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This is a moist and tender coffee cake with coffee in it, topped off with a cinnamon coffee streusel and a simple coffee icing. The recipe is incredibly simple, and takes only 20 minutes of active work. And if you’re wondering why I have to say “with coffee in it”, it’s because the traditional “coffee cake” in the US doesn’t have any.
THE STORY BEHIND THIS COFFEE CAKE
I wonder if all expats can relate to this experience of having coffee cake for the first time in America: we get excited when we hear there’s coffee cake, we eat said coffee cake, we realize that the coffee cake doesn’t actually have coffee in it, and is just a cinnamon streusel cake. Cue the disappointment. Not to say that the cinnamon version of a coffee cake isn’t delicious, it’s just that a cake called “coffee cake” should have coffee in it.
So when I kept getting requests to make a coffee cake, I felt like I couldn’t just make a cinnamon cake and potentially disappoint people. But I also wanted to retain the yummy texture of an American coffee cake. So I decided to create a recipe that had the best of both worlds, and this was the result!
I recently taught this recipe in a live baking class, and everyone loved it. Someone even said this tastes like the Bombay Bakery coffee cake, which I have never eaten myself, but have received countless recipes to recreate, so I take that as a compliment.
INGREDIENTS REQUIRED
Here are the ingredients you will need to make this cake (be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the quantities):
Coffee Streusel:
- All purpose flour
- Light brown sugar
- Instant espresso powder – I like to use Nescafe
- Cinnamon powder
- Unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- Salt
Coffee cake:
- Granulated sugar
- Unsalted butter, melted
- Oil – the use of both oil and butter makes this cake ultra moist
- Eggs – if you want to skip the eggs, you can use flax seed eggs instead
- Vanilla
- Cake flour – you can make your own using a mixture of all purpose flour and cornstarch. Using cake flour leads to a much more tender cake
- Salt
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Sour cream – if you don’t have sour cream, you can use a mixture of heavy cream and full fat yogurt, or make your own sour cream
- Hot, brewed coffee. I use a French Press coffee for this, but you can also make this using hot water and instant coffee / espresso powder
Icing:
- Powdered sugar
- Brewed coffee – or replace with water and instant coffee powder
HOW TO MAKE COFFEE CAKE WITH COFFEE
Let’s walk through the steps one by one.
1. Make the coffee streusel / crumb
Before getting started, preheat your oven to 350F (conventional) and line a 9×9″ baking pan with parchment paper.
Mix the all purpose flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and espresso powder in a bowl. Add cold cubed butter, and rub it in with your hands until the mixture starts to resemble crumbs. You don’t need to keep doing this for too long as the crumble will become more like dough, which we want to avoid! You can also do this step in a food processor, if you don’t mind the extra dish washing.
Place the streusel mixture into the fridge while you work on the remaining recipe.
2. Make the coffee cake batter
First, whisk the butter, oil and sugar in a bowl for 1-2 minutes until they become almost white in color and take on a fluffy texture. I do this by hand but you can also use an electric hand mixer.
Then, add the eggs, egg white, and vanilla, and whisk for another minute or so until fully combined.
Now, sift in the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Gently fold until combined. The batter will be quite thick at this point, but don’t worry, we still have more ingredients to go!
Lastly, add the sour cream and hot coffee. Whisk or fold gently until combined. You might need to press down with your spatula to get rid of lumps of sour cream, but be careful not to overmix the batter so it doesn’t become rubbery.
And that’s it – the cake batter is done!
3. Assemble the coffee cake
First, pour half of the cake batter into the pan, and spread it out evenly. Sprinkle over half of the coffee streusel mixture (if it becomes solid in the fridge, gently break it apart into crumbs first).
Spoon over the remaining half of the cake batter, and spread it gently. This step is a bit tricky as it is difficult to spread batter on top of a dry streusel, but spooning it in a layer helps. Lastly, sprinkle over the remaining streusel mixture.
4. Bake the coffee cake
Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs attached. Baking time may vary depending on the pan you use.
Let the cake cool down in the pan for 15-20 minutes before gently removing it from the pan. Place on your serving stand.
5. Drizzle with coffee icing
This is optional, but I love to serve this cake with a simple coffee icing. Simply mix the powdered sugar and coffee until a thick icing forms, and drizzle it over the cake using a spoon.
Slice up the cake and serve!!! I like to eat this cake while it is still warm.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
You can store this cake in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or up to a week in the fridge.
You can substitute the sour cream with a 50/50 mixture of heavy cream and full fat yogurt. You can also use homemade sour cream by mixing 1 cup of heavy cream, 1/4 cup milk, and 2 tbsp lemon juice, and keeping at room temperature in an airtight jar for 1 day.
This can happen if you over mix the crumble / streusel mixture, causing the butter to melt. The idea is to keep the butter cold and break it into very small chunks by massaging it into the dry ingredients. If your streusel becomes like dough, don’t worry. Refrigerate it, and then break it into smaller chunks once its cooled down again.
You can make black coffee using hot water and instant espresso powder, following the instructions for the type of coffee you are using to determine how many teaspoons need to be added.
Check out more of my easy and delicious cake recipes!
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Ingredients
Coffee Streusel:
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour (98g)
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar (150g)
- 1 1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 6 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cut into cubes (85g)
- Pinch of salt
Coffee cake:
- 1 cup granulated sugar (220g)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted (75g)
- 1/4 cup oil (50g)
- 2 eggs + 1 egg white, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 3/4 cup cake flour (225g), or use 200g all purpose flour + 25g cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 cup sour cream (120g)
- 1/4 cup hot brewed coffee (60g)
Icing:
- 1 cup powdered sugar (120g)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp brewed coffee
Instructions
Coffee streusel:
- Mix the flour, brown sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon and salt in a bowl
- Add the cold cubed butter, and use your hands to rub it in until the mixture resembles crumbs. It’s ok to have a few larger crumbs. You can also use a food processor for this step
- Place in the fridge while you prepare the cake
Coffee cake:
- Preheat oven to 350F (conventional) and line a 9×9″ baking pan with parchment paper
- Mix the sugar, melted butter, oil and vanilla in a large bowl for 2 minutes using a hand whisk
- Add the eggs and egg white and whisk for another minute
- Sift in the cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, and use a rubber spatula to gently fold until combined
- Lastly, add the sour cream and hot brewed coffee, and fold until a smooth batter forms. Do not overmix
- Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan. Then sprinkle over half of the coffee streusel. Gently spoon over the remaining half of the batter, spreading it out with a spoon or spatula, and top off with the remaining streusel
- Bake for 30-35 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out with moist crumbs attached
- Let the cake cool in the pan for 15 minutes before taking it out1
Icing:
- Mix the powdered sugar, vanilla and coffee in a bowl until they form a smooth icing
- Once the cake has cooled, drizzle over the icing, cut into squares, and serve!
Video Tutorial
Notes
This cake can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or in the fridge for up to 1 week
Comments
Nazish
Hey Zoha!
I made the coffee cake yesterday, and it turned out so so good. Your recipes are perfect! My coffee craving got satisfied well 😀
Zoha Malik
Thank you so much, Nazish!! 🙂
Simone
Hi! I was looking for something to do with leftover brewed coffee and I thought to myself ooh coffee cake. I realized scrolling recipes most coffee cake is NOT made with coffee. Then I found your recipe. It was easy to follow and the only substitution I made was plain Greek yogurt instead of the sour cream. It came out wonderfully. Next time (there will be a next time) I’ll reduce the powdered sugar for the icing because it is SWEET! 10/10 and thanks for sharing.
Zoha Malik
AWW thank you so much, Simone! Really glad you found this recipe – it’s an oldie but goodie 🙂
Mia
Overall, The cake tuned out great, it came out really moist even after a couple hours out with nothing covering it, however it did come out more on the sweet side, so eating it in smaller bite size pieces or with a hot beverage like tea or coffee without sugar would be a great addition to balance it out. If you are a sweet tooth, this will definitely be great for you
Zoha
Thank you for your feedback, Mia! I am glad you enjoyed the cake and think others will find your tip on pairing it helpful 🙂
Isaura
Hi! I plan to try making this over summer for a relatives birthday and was wondering if I were to use a different pan/size would I need to adjust any of the measurements used for making this yummy delicacy? It looks sooo good! I can’t wait to make it!
Zoha
Hi Isaura! Thank you for giving the recipe a try. The measurements would depend on exactly what size pan you’re planning to use – could you share?
Maryam Muhammad
I forgot the corn flour part 😩
Zoha
Hopefully it will still be ok!
Alyssa
Going to be trying this recipe tonight but adding pumpkin spice in there somewhere. I don’t know where yet. Pumpkin spiced coffee cake!!! It’s my department’s turn to bring treats and food to work.
Anum sohail
today i made your recipe ..it was good but glaze was too sweet ….i tried your 1 hour scratch cake too it was sooper duper ….ur recipes are simple and easy to make…
Wania Khan
Made this cake for the 3rd time for a large gathering of ladies. They went crazy for it! Also, when I make it at home, my husband and I finish it in two days 🙈
Quick question: do you reckon it would turn out okay if I added some walnuts to the streusel?! I was having this cake today and I thought “Ooh this flavour go so well with some walnuts in it!”
Zoha
AWW thank you Wania! And yes, walnuts should be so good! Just make sure to toast them first so they have a better flavor and texture 🙂
Lacey
I was so excited to try this recipe. it’s been baking for 35 minutes and still not cooked in the center. maybe I did something wrong 🤔 im worried it’s not going to turn out. I’ll have to try it again.
Zoha
That’s really strange! Perhaps an issue with your oven?
sanette Van Der Merwe
Zoha Its simply the Best ! I added walnuts to the icing drizzel at the end . 🩵
Zoha
YUMMMYYY!!
Laiba Ansari
just loved your coffee cake recipe it turned out so good my whole family its a shows topper recipe???
Zoha
Thank you so much, Laiba! Glad you like it 🙂
Alex
is the baking soda really required? I get that it would react with the sour cream to make CO2 and potentially leaven the cake, but between the amount of time it would take to mix in the sour cream, adding the batter in 2 stages, and adding the struesel, it seems like any bubbles made by the baking soda would pop before they could solidify in the oven
Zoha
Hi Alex! Good question, but baking soda doesn’t finish reacting so quickly, so it will continue to react and rise in the oven. I don’t recommend skipping it
Ahmed
Hi Zoha,
I tried this cake today, and it is delicious! I made a slight tweek and added tiny chocolate morsels on top of coffe streusel. We enjoyed it thoroughly with our cappuccino 🙂
My only concern is the texture of your cake looks firm while mine appeared more airy, less firm. What could be the reason?
Thanks for sharing such a delicious recipe! Reminded me of Bombay Bakery Cake I had from Hyderabad, Pakistan.
Zoha
This is such a kind comment, thank you so much Ahmed! It sounds like your cake texture turned out even better than mine to be honest 🙂
Iqra
Tried coffee cake ,turns out so good ,Thank you for this recipe
Zoha
Thank YOU Iqra!
Usma Dawjee
Was feeling for something different and attempted this . Thank you , my family enjoyed it so much .
Zoha
Yay! Glad to hear that ❤️
Kiran
We all loved it . It turned out so good ? so easy to follow !!
Zoha
Thank you!! ❤️
Aabida
It’s soft ,it delicious and I love the crumbly and soft texture of the cake but it’s a bit too sweet for my taste otherwise it’s an awesome recipe.
Zoha
Thank you so much, Aabida! You can definitely reduce the sugar a bit if you find it too sweet 🙂
Jessica ghazi
i loved this recipe!
I made this for my whole office and we loved it!!!
Marvi
The most perfect recipe MashaAllah. You’re a magician, Zoha!
Zoha
Aww thank you SO much!
Zoha
SO glad you liked it, Jessica! <3
Rekha
Hi, is there an alternative I can use instead of sour cream . Thanks . The recipie is simply amazing !
Zoha
You can use a mixture of heavy cream and yogurt 🙂
Yatsi
Can I substitute it for creme fraiche?
Reese
I was so surprised with how amazing this turned out! My mom and I loved it, and the actual coffee taste was incredible, better than anything store bought!! The crispness, the crunch, the coffee flavor, all so perfect. I will definitely be making this again and again, and experimenting with different flavors of coffee to see how it affects the cake. 11/10!!
Zoha
AWWW I am so so so happy to read this – thank you SO much!
Zoha
Should be okay!
Suma
Made this cake today..Amazzzzing
Thanks Zoha. One question though 60g of brewed coffee how much of coffee powder to be added?
Zoha
It depends on what coffee you’re using to be honest… I would do maybe 1-2 tsp max depending on how strong you want the flavor to be!