Classic Coffee Cake

This scrumptious, cinnamon-y, cozy cake is perfectly paired with a cup of coffee or tea!

Did you know that coffee cake actually has NO coffee in it?! Its called coffee cake, because you eat it with coffee! Its really just a fancy vanilla cake, filled with brown sugar, cinnamon and crumble topping. This cake has four components that make it super special:

• Vanilla cake layer: This is the foundation of this recipe, its a soft, buttery and perfectly sweet vanilla cake.

• Brown sugar cinnamon filling: The perfect ratio of these two ingredients is swirled and sandwiched between the vanilla cake batter.

• Streusel topping: The cake is topped with this crumbly and rich streusel topping.

• Vanilla Glaze: This creamy vanilla glaze is totally optional, but it just adds that extra level of yumminess to this recipe.

Classic Coffee Cake

Let's get started!

Ingredients:

For the cake:

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

• 1 cup white sugar

• 3 eggs, room temperature

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 cup sour cream

• 1 1/2 cup flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 tsp salt

Brown sugar cinnamon filling:

• 1/4 cup light or dark brown sugar

• 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Streusel Topping:

• 1/2 cup brown sugar (light or dark)

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 tsp cinnamon

• 3 tbsp melted butter, unsalted

Vanilla icing:

• 1/2 cup icing sugar

• 1-2 tbsp water

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions

For the cake:

1. Line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment paper and set aside. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In a large bowl, mix your butter and sugar until its light and fluffy.

3. Add in eggs, one at a time. Mix in vanilla and sour cream until well combined.

4. Mix in the flour, baking powder and salt. Do not overmix the batter.

5. Set aside and make the brown sugar cinnamon filling.

For the filling:

1. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar and cinnamon.

2. Mix to combine.

For the streusel topping:

1. In a small clean bowl, add your butter, and microwave in 30 second increments until its all melted.

2. Add in your flour, sugar and cinnamon. Mix together until a dry crumbly mixture is formed.

Assembly:

1. Grab your lined baking tray and pour HALF of the vanilla cake batter. Spread it out evenly in the pan.

2. Sprinkle your brown sugar cinnamon filling over the cake evenly.

3. Pour over the remaining vanilla cake on top.

4. To create a swirled texture in the cake, I like to take a butter knife, and create swirls in the cake batter. This way, the cinnamon filling is mixed throughout the cake. Make sure not to mix too much, otherwise, you won't get a nice swirled effect.

5. For the last step, grab your streusel mixture, and sprinkle over the cake evenly.

6. Bake the cake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the middle comes out clean.

7. While your cake is baking, in a clean bowl, combine your sifted sugar with 1 tsp of vanilla extract and mix. If the mixture is too thick, add in 1 tbsp of water. You should have a glossy and smooth icing. If your mixture is too thin, don't worry, you can add more icing sugar to thicken it up.

8. Once the cake is done and cooled, drizzle over your vanilla icing in a back and forth motion.

9. Slice and enjoy!