Best Coffee Cake Bake Off

Analysis

The Boy Who Bakes: a fluffy, powdery coffee cake laced with an espresso swirl and brown butter crumb

This recipe comes from Edd’s new cookbook, One Tin Bakes, (via Yossy at Apt. 2b Baking Co) and features a sour cream cake topped with a brown butter streusel. Edd’s cake also stood out for its incorporation of espresso into the swirl. Weirdly, coffee cakes typically don’t actually include coffee in the cake. While I didn’t pick up the specific espresso notes in the final product, I loved the finely crumbed, slightly drier cake with the addictingly crunchy streusel nubs. Note: I made the brown butter streusel the night before the bake off. I think the additional chilling time made my coffee cake look slightly different from Yossy’s pictures. My crumbs were more discrete nuggets on top rather than more dispersed crumbles.

Tasters loved the picturesque layers of this cake and the lightness and airiness of the crumb. Some liked the dryness of the cake. Most marked this down because the texture was drier and the cake wasn’t as flavorful as others. While some loved the “crunch” and distribution of the streusel, some found it almost chalky and wished for more streusel.

In defense of this coffee cake, I want to point out that a few things. One: looking at the well done bottom, it’s very possible I overbaked this cake, making it drier than intended. Two: I still loved the drier texture! To me, the fluffy, drier crumb is quintessential coffee cake. I also loved the ratio of cake to filling to crumb, as well as the flavor of the crumb. Don’t let the low ranking dissuade you; this was one of my favorite cakes!

Starbucks: a spongy, evenly-crumbed coffee cake with minimal streusel with heavy yellow cake vibes

I nearly made an exception to include Bravetart’s coffee cake in this bake off (a non-swirled coffee cake)! But I ultimately went with Starbuck’s nearly identical recipe as it includes a swirl. This was the only Greek yogurt-based coffee cake that also uses cake flour. I’m not sure if it was the yogurt or something else that lent this cake by far the most even, bouncy crumb. It had the commercial precision that you’d expect from a slice from Starbucks. The main problem with this recipe was the baking instructions. It recommends muffin tins or a mini loaf tin with a bake time of 14 minutes. Please note that this recipe easily filled a 9×13 pan, and baked for the typical 45-50 min.

“I don’t think this is a coffee cake,” said one taster. Many commented that this was very reminiscent of a yellow cake but lacking elements of a traditional coffee cake: “no tang,” “slightly spongy,” “way too little streusel.” Some liked the soft “cloud-like” texture of the cake and the cinnamon flavor. But most thought it could use more spice, way more streusel, and wished there was more texture to the streusel. Overall, I had no complaints with the cake–give me soft yellow cake any day of the week)! But I would double the streusel if I made this cake again.

Simply Recipes: a classic, very sweet and subtly spiced coffee cake

Cindy’s recipe via Simply Recipes came highly recommended from a number of people. Her sour cream-based cake stood out to me because of its relatively high sugar ratio (29%, only topped by Jessie Sheehan’s cake at 30%). It also contains extremely similar ratios to Jessie’s cake. But Simply Recipes uses white sugar, butter and sour cream instead of brown sugar, oil and cream cheese. Like The Food Charlatan, this cake makes an enormous amount of batter–fantastic for a crowd!

While I think any crowd would enjoy this cake, my tasters leaned into the nuances to critique this cake. Tasters generally loved the fluffy texture of this cake–“best texture so far, quintessential texture of coffee cake,” said one taster. “Very fluffy but somehow also dense?” questioned another. The main critique was around leaning a little too heavily on sweetness vs. spice. “Subtle pound cake flavor that could use more spice,” “tastes like a sugar cookie,” “almost cloyingly sweet,” said a few. “More flavor and this could be a winner,” summed up one taster. However, if you like your cake on the less-spiced side, this could be the winner for you!

Sugar Spun Run: a cream cheese-based cake with a shaggy crumb

I used Sugar Spun Run as a cream cheese control as the cake is a butter and buttermilk-based recipe (vs. Jessie’s cream cheese + oil-based cake). This is a drier-textured cake with a shaggy, close crumb that melts in your mouth. The buttermilk gives a slight tang to the cake with a streusel that’s heavy on the cinnamon. Personally, I would prefer slightly more cinnamon swirl in the middle as well as streusel on top.

Tasters praised the crumble top as “perfection” with big clumps, great crunch, great ratio of streusel to cake and a strong cinnamon flavor. A few thought it was a little “dry and sandy.” This could be due to baker’s error if I didn’t mix the crumb mixture well enough. Some loved the “angel food-like” texture of the cake, but others found it too dry. A few thought there was almost a chai-like flavor to the cake/streusel. Most enjoyed the level of cinnamon in the crumb.

Joy the Baker: an airy and light buttermilk-based cake with an abundance of streusel

Joy’s coffee cake recipe on her blog is very similar to the version in her book. The main difference: she swaps buttermilk for the sour cream. (The version linked references blueberries, but I omitted those for the bake off test.) I was intrigued by the lack of a thicker dairy and further intrigued by her promise of “extra crumb.” This cake immediately stood out from the others with a distinctively light and airy crumb. It was more of a traditional yellow cake texture vs. the denser crumb of a coffee cake. The plentiful crunchy crumb topping which was delightful! But it was also a bit unwieldy with some of the dry bits falling off the top. (Note: the lower ratio of butter made it hard to moisten all the crumbs evenly). I think the subtle tang from the buttermilk kept us from missing the sour cream.

Tasters nearly universally loved the ratio of crunchy streusel to cake, calling it the “best streusel yet.” Most also loved the moist, light-textured fluffiness and softness of the cake crumb. However, a couple thought it had a slightly “bready” texture. One of my favorite tasting comments said: “[In a Carrie Bradshaw voice] and so i asked myself…”do bakers of coffee cake just rely on the crumb for the overall flavor? If you have thicker crumb, does it outweigh the other parts of the cake that aren’t great?” It’s a great question that deserves some pondering. In this case, both the cake and crumb were excellent to me. My only qualm an almost overpowering amount of spice in the gooey filling layer. But a very small quibble for an otherwise outstanding coffee cake!

King Arthur Baking Company: a richly crumbed coffee cake with crunchy streusel and a gooey cinnamon roll-like filling

This cake base is identical to Joy the Baker’s coffee cake recipe from her cookbook (though Joy uses more crumb). It’s a fairly typical sour cream/butter base. I was curious to see how this cake fared against Joy’s buttermilk-based cake recently published on her blog. Was that confusing? Check out the “Finalists – no nuts” tab on my spreadsheet if you want the exact breakdown of each recipe. Personally, I liked the lighter crumb of her buttermilk cake. But most seemed to prefer the slightly heavier crumb of King Arthur with its mixture of sour cream and milk.

Tasters loved the crunchy texture of the streusel, the ratio of streusel and gooey cinnamon roll-like filling. (Though some found the filling too sticky). The “sticky and rich” filling seemed to set this cake apart from many others. Many called this a “cinnamon roll”/Cinnabon vibes-like” cake. Some thought this was the “best cake texture” while others thought it leaned a little dry. “Does all the little things right without being flashy. Not too sweet, nice texture.” said one taster. Overall, I agree–with a solid cake, great streusel ratio and a richly-flavored filling, this is a crowd-pleaser!

Jessie Sheehan: an uber-moist, brown sugar-laced coffee cake rich with notes of vanilla and molasses

I originally included Jessie’s recipe due to her unusual use of olive oil (instead of butter, to help prevent a dense crumb) and cream cheese (instead of sour cream). But her signature penchant for brown sugar and high sweetness were also unique markers that set her recipe apart. Her recipe is loaded with 100% brown sugar, extra egg yolks and a generous amount of vanilla. This cake is unquestionably moist, rich, dense and fragrant with vanilla and molasses notes. A thick swirl of dark brown sugar spiked with cinnamon ties everything together! Jessie also uses self-rising flour, a tip from Shirley Corriher. Corriher swears by the perfectly distributed leavening, which helps create a fine, even crumb. The extremely moist crumb topping melded into a crunchy mass on top of the cake. But the flavor (especially around the caramelized, crunchy, sugary edges) was fantastic.

The cake sank slightly in the middle and it was tough to tell doneness because the center is so gooey. But tasters loved the result. Some loved the the extreme moistness and gooey texture while others thought it was overly sticky. Some loved the crunchiness of the streusel and sweet chewiness of the caramelized edges. Meanwhile, others wished the streusel was more disparate and not as melded into the coffee cake itself. Most tasters loved the depth of flavor and cinnamon flavor. A few thought spices were a little overpowering (one specifically wished the vanilla had been dialed down).

The only downside of this cake: it calls for slightly finicky ingredients (self-rising flour, club soda, extra egg yolks). But if you’re looking for a flavor-packed, moist, brown sugary coffee cake, this is the cake for you!

What’s Gaby Cooking: a buttery cake with a generous amount of subtly spiced streusel

What’s Gaby Cooking’s recipe was selected as the “control” recipe. Essentially a nut-less version of Martha Stewart, this recipe uses fairly common proportions in its cake ingredients (note that we omitted the glaze). Where it diverts from some recipes? It uses the streusel as the filling and on top of the cake vs. a standalone cinnamon-based ribbon. I actually loved this strategy as it formed a thick, slightly fudgy, subtly spiced swath through the moist-crumbed cake. While I found the cake a bit dry, the buttery texture paired extremely well with the subtle ribbon of filling and the generous streusel on top.

Tasters widely praised the buttery flavor and moist texture of the cake, the ideal level of salt and amount of streusel. One noted that the “flavor of the streusel really made the cake” and another called it “simply fantastic. Best texture and complete flavor. Not too sweet, not too spicy. But still enough separate flavor in the streusel and the cake to where each could be enjoyed on their own.” Most critics thought the cake was either a bit dry or bland, but agreed the streusel made up for it. Overall, an excellent cake to try! I will likely use the streusel-as-filling technique going forward as I prefer it over gooey, cinnamon-heavy fillings.

The Food Charlatan: a behemoth of a buttery, brown sugary, streusel lover’s dream

Karen’s recipe stood out for its higher egg proportion (17.6% vs. an average of 10.5% across other cakes). But mainly it stood out for its jaw-dropping amount of streusel. There’s more flour, sugar and butter in the streusel recipe than the cake itself. And where does it all go? Two layers of streusel are strewn into the cake, and some goes on top. But the last cup is reserved to add halfway through the bake time so the streusel doesn’t sink. The result is a cake batter that is thickly marbled with tender, buttery streusel. Some of it retains a slight crunch, some of which softens into a fudgy swirl, not just on top. What’s the cake flavor like? Sorry, couldn’t hear you through of all the streusel!

Unsurprisingly, tasters loved the streusel to cake ratio! However, tasters also loved the texture of the cake: “cake was the right amount of moist with a nice tight crumb,” “fun flavor pockets,” “moist.” Most critiques referenced lacking a bit of flavor, wanting more spices to come through. But for the most part, people just loved the buttery, crunchy streusel. Like Gaby’s cake, I loved the way the streusel baked into the cake itself formed soft, brown sugary pockets. It is quite sweet, but if you love streusel, you can’t miss this cake!

Recommendations

Best traditional coffee cakes: What’s Gaby Cooking, King Arthur, Simply Recipes, The Boy Who Bakes

Best for streusel lovers: The Food Charlatan, Joy the Baker

Best for brown sugar lovers: Jessie Sheehan

Best for cinnamon lovers: Jessie Sheehan, King Arthur, Spun Sugar Run, The Food Charlatan

My personal favorites that I couldn’t stop eating, in order: The Boy Who Bakes (fresh or day old), Joy the Baker (when fresh), The Food Charlatan (fresh or day old)