my going back to the hometown, and it’s also the case with today’s recipe.
Cause y’know, I can find a way to make just about anything link back to my food. It’s kinda what I ‘do’.
Before I baked the recipe and wrote this post I really can’t remember the last time I ate coffee cake. And I did try to remember. It’s not likely that I can forget food that I ate and really enjoyed so the chances are, I either haven’t had coffee cake in close to a decade, or if I did, it was so Godawful that I’ve subconsciously blocked it out of my memory.
(And if it was awful, I’m choosing to just not count it as something I actually ate. Therefore, the calories I wasted by eating it don’t exist. Cause, I do what I want,)
One thing I can promise is that I’m not going to be able to forget eating this cake. Nor do I want to.
The sour cream inside the batter makes the cake soft, with a moist crumb that (unlike a lot of run-the-mill coffee cakes) isn’t overly dry and crumbly. A ribbon of brown sugary goodness runs through the middle. Then on top is my personal favorite: the buttery cinnamon sugar streusel topping that when baked, forms an almost crunchy texture contrast to the softness of the cake. And because I just don’t ever know when to quit, I topped all of it off with a smooth powdered sugar icing drizzle.
If you’re like me and it’s been a long time since you had coffee cake, do yourself a favor and let this be the recipe that makes you go back to it and remember why you love it so much in the first place.
Linking this up to this week’s Fiesta Friday #188, co-hosted this week by Jhuls @ The Not So Creative Cook and Nimmi @ Adorable Life.
****************************************************************
Cinnamon Crumb Coffee Cake
Recipe Adapted from King Arthur Flour
Ingredients
For Cake
- 8 tablespoons (1 stick)
- 1 cup (7 ounces) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
For Filling
- 1 cup light or dark brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
For Streusel Topping
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For Icing
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 2-3 tablespoons milk
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour a 9 or 10 inch tube pan and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the filling. Set aside. In another small bowl, set aside the ingredients for the streusel topping. Set aside.
In a large bowl of a standing mixer (or using a handheld one) cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time. Add the sour cream and vanilla extract.
In a medium size bowl whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder with a fork. Slowly fold in the dry ingredients into the wet. Place half of the batter into the bottom of the tube pan, using a spatula to spread it out.
Sprinkle the filling over the batter, then pour the rest of the batter on top of it. Use a butter knife to gently swirl the filling throughout the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the batter until completely covered.
Bake for 40-45 minutes in the oven, until a toothpick/tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove cake from oven, allow to cool in pan for about 20 minutes, then turn out and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.
Nom! 😀
Thanks Ida!
Yummy
Thank you, it IS a yummy cake 🙂
Love all that crumb topping!!!
Thanks Abbey, that’s my favorite part of the cake too!
Lovely recipe 🙂
Thank you, I really like this one.
This makes me want to get a tube pan. That’s a good excuse, yeah? The cake looks so moist and perfect! I might eat more than my tummy can handle.😂 Thanks for sharing, Jess! Happy Fiesta Friday!
It’s surely a good enough excuse for me Jhuls lol Thank you, I hope you had a great weekend!
Looks so good 😍
Thank you!
Why do you torture me so!?!? I want to make everything you bake! 🙂
That’s such high praise coming from you Josette, thank you so much 🙂
This looks so good, Jess! Omnomnom!
Thanks Sarah, I LOVE this cake 😀
Jess, your blog is AWESOME! All of your recipes sound absolutely delicious 🙂 I have a food blog too and I would love it if you checked it out: karaskloud.wordpress.com.
I appreciate those kind words Kara, and your following along with my blog. I’ll be sure to check your blog out too. Thanks 🙂
It’s been awhile sent I’ve had a good coffee cake and this one looks like a keeper. Love it!
Same here Marisa, this one reminded me how much I like it. Thank you!
This cake is just perfect for any party.. Coffee and cinnamon are two favorite ingredients of mine..I would like to eat this as much as I can.. Thank you so much for sharing this awesome cake with all of us..
Happy Fiesta Friday 😊!!
I love coffee and cinnamon as well. They work well in both savory and sweet dishes. Many thanks 🙂
There is nothing I love more than a good coffee cake and yours looks perfect. Love the texture and the crumb topping – yum!
Thank you Lily!
I grew up eating coffee cake and just loved it. This one sure looks amazingly beautiful and delicious! Going back home kind of turns you into who you were when you left and finding that while you miss it you enjoy who you’ve become. At least that’s the case with me.
I hadn’t had one in years, but I’m glad that I made another one to get me back on track lol Thanks Julie 🙂
Jess bake a delicious cinnamon cafe cake, thank for your recipe :*
You’re very welcome Tuan. Thanks for for stopping by and commenting 🙂
This looks divine! Definitely one to bake over the next few weeks. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you for stopping by, I hope you enjoy the cake 🙂
Jess, I was looking for a good coffee cake recipe, but I don’t have a tube pan. Can I use a bunt pan instead? Thanks. Chery
A bundt pan should be fine so long as the designs in the pan aren’t too intricate and it’s about the same cup size as a 9-10 inch tube pan. So, make sure it has a capacity of at least 10 cups of batter. Also, because the coffee cake is so moist, I don’t think it would hold up well in some of the more fancy bundt pans that require ‘sturdier’ denser cakes to mold. But if it’s a regular bundt pan you’re using, I think it’ll be fine 🙂