Crumb ratio is the whole argument
Ask any coffee cake fan what matters and the answer is the topping. In a New York-style crumb cake, the crumb layer is often as thick as the cake beneath it, or thicker: big, buttery, cinnamon-scented chunks of flour, brown sugar and butter, dusted with powdered sugar. Other styles keep a thinner, sandy streusel scattered across a taller cake. Neither is wrong, but you should know which you want before you order.
Good crumbs are crisp at the edges and tender in the center, clearly tasting of butter, and they stay attached to the cake. Crumbs that fall off in a dusty pile or melt into a greasy sheet were made with too little flour or too much heat. The cake underneath should be moist and slightly firm, sturdy enough to carry the topping without collapsing.
Spice and nuts are the other variables. Cinnamon is nearly universal, but some bakers add nutmeg or cardamom to the crumb, and many fold in chopped pecans or walnuts for crunch. Ask before ordering for a group, since nut-free crumb cake is common but not guaranteed, and the topping is where nuts tend to hide.
Immigrant roots and regional styles
The American coffee cake grew out of German, Dutch and Scandinavian baking, where sweet yeast cakes and streusel-topped Kuchen were served with afternoon coffee. Early versions were yeast-raised; baking powder and sour cream versions became more common in the 20th century. Several regional descendants are worth seeking out:
- Sour cream coffee cake: a tall, tender cake with a cinnamon-nut swirl running through it, often baked in a tube pan.
- Moravian sugar cake: a yeasted, potato-enriched cake from the Moravian communities of North Carolina, its top dimpled and filled with butter, brown sugar and cinnamon.
- Kringle: a flaky, oval Danish pastry ring associated with Racine, Wisconsin, filled with fruit or nuts and iced.
- Kuchen: fruit-topped yeast cakes at German bakeries, with plums, apples or cherries under streusel.
Buying for a brunch or office
Squares of crumb cake usually cost $3 to $5. Whole 9 by 13 pans, cutting into 12 to 20 pieces, often run $25 to $45; tube-pan sour cream coffee cakes $25 to $40; kringles about $15 to $25. Coffee cake is one of the easiest bakery items to bring to a meeting, since it needs no plates in a pinch and holds well at room temperature.
Most coffee cakes stay fresh two to three days covered on the counter. Warm a piece for 10 to 15 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in a low oven to wake up the butter in the crumbs. Fruit-filled or cream cheese versions should be refrigerated.
