The Best Coffee Cake

Please ignore the wonky topping! I stupidly chose a freaky slice to photo, the rest of the cake has a relatively even streusel, not like this funky looking (but oh so yummy) piece

When the Pioneer Woman says something is the best ever...you know its going to be good. I don't particularly like naming something 'the best' as everyone has their own preferences, but who am I to argue with the great PW!

I didn't really know what to expect when making this as I have never made a coffee cake before, but was really blown away with the results! It's not often I literally CANNOT resist a cake, ok thats an utter lie, but normally I can resist caving in for at least an hour after gorging myself silly having a slice, this one however is something altogether different. I don't know if I have ever made or tasted such an incredibly light fluffy sponge, ever. Its ethereal in its qualities, down to the folded in egg whites no doubt, but its a texture I find utterly irresistible. You probably gather I like this cake by now..and I havn't even got started on the streusel yet!

I actually only ended up using about 3/4 of the topping mix (I picked out all the pecans out of the excess and used them still so not to waste them) and still had plentttyyy as can be seen in the photos, which sadly do not do this cake justice! The streusel has its fair share of cinnamon in, which as you may have gathered from my last post is one of my favourite spices to use, and is so so moorish, it complements the delicious soft sponge perfectly.

I halved the recipe, baking it in an 8 x 8 inch but still for the full 45 minutes and it worked just fine :) If you read the comments on PW's site you will see a lot of fellow bakers had major issues with the batter overflowing during baking due to the original recipe stating a pan size smaller than 9 x 13 inches could be used, it has been updated now but just to reiterate, if doing a full batch make sure you use a large enough pan as it would be a disaster to loose any of this gorgeousness to the greedy ol' oven :)

The one and only drawback to this cake that I can think of is it is a little bit of a nightmare to cut and eat due to the crumbliness of the topping, however lets be fair this isn't really a massive drawback as its just an excuse to hoover up all the little crumbs that attempt to escape (with your mouth..obviously..not an actual hoover, that would be a disgraceful waste)

I cannot vouch that this is the best coffee cake EVER as it is the only one I have had, but if I was never to find a better one I would neither be surprised or disappointed :)

Cinnamon Streusel Cake aka
Pioneer Woman's 'Best Coffee Cake. Ever.'

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman and Droolfactor

For the cake

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

2 cups scant caster sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 cup whole milk*

3 whole egg whites**

For the topping

1 1/2 sticks butter, softened

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups brown sugar (I used light)

2 Tbsp cinnamon

1 1/2 cups pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F/180C and prepare a 9 x 13 inch, or larger, baking pan, preferably with high sides

Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the flour mixture and milk alternately until combined (I did it in about 3 stages). Do not overbeat

Whisk the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the batter with a spatula

Spread into the prepared pan

Combine all the topping ingredients, except the pecans, using a pastry cutter until crumbly. Stir in the pecans and sprinkle the streusel all over the top of the batter

Bake for 40-45 minutes

Eat and be merry :)

Notes

* I only had semi-skimmed milk so used this but added a tiny splash of heavy cream, I don't think that was entirely necessary though and I am certain it would work with all semi-skimmed milk

** I happened to have some powdered egg whites in sachets in the cupboard, which I never had used for baking before, but I used those and they worked perfectly! I liked not having left over yolks and it also was pretty useful in my case as halving the recipe and trying to use 1 1/2 egg whites is just overly complicated to me :)

(Just as a note for anyone that has not had a coffee cake before; coffee cake can refer to both a cake containing coffee or, as in this case, a cake to be eaten with coffee - a snack cake for want of a better term - mostly with a streusel topping)


 Click for a nice little printable