Coffee Cake

Hello, food-lovers.

Coffee Cake

As Mark Bittman recently wrote for his Bittman Project : “What’s happening right now in America and as a consequence throughout the world … is so big that it is hard for me to focus on food issues in the way that I normally do.”

I didn’t actually read the rest of the article, but as a food writer/influencer myself I can absolutely relate. I’m hoarding beans thanks to the Trump Tariffs. I looked into getting Spanish citizenship (I’m a quarter espicy). And I’m actively thinking about engaging more in my local food community while sitting on the toilet or watching TV. But I’ve also been having some weird cravings lately: specifically for coffee cake. The kind that Starbucks had before their La Boulange phase. Maybe it wasn’t from Starbucks. Maybe it was from a dream. But anyway, I took inspiration from a Taste of Home magazine I bought at Michael’s (RIP Joann’s) and came up with my own coffee cake recipe that feels oddly nostalgic to me. It’s also really good and not too hard to make. Hope you enjoy!

Coffee cup by my fiance and zine co-creator Chris Hendrix. He fucking made that.

Coffee Cake

This is kind of the most basic layer cake you can make probably. It doesn’t technically have layers, but it also kind of does. You have to make three things and put them all into one thing:

Cake batter ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups AP flour

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp baking soda 

• 1/4 tsp Kosher salt

• 3/4 cups sugar

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt

• 1 cup sour cream 

• 3 Tbsp toasted nuts (I used sliced almonds because that’s what we had on hand and they were great but walnuts would be good too)

Coffee layer ingredients:

• 1/3 cup light brown sugar

• 1 heaping Tbsp instant coffee

• 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon 

• pinch of salt

Streusel ingredients:

• 1/2 cups AP flour

• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar (light will also be fine)

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon

• 2 liberally-measured Tbsp unsalted butter

• pinch of salt

Steps

1. Preheat an oven to 350° F (180° C).

2. Combine dry cake ingredients in a bowl and whisk well.

3. Cream butter and white sugar in another bowl until combined and clumpy. Don’t over cream lol.

4. Add in egg and vanilla. Combine yogurt and sour cream and add in a bit at a time, alternating with the dry ingredients. Add in nuts. Set aside.

5. Mix all the coffee layer ingredients in a third bowl.

6. Mix all the streusel ingredients in a fourth and final bowl and make small-ish clumps. It may take a second, but add a bit more butter if it’s not quite coming together.

7. Grease a square baking pan. Layer half the cake batter, half the coffee layer, the rest of the cake batter, the rest of the coffee layer, and scatter the streusel on top.

8. Place on the center oven rack and bake for 40-45 min or until a toothpick that’s inserted comes out dry (check after 30 if your baking pan’s made of metal). The cake itself should be just a touch dryer on the outside than it is on the inside. Goes great with coffee obviously. Enjoy hot or cold.