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Hi Bold Bakers!
One of my favorite things to teach is how to make the things you think you can only buy at your local store. My Classic Coffee Cake is definitely like what you can buy in the store — but better and easier to make than you think. It comes complete with a thick layer of cinnamon pecan streusel and a sweet maple glaze that will wow any brunch!
This moist cake is packed with texture and sweetness, and it bakes up in no time into the most impressive bundt-style coffee cake thanks to my GoodCook 9 1/2 inch Angel Food Cake Pan. As the proud ambassador for GoodCook this pan will make sure you’re fully equipped to make a coffee cake 1000 times better than one you’ve ever bought.
[ In the mood for breakfast? Here’s my recipe for Perfect Pancakes! ]
Is There Any Coffee IN Coffee Cake?
So American coffee cake is a traditional sweet pound cake layered with a brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecan-laced streusel. The reason this beauty is called coffee cake is because it’s the perfect complement to a cup of coffee or a foamy latte — not because it has coffee in it! In Ireland, however, Coffee Cake is different — it’s a coffee flavored cake that you’d have with tea. My recipe is for the former!
The cake part of this recipe is similar to a pound cake. It’s super moist and tender thanks to sour cream. The difference in flavor and texture between a homemade coffee cake and one you pick up at the store is massive, as mine has 2 super thick layers of streusel and a glaze that isn’s just sweet but filled with maple flavor.
What is Streusel?
Without streusel, coffee cake is just a cake.
There’s no question about it, it’s this crunchy crumb topping that transforms the cake from regular, into Classic territory. And my recipe goes above and beyond as it doesn’t just have streusel on top, but a layer thick in the middle of the cake itself. For those of you who have never made a streusel, it’s a crumb-like topping made by combining butter, sugar and flour.
It’s really important to make this crumbly topping by hand, as it’s the different sized lumps of butter in the streusel mixture that bake up into a crunchy crumb. Streusel is honestly one of my favorite things, it’s what makes this coffee cake so iconic.

What Do I Use To Bake My Coffee Cake?
Coffee cake can be made in a flat sheet pan, but then it wouldn’t have the deep walls to allow for not one, but two layers of streusel. My GoodCook 9 1/2 inch Angel Food Cake Pan is the secret to not only the beautiful finish to this bundt-style cake, but it’s the depth of the pan that allows you to successfully layer up the cake and streusel.
I know using bundt tins or angel food pans can be intimidating as it can be sometimes be hard to remove the cakes, but the GoodCook 9 1/2 inch Angel Food Pan is complete with 2 pieces that are similar to a spring from tin. This means you can easily push the bottom of the pan up releasing the sides and removing the middle in one swoop.

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