Coffee Cake

Learn how to make soft and tender Coffee Cake. This beautiful New York-style cinnamon cake has a tasty cinnamon crumble and is delicious served with a fresh cup of coffee.

Introducing your new fave cake! 💕

Meet my soft and tender Coffee Cake. Made from scratch, this light melt-in-your-mouth cake is topped with a homemade cinnamon crumble.

Dusted with sugar, it’s sweet, buttery and oh-so-fun to make.

Ever since I made my Apple Cake, I’ve been obsessed with easy tea cakes. I just love how simple they are but they really do pack a flavour punch.

This easy Coffee Cake is the best of both worlds. Light and sweet cake topped with a crunchy cookie-like crumble. There’s no need for frosting here, the cake itself is more than enough.

I used to think Coffee Cake had coffee in it, but this American classic rather gets its name because it’s the perfect pair to a cup of coffee. And I couldn’t agree more.

It’s kind of like how Cinnamon Tea Cake goes perfectly with a cup of tea. And I’m all for having cake for morning or afternoon tea. Or anytime really.

I’m obsessed now. I even made a Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

TIPS FOR MAKING COFFEE CAKE

• This cake starts by creaming together the butter, sugar and vanilla using an electric mixer.
• Make sure your butter is at room temperature. You want it to be soft enough to make an indent if you poke it, but not melty or squishy or fridge cold.
• We use caster sugar in this recipe. You can swap it for granulated sugar. Read more about caster sugar here.
• After you add the egg, it’s time to add the dry ingredients. I recommend adding half the flour with the milk. Slowly start to mix and then add remaining flour with the yogurt.
• If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can use sour cream. The acidity of these ingredients makes a big difference in creating a light and fluffy cake.
• The batter will be quite thick – that’s fine!
• Bake until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. It might take 40-50 minutes depending on your oven as the thick crumble adds an extra layer. Remember every oven is different, so baking times should be a guide only.
• To serve, dust with icing sugar. Or you could drizzle with a simple sugar glaze. Just mix together 30 grams (1/4 cup) icing or powdered sugar with 1–2 tablespoons milk. Drizzle over cooled cake.

HOW TO MAKE CINNAMON CRUMBLE

• The cinnamon crumble is so easy to make!
• Start by adding plain flour, brown sugar, cornflour, cinnamon and walnuts to a mixing bowl.
• If you don’t have any cornflour or corn starch, just add an extra couple of teaspoons of flour.
• The walnuts are totally optional. If you prefer another nut, you can use that instead or leave them out entirely. But they go really nicely with the sweet cinnamon flavours!
• Pour over melted butter and mix together. Crumble will be sort of like wet sand, with big and small pieces – this is perfect.
• When your cake batter is ready, scatter crumbs all over the top and then bake in the oven.

Did you make this recipe? Don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. Hungry for more? Join me on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter for more amazing recipe ideas.

Let’s Bake

Coffee Cake

Yield Serves 8

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

4.9 from 12 reviews

Prep: 30 minutesCook: 40 minutesTotal: 1 hour 10 minutes

Soft and tender Coffee Cake with a cinnamon crumble.

Print Pin Rate

Ingredients

Cinnamon crumble

• 70 grams (1/2 cup) plain flour or all purpose flour 
• 30 grams (2 tablespoons) brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornflour or corn starch
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 25 grams (1/4 cup) walnuts, roughly chopped, optional
• 40 grams butter

Coffee cake

• 115 grams (1/2 cup or 1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 150 grams (3/4 cup) caster sugar or granulated sugar 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 210 grams (1 and 1/2 cups) plain flour or all purpose flour 
• 2 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 120 ml (1/2 cup) full fat or whole milk, room temperature
• 60 ml (1/4 cup) full fat Greek yogurt, room temperature 
• Icing sugar or powdered sugar, for decorating

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) standard / 160 C (320 F) fan-forced. Line and grease an 8-inch round cake pan with baking or parchment paper.
2. To make cinnamon crumble, in a medium-sized mixing bowl, add plain flour, sugar, cornflour, cinnamon and walnuts. Melt butter in the microwave and pour over dry ingredients. Mix together until wet and crumbly. Set aside. 
3. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla together until pale and creamy.  Add egg, beat briefly until combined, then scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the plain flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Add half of the flour mixture, along with all the milk and slowly mix together on a low speed.
5. Add the remaining flour mixture and the yogurt and continue to mix until smooth and creamy. The batter will be quite thick – that’s fine!
6. Pour the cake batter into your prepared tin and scatter cinnamon crumb all over the top. Bake cake for approximately 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
7. Leave to cool for 10 minutes before gently removing from the tin and leaving to cool completely on a wire rack. To serve, dust with icing sugar. 

Notes

Greek yogurt: If you don’t have Greek yogurt, you can use full fat sour cream instead.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 1 slice Calories: 434 Sugar: 29.7 g Sodium: 98.3 mg Fat: 19.7 g Carbohydrates: 59.5 g Protein: 6.4 g Cholesterol: 67.6 mg

Nutrition information is a guide only.

Author: Jessica HolmesCategory: CakeCuisine: American

Recipe Card powered by

Jessica Holmes

Hi, I’m Jess, the creator of Sweetest Menu and the author of Something Sweet. A self-taught baker and published recipe writer who can’t stop making easy and delicious baking recipes.