Cinnamon coffee cake
American coffee cake contains no coffee — the name says what it is served with. It has three layers: cake, a cinnamon swirl inside and a crumble on top thicker than seems reasonable. It takes about twenty minutes to put together.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Crumble 8 min
- Batter 12 min
- Baking 40 min
- Cooling 20 min
- Icing 5 min
Step by step
0 / 5 doneRub the crumble
Mix the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt, add the cold butter and rub with your fingers into large hazelnut-sized lumps. Chill it — cold crumble does not melt away in the oven.
Ingredients: 150 g plain flour · 120 g brown sugar · 100 g butter · 2 tsp cinnamon · ¼ tsp salt
TipBigger lumps than for a classic crumble. They are what gives coffee cake its texture.
Hazelnut-sized lumps, not crumbs.Cream the batter
Cream the soft butter with the sugar for 4 minutes until pale. Beat in the eggs one at a time, add the vanilla, then alternate dry ingredients and sour cream, mixing only until combined.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 180 g sugar · 120 g butter · 2 pcs eggs · 200 g sour cream · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 2 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
TipSour cream gives a moisture butter alone cannot. Do not swap it for milk.
Build the layers
Spread half the batter in a 22×30 cm tin, sprinkle with the brown sugar and cinnamon mix, add the rest of the batter and level it. Scatter all the crumble on top, pressing it lightly in.
Ingredients: 60 g brown sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon · 120 g icing sugar · 2 tbsp milk
The cinnamon swirl hides inside, the crumble stays on top.Bake for 40 minutes
Bake at 175°C for 38–42 minutes. A skewer in the middle should come out with a few moist crumbs but no raw batter. Cool in the tin for 20 minutes, until lukewarm.
Ingredients: 300 g plain flour · 180 g sugar · 120 g butter · 2 pcs eggs · 200 g sour cream · 2 tsp baking powder · ½ tsp bicarbonate of soda · 2 tsp vanilla extract · ½ tsp salt
Drizzle with icing
Mix the icing sugar with milk into a thick pourable icing and drizzle it over the cake in thin lines from a spoon. Do this once the cake is lukewarm or cold — on a hot cake the icing melts and soaks into the crumble.
Ingredients: 60 g brown sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon · 120 g icing sugar · 2 tbsp milk
Thin lines instead of an even layer — less sweet, better looking.
Before you start
With plums or apples
Scatter 300 g of sliced fruit over the bottom layer of batter. Add 5 minutes to the baking time.
Instead of sour cream
Thick Greek yoghurt works the same. The acidic dairy reacts with the soda and, together with the baking powder, makes the cake fluffy; thin buttermilk would make the batter too runny.
Storage
Covered at room temperature it keeps 3 days. You can also freeze cut squares for a month.
