I’m probably the only person who has multiple favorite coffeecake recipes. And I’m definitely the only person who has multiple coffeecakes in my collection of recipes and who hates coffee. Ironic? Probably.
Oh, and to the uninitiated – coffeecake is not made from coffee. It is supposed to be served with coffee. Or, if you’re a coffee hater like me, just eat it plain for breakfast. Or lunch. Or snack. Or dessert. Or…
A while ago I told you about my husband’s favorite coffeecake (click here for the recipe and a series of craptastic photos). Today, let me introduce you to Cook’s Illustrated’s favorite version of this classic cake. It makes a boatload of coffeecake but it’s soooo good the quantity is not a problem at all (although, if you wanted, you could technically half the recipe, but why would you want to do that?).
Serve it with coffee. Or not.
coffeecake with crumb topping
recipe from www.cooksillustrated.com
streusel
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 cup pecans, almonds or walnuts, chopped coarse
cake
3 cups unbleached all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 cup buttermilk or whole plain yogurt
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
7 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
For the streusel: Mix sugars, cinnamon, and melted butter together in a medium bowl until mixture resembles wet sand; stir in nuts and set aside.
For the cake: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Generously coat 9×13-inch baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.
Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in a large bowl. Whisk buttermilk, sugars, eggs, and melted butter in a separate bowl until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir until the batter looks smooth and well combined.
Using a rubber spatula, scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle streusel evenly over the batter.
Bake until streusel is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 40-45 minutes. Cool cake on a wire rack for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.
6 responses so far ↓
1 LeAnn // Mar 4, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Beautiful pictures; it looks so good! Love the use of the dough wisk.
2 Brant // Mar 4, 2011 at 7:26 pm
Coffee cake is amazing!
3 Diane Dodd // Mar 6, 2011 at 6:50 am
I sampled your delicious coffee cake yesterday after helping our friends move to a new house. I was super hungry and it was super good!
4 Chris Davis // Mar 6, 2011 at 9:54 pm
I had this this weekend. it is great!
5 Melanie Stallings // Dec 12, 2011 at 7:08 pm
What is that cool little gadget in the picture of the streusel mix? BTW, I have spent the last two evenings browsing your blog, bookmarking recipes to try.
6 Paula // Dec 12, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Melanie – that cool little gadget is called a dough mixer. My mom bought it for me for christmas and I wondered what I would ever do with it. While I use it for bread, I LOVE using it any time I’m making something like streusel, graham cracker crust or biscuits b/c the mixture doesn’t clump up as much.
http://www.amazon.com/chefgadget-Dough-Mixer-11-Inch/dp/B002U85906/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1323748747&sr=8-6