Coffee Coffeecake Cake

Lest you think I've gone mad, the title of this came about after I witnessed a long discussion of what you'd expect to get if you were offered "coffee cake."

A large number of people said, "Well, duh, it's a crumb cake. You eat it with coffee, like at breakfast." Or like the olden days on sitcoms when people just randomly stopped by for coffee.

Another segment of folks said they'd expect a coffee-flavoured cake, with walnuts, and a coffee-flavoured icing as well.

See what happened there? The folks who spell flavor as flavour have a coffee cake that uses the word coffee in the same way we would use chocolate if we were talking about chocolate cake.

The folks who spell flavour as flavor probably also verbally pronounce coffee cake as one run-on word. Coffeecake. Not coffee ... cake.

On the other hand, I grew up thinking that this was coffee cake. Ah yes, my mother was the master at confusing me. I grew up with Andy Griffin (Griffith) and I thought there was such a word as dopefeine that rhymed with caffeine (dope fiend).

So after this long online discussion about what was or wasn't coffee cake, I decided that I wanted to bake a cake. Some kind of cake. Perhaps coffee flavored. I started pawing through cookbooks, although really I should have just made this coffeecake and called it a day.

I started with older cookbooks and couldn't find either a coffee cake OR a crumb cake. Finally I found a recipe for what was called a coffee cake, but it was really a sweet yeasted bread and not a cake at all.

Harrumph. 

So, I cobbled together some notes and ideas and walnuts and coffee and went into the kitchen to grind some soft white wheat berries to make flour to make a cake. Because, well, why not?

This coffeecake is moist and a little crumbly at the same time. It's sweet, but the sweetness is offset a bit by the coffee. It's got crunchy bits from the caramelized sugar and little chewy nubs of walnut. This would be great with coffee. Or a glass of milk. Or maybe just with a fork, for dessert.

If you don't have a grain mill (I have a Mockmill) to grind your own wheat, then just use whatever flour you like and hope to heck that it works. Hah! But seriously, it ought to be just fine with either store-bought white wheat or with all purpose flour. If you use the darker whole wheat flour, you'll probably need just a little bit more moisture - a tablespoon or so should suffice.

Coffee Coffeecake Cake

For the topping:
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat. Use what you have)
4 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
Pinch of salt

For the cake:
3/4 cup sugar
6 3/4 ounces (about 1 1/4 cups) white wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup half-and-half (or milk is fine)
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons butter, melted

To make the topping:
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix (fingertips work well) until the mixture looks like wet sand and comes together in clumps. Set aside until needed.

To make the cake:
Spray a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray and heat the oven to 375 degrees. You can also line it with a reusable parchment, which is what I did. (I reviewed it here. You can buy it here.)

Combine the sugar, flour, salt, and baking powder in a bowl and stir or whisk to combine. You can use your stand mixer with the paddle attachment, if you like.

Combine the half-and-half, milk, egg, and vanilla extract in another container. (You can combine them all in the measuring cup. Start with the half-and-half, then add the coffee, then add the egg and vanilla.) Beat lightly with a fork to break up the egg.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix well.

Pour the mix into the prepared pan and smooth the top.

Sprinkle the topping randomly over the batter.

Bake at 375 degrees until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan and allowing it to complete cooling before serving. You can also leave the cake in the pan and serve from the pan.

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Sunken Streusel Coffee Cake

Did you ever make a recipe that didn't come out the way it was supposed to, but it was still really, really, really good?

Yeah, that's what happened here.

I wanted to make something from the book The New Southwest by Meagan Micozzi, and the two recipes that I was contemplating were the Adobo Potato Gratin and the Sonoran Honey Streusel Coffee Cake.

I was drooling over those potatoes, but then I ended up making a pasta dish for dinner - and potatoes don't really go with pasta. So I decided to make the coffee cake, even though cakes are always tricky up here at high altitude.

The cake was supposed to have a streusel topping. I love streusel and crumb toppings. But ... instead of it being a topping, it sunk into the cake. Which was actually pretty cool. It created a wavy crazy layer of a fudge-like, caramel-like sweet filling. And the top of the cake was bumpy and lumpy and interesting, too.

The sign of a good recipe is that even when something goes wrong, it's still all right. And if you mess something up, it still works. And if it's a cake and you bake it at high altitude, it still is a cake.

I've had cakes fail pretty spectacularly up here. The cake itself rose nicely and didn't do anything weird, so that's a really good sign. And it's really good. I might make it again without the topping, and add a drizzle or frosting after it's baked. Yeah, it's that good. Or I might just let that topping sink. Heh. If no one knew it wasn't supposed to do that, they'd never guess.

The original title of this was Sonoran Honey Streusel Coffee Cake, because the author used a Sonoran honey, but suggested using a local honey. I used the Ambrosia honey that I get from Madhava. It's really great stuff.

As for those potatoes ... they're still bookmarked, along with a bunch of recipes I really need to try.

Sunken Streusel Coffee Cake
Formerly known as Sonoran Honey Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from The New Southwest by Meagan Micozzi

For the cake:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated white sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cus all purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup your favorite local honey
2/3 cup buttermilk

For the streusel:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup all purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a 9-inch square baking pan with parchment paper. I folded the parchment to fit the bottom of the pan and up the two sides to make a sling for the cake. I left the other two sides uncovered.

Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla and eggs and beat until incorporated.

In another bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, and salt. Whisk to combine.

Add the flour to the butter mixture in thirds, alternating with first, the honey, then the buttermilk. Mix just long enough to create a smooth batter. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan.

Now, make the streusel. Put the ingredients in a small bowl and use your fingers to combine. You should have a somewhat crumbly mixture. Scatter this on top of the cake batter.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.

Let the cake cool slightly in the pan before removing it from the pan and cooling completely on a rack. Or, if you like, you can serve it from the pan.

I received this book from the publisher.

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Coffee Coffeecake

Why doesn't coffeecake have coffee in it? Well, this one does.

The current challenge over at 37Cooks is sponsored by Lock N Load, a veteran-owned coffee company, and this time around I decided to turn my attention to coffeecake.

I received two different Lock N Load coffees to work with, Task Force Zulu Single Origin Costa Rican and Armory Select Southern Pecan. And lucky, you, I made two different recipes - one with each coffee.

This time around, I used the Southern Pecan coffee. It made perfect sense since the coffeecake included nuts. The original recipe used walnuts, but I changed that to pecans to match the coffee, and I made other slight changes.

You can see the original recipe here.

Pecan Streusel Coffee Coffeecake
Adapted from Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein (recipe for Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake)
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

Pecan Graham Streusel:
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons melted butter

Topping:
1/4 cup pecans, roughly chaopped
1/3 cup sugar
4 tablespoons room temperature butter
6 tablespoons all purpose flour

Cake:
3 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup canola oil
3 large eggs
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup brewed strong coffee, cooled
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9x13 baking pan with baking spray.

For the streusel topping:
In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the streusel topping. Stir well and set aside.

For the crumb topping:
In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, butter, and flour. Mash with a fork until combined. It should form a mass, but still fall apart in bits rather than clumping together in a wet blob. Add another tablespoon of flour if it's wet.

For the cake:
Mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and oil until it's creamy. Add the eggs and mix until smooth.

Lower the speed and add the flour mixture. Raise the speed and beat until you have a smooth batter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Lower the speed and beat in the cream, coffee, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Spread half of the cake batter in the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Add the pecan streusel evenly over the batter. Add the rest of the batter, and smooth the top.

Scatter the pecans over the top of the cake

Break the crumb topping into bits and scatter them over the pecans.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with moist crumbs.

Cool the cake completely before cutting.

You can find out more about Lock N Load on their Facebook page. I was supplied with coffee to use for these recipes through 37Cooks.

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Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Cake

When I saw a sponsored opportunity for International Delight coffee creamers, I hesitated a bit. I usually drink my coffee with plain old milk.

Then I saw they were looking for a recipe, and OH YEAH I can do that. I love creating recipes with different products -and the weirder the better. It's my own little version of Chopped. Except I don't have a time limit or judges or multiple ingredients that don't make any sense.

I like using products in unusual ways, so I scurried off to the store to see what flavors I might use. I brought home two of the seasonal flavors - Chocolate Mint and Pumpkin Pie Spice. I figured I'd taste them and then decide what to make.

Before we go any further, I have to say that I was pleased to see that these contain sugar. Not that I was excited about sugar, but I was happy that they didn't have corn syrup.

The chocolate mint would have worked well for cupcakes or a cake, but I wasn't in the mood for that. I decided to make coffee cake.

I figured that the pumpkin pie spice flavor would add a nice dimension to a coffee cake. And then I remembered the graham cracker streusel from a coffee cake I made recently, and I decided to use graham crackers for the topping on this cake. It made sense. Pumpkin pies often have graham cracker crusts, right?

The graham crackers are intentionally left with some larger bits along with the completely crushed pieces, which creates some great texture in the topping.

International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Coffee Cake

Topping
3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs and pieces

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) butter

Cake

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 stick (4 tablespoons butter)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

1 cup International Delight Pumpkin Pie Spice Creamer

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray.

To make the topping:

Crush the graham crackers so that you still have some larger pieces - about the size of a pea - along with some finely crushed crumbs. Combine the graham crackers with the  cinnamon, sugar,  and salt.

Melt the butter and pour it over the graham cracker mixture. Stir to combine and set aside.

To make the cake:

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Whisk to combine.

In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a bowl, using an electric hand mixer) beat the sugar and butter together until smooth (this is easier if the butter is a little soft.) Add the oil and eggs and beat until you have a smooth mixture, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Add the flour mixture and mix slowly until the flour is incorporated until the mixture is smooth. Add the International Delights creamer and beat until the creamer is completely incorporated and the mixture is smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Pour the cake into the prepared pan. Smooth out the top. Sprinkle the cracker mixture over the top evenly.

Bake the cake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean - about 35 minutes.

Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 -15 minutes, then turn the cake out and let it cool completely on a rack. If you prefer, you can leave the cake in the pan and slice and serve directly from the pan. Or, of course you can slice and serve while the cake is still slightly warm.

Help keep a child warm!

When you buy that International Delight, you can do something for someone else!

For every UPC code from specially marked bottles of International Delight and other products that you register on the Share You Delight page, 50 cents will be donated to the Coats for Kids Foundation. Head on over to get a coupon for your International Delight product, too.

Follow the #IDBaking hashtag on Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram for more baking recipes.

The International Delight Facebook page shares coupon savings and a chance to share your delight this holiday season.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of International Delight. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake for a Virtual Baby Shower

My friend Rachel from Rachel Cooks is having a baby soon, and what could be better than a virtual baby shower?

Well, how about a virtual baby shower with actual food?

I spent quite a bit of time trying to thing of something to "bring" to a virtual baby shower. Appetizers? Snacks? Fruity drinks? 

I almost posted a cocktail, but that's not exactly fair to the mom-to-be.

Then, a new cookbook arrived. It usually takes me quite a while to decide what recipe to make first when I get a new cookbook, but this time, it was easy. A coffee cake recipe looked absolutely perfect. Okay, a lot of things looked really good, but I had all the ingredients for the coffee cake, and I thought it would be a great thing to bring to the hospital for the nurses.

I have my priorities.

The book is Kosher by Design Cooking Coach by Susie Fishbein, and it's one of eight books in the Kosher by Design series. This one isn't just a cookbook, it talks about kitchen equipment, technique, and even how to plan for leftovers for the recipes. So, for example, you can make stuffed cabbage one day and use the leftovers for soup the next day.

There are lots of recipes. Lots and lots of them, from bulgogi to brioche and from Cajun quinoa to Yemenite beef soup. I'm looking forward to trying more of them, but first I had to make the coffee cake.

This coffee cake has a layer of graham cracker walnut streusel running through the middle, and it's got a crumb topping. The recipe calls for baking in a tube pan ... but of all the things I have, that's not one of them. I considered making the cake in a bundt pan, since it's the same shape. But then the crumb topping would be on the bottom, and that just seemed wrong.

So I decided to bake the cake in a 9x13 pan instead. It worked perfectly. I also made a little goof on the topping - you're supposed to mix the sugar with the warm butter first, then add the flour. I mixed the sugar and flour, then added butter. Oops! But it still worked okay - probably better if I did it right.

The recipe calls for using dairy products (butter and milk) or option for non-dairy (margarine or nondairy whipped topping). I opted for the dairy products.

If I was going to an actual baby shower, I'd be happy to see this coffee cake among the offerings. I hope Rachel (virtually) likes it as much as I did when I had it with my (actual) coffee this morning.

Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake

Adapted from Kosher by Design by Susie Fishbein

Walnut Graham Streusel:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 tablespoons melted butter

Crumb Topping:

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1/4 cup finely ground walnuts

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 cup melted butter (kept hot)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter

1/3 cup canola oil

3 large eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 10-inch tube pan with a removable bottom.

In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the streusel topping. Stir well and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the sugar, brown sugar, ground walnuts, cinnamon, ginger, and salt for the crumb topping. Pour the hot butter in and stir to melt the sugar into the butter. Add the flour and mix well. It's suppose to form a firm ball (I messed this up, but it still worked.)

For the cake, mix the flour, baking powder and salt together in a medium bowl, and set aside.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and oil until it's creamy. Add the eggs and mix until smooth. Lower the speed and add the flour mixture. Raise the speed and beat until you have a smooth batter, scraping the sides of the bowl as needed. Lower the speed and beat in the milk, vanilla extract, and almond extract.

Spread half of the cake batter in the prepared pan and smooth out the surface. Add the walnut streusel evenly over the batter. Add the rest of the batter, and smooth the top.

Break the crumb topping into large chunks - 1/2 to 3/4 inch pieces - and sprinkle these chunky bits over the batter. 

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, or with moist crumbs.

Cool the cake completely before cutting.

Note: I baked this in a 9x13 pan and it took about the same time to bake.

Want some more baby shower goodies? 
Check out these wonderful blogs for more great recipes.

Brandy from Nutmeg Nanny is bringing S'mores Popcorn
Barb from Creative Culinary is bringing White Chocolate "Quilted" Cupcakes
Sarah from Sarah's Cucina Bella is bringing us a Apple Asiago Prosciutto Bites
Milisa from Miss in the Kitchen is bringing White Chocolate Biscoff Muddy Buddies
Amanda from Fake Ginger is bringing Snickerdoodle Scones
I made Walnut Streusel Coffee Cake
Cassie from Bake You Day is bringing Salted Caramel Cashew Popcorn
Jessie from Bread & Butter is bringing Primal Pumpkin Whoopie Pies
Sommer from A Spicy Perspective is bringing Turtle Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake
Susan from 30A EATS is bringing Southern Cheese Straws
Deborah from Taste and Tell is bringing Blue-Layered Jello
Carrian from Oh Sweet Basil is bringing Mini Blackberry Pies
Carrie from Bakeaholic Mama is bringing Salted Caramel Popcorn Bars
Stephanie from Steph's Bite by Bite is bringing Baby Blueberry Pies
Mackenzie from Suzie Freaking Homemaker is bringing Cucumber Sandwiches
Shelby from Diabetic Foodie is bringing Cranberry Citrus Meatballs (Slow Cooker)
Tara from Chip Chip Hooray is bringing Itty Bitty Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies
Liz from The Lemon Bowl is bringing Hermit Bars - Chewy Molasses Cookie Bars
Krista from Budget Gourmet Mom is bringing Baby Blue Cheese Burgers
Jennifer from Mother Thyme is bringing Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
Kita from Pass the Sushi is bringing Sweet Potato Soup with Maple Cream
Shelia from Eat 2 Gather is bringing us a Chicken Salad
Brandi from Bran Appetit is bringing Bourbon Toffee Popcorn
Jamie from Thrifty Veggie Mama is bringing Roasted Butternut Squash and Sage Pesto Crostini
Marnely from Cooking with Books is bringing Curried Salmon Phyllo Cups
Erin from The Spiffy Cookie is bringing Sweet Potato Pie Dip with Pie Crust Dippers
Heather from Farmgirl Gourmet is bringing Dark Chocolate Cashew Brittle Cookies
Kathryn from London Bakes is bringing Mini Onion and Feta Pizzas

    

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