The Coffee Cake that started it all…

midnightbaker

I like to think of this cake as the origin story of My Midnight Baking. It was 2009 and I was living in San Francisco. The economy wasn’t looking good and like most 20-somethings at the time, I was struggling to find a job. Suffice it to say, I couldn’t sleep. And I was hungry. Naturally I wanted to bury my problems in something sweet, but the only thing ‘sweet’ I had in my apartment was straight sugar. The thought of taking a spoon to my sugar bowl was both depressing and revolting (though I’ll admit it crossed my mind).

Still in need of some sweet support, I started flipping through cookbooks looking for anything I could throw together quickly with the limited scratch in my kitchen. That’s when I found this recipe in a random cookbook that I’d picked up in Davis, CA. The first time I made it I had absolutely no expectations for this cake. I had never baked a coffee cake before and there wasn’t even a picture with the recipe to show me what it should look like. I mixed the ingredients together by hand, poured it into the pan, and popped it all in the oven. About half an hour later I had a cute little cake with a crumbly topping – I don’t think I’ve ever been so proud of myself! And with that, My Midnight Baking was born…

I’ve tried a number of other coffee cake recipes since that first night, but I always come back to this one. It’s all together delightful and elegant in its simplicity. I like it best with mini-chocolate chips, but you can use regular ones or leave them out all together. If you have small nuts or berries on hand feel free to use those, too. This little cake can take it all!

Ingredients:

  • Cake

    • 5 Tbsps butter
    • ½ c sugar
    • 1 egg
    • ½ tsp vanilla
    • 1 ½ c Flour
    • ½ Tbsp baking powder
    • ¼ tsp salt
    • ½ c milk
    • ¾ c mini chocolate chips (optional – but way good!)

  • Topping

    • ¼ c brown sugar
    • 2 Tbsps sugar
    • ¼ c flour
    • ½ tsp cinnamon
    • 3 Tbsps butter (cold)

Process:

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. Line an 8×8 square pan with parchment paper, letting a little overhang on the sides to use as handles to easily remove the cake when it’s done
  3. First prepare the topping by mixing topping ingredients together until crumbly. I’ve found this works best when butter is cold and blended together with a pastry cutter, but you can also use two forks or even just your hands to make the sugary gravel. Place topping in the refrigerator or freezer to stay as cold as possible (this will prevent it from melting into the cake while cooking)
  4. To start the cake, cream butter and sugar.
  5. Add egg and vanilla, stir until fully incorporated
  6. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt
  7. Add egg mixture to flour mixture in batches, alternating with the milk
  8. If using chocolate chips or berries, toss them first with a pinch of flour (to prevent sinking to the bottom of the cake) and then fold them into batter
  9. Pour batter into prepared pan and top with crumbly topping
  10. Bake at 350ºF for 30 minutes

MMB-21

 

Photos by Sarah Matista | www.sarahmatista.com | Copyright 2016