Classic Coffee Cake

Growing up on the east coast, there was no shortage of coffee cake — Entenmann’s Coffee Cake to be exact. I don’t think we were ever without it in my house. So coffee cake definitely holds special memories for me. So whenever my mom comes to visit, I always make sure I have some. Now I can make my own with this Classic Coffee Cake recipe.

This may actually be better than the coffee cake I grew up with — it’s that good!

It starts with the topping (the best part). You need to have the perfect crumble on top. This one is really simple with sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, unsalted butter, salt and cake flour. The key is using cake flour over all-purpose flour.

The cake part of this Classic Coffee Cake also uses cake flour. It’s definitely noticeable and worth using. I used a stand mixer for the cake batter — again this is an important part of the process.

Pour the batter into an 8×8 cake pan.

Next, I took the topping into my hands and simply crumbled it the size of a pea. I spread this all over the top. I actually had enough of the crumble to create several layers on top.

This baked for 35-40 minutes and came out looking like this.

Once the coffee cake is cool, remove the parchment paper from the pan and sprinkle the powdered sugar on top of the coffee cake.

Serve yourself a healthy square of this delicious Classic Coffee Cake! The cake is so moist and the topping is perfectly crunchy for this type of cake.

This is the perfect breakfast cake — I know my mom will approve!

Classic Coffee Cake

Prep 30 mins

Cook 40 mins

Inactive 30 mins

Total 1 hour, 40 mins

Author Chris

Yield 9 Slices

Looking for the perfect breakfast cake? This Classic Coffee Cake will blow you away! It’s perfect for any day or a special weekend while entertaining.

Ingredients

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup Sugar
1/3 cup Dark Brown Sugar
3/4 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon Salt
1 stick Unsalted butter, melted and warm
1 3/4 cups Cake Flour

Cake

1 1/4 cups Cake Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
6 tablespoons Unsalted Butter, softened and cut into 6 slices
1 Egg
1 Egg Yolk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/3 cup Buttermilk
Powdered Sugar for topping

Instructions

For Crumb Topping

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and butter.
Add flour and mix together gently
Set aside for at least 15 minutes

For Cake

Preheat oven to 325° and spray 8×8 baking pan with non-stick spray. Add a piece of parchment paper on top. The non-stick spray will keep the parchment paper in place.
Using a standing mixer, mix flour, sugar, baking soda and salt on low speed
Add butter slices one at a time until it looks like crumbs. This takes only a minute or 2
Add egg, yolk, vanilla and buttermilk and mix on medium speed for about 1 minute
Transfer to baking pan and spread evenly
Using your hands, crumble the topping into pea size pieces and layer on top of the cake
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown and the toothpick comes out clean
Cool for 30 minutes and then remove from pan
Sprinkle some powdered sugar on top and serve

Notes

This recipe was inspired by the amazing Cooks Illustrated!

Courses Breakfast

Classic Coffee Cake