Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is a soft and creamy textured cake topped with raisins, nuts, cinnamon powder and fruits, usually decorated with icing made of melted sugar and served with coffee for breakfast or evening snacks. In contrast to its name, a coffee cake usually does not have any coffee in it but is served with coffee. It is also known as crumble cake or snack cake and is made in different ways throughout the world. The recipe for making the coffee cake  is easy to follow and coffee rolls, coffee buns and coffee breads are some of the types of coffee cakes.

 

History and Origin of Coffee Cake Recipe

These snack cakes are said to have their origin in Europe and the first coffee cake was made in the 17th century. Europe at that time was known for its sweet tasting yeast breads and with the advent of coffee, the recipe or coffee cake evolved. The cake became famous in Germany, Scandinavia and Portuguese and was prepared with slight variations in the original recipe. The cake soon got popular in America and was made by using cheese and yogurt. In the year 1879 coffee cakes became famous and were common to every household. This was the time when several recipes for this cake originated in America and were published in cook books.

 

Method of Preparation and Ingredients Used in Coffee Cake Recipe

The ingredients required to make the coffee cake are flour, baking powder, sugar, shortening, milk, egg, vanilla, butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon.

 

The flour is mixed with sugar and baking powder and in a separate bowl a mixture is formed of eggs, milk and vanilla which is transferred to the flour mix and stirred well. Once the batter is smooth and shiny, it is transferred to a greased cake pan and allowed to bake . Once the cake is ready, it is topped with the frosting of choice and served.

 

Popular Coffee Cake Recipes

  • Fruit Cocktail Coffee Cake- A tasty fruit cake made by assortment of ripe fruits and nuts
  • Sweet Potato-Pecan Coffee Cake- Baked in a sprinform pan, the cake is decorated with crisp pecans and sugar.
  • Raisin Coffee Cakes- Prepared in custard cups or muffin pans, these cakes are rich in taste and contain raisins and peanut butter.
  • Jam Swirl Coffee Cake – It is a delicious preparation of coffee cake made with jam preserves and topped with crumbs of sugar and butter.
  • Coffee Cake With Cornmeal And Strawberry Preserve- A popular coffee cake recipe which makes use of cornmeal and strawberry preserve

 

Coffee Cake Recipes In Different Cuisines

Coffee cakes are popular all over the world and are prepared differently in every cuisine. Here are the variations of this cake in different cuisines:

  • France- French people make this cake by using butter rich non yeast bread dough and top it with almonds.
  • Sweden- Coffee bread is popular in Sweden and is known as fikabrod. Bakleser is one of the popular coffee breads here.
  • Ireland- Irish coffee cakes are famous all over the world and consist of coffee as one of the major ingredients. The cake is spongy and is topped with hazel nuts and cream flavored with whisky or rum. The Irish coffee cakes were enlisted in the cook books in in the year 1960.
  • Finland- Pulla, a yeast coffee bread is very popular in Finland.
  • Austria- Gugelhupfs is the term for these snack cakes in Austria and are served as evening snacks with coffee and drinks.
  • Italy- Pannetone is a sweet yeast coffee bread of Italy
  • America- Sour cream coffee cakes and cream cheese coffee cakes are popular in America and usually have a yellow base and crumb topping. Bubble cake and monkey breads are also served in many parts of America and comprise rolled cakes flavored with sugar and cinnamon.

 

Variations In Coffee Cake Recipe

These cakes are usually baked in two ways; leavened by using baking powder and leavened by making use of yeast. The cakes which have yeast undergo fermentation and take a longer time to prepare. These cakes can be made of different shapes ranging from round to square to oblong. Ring shaped and twisted cakes are also popular. The topping of these cakes can be made as per the choice.

 

Trivia- Coffee Cakes

  • Coffee cake day is celebrated on 7thApril every year.
  • The Settlement Cook Book, with its first print in 1901, mentioned about the coffee cake without coffee in it.