Gingerbread Coffee Cake

There’s nothing like the smell of warm gingerbread throughout the house – unless it’s the taste of a slice fresh from the oven. This cake from Pastry Chef Dru Chevis features a crumb topping that brings the spicy flavors to the forefront, and for a heavenly treat try a caramel-flavored glaze.

By Dru Tevis / Photography By Deny Howeth | December 14, 2017

Ingredients

SERVINGS: one 10-inch Cake(s)

1½ cups sour cream
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ cup whole wheat flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks unsalted butter
¼ cup molasses
1½ cups sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons ginger
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened

Preparation

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda and allow to sit at room temp for 1 hour. Preheat oven to 350°.

Make the crumb topping. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. Add soft butter to the dry mixture until a coarse crumb forms (using gloved hands is a great way to do this step.) Set mixture aside and proceed with cake recipe.

In a large bowl whisk the dry ingredients together (all-purpose flour through salt.) In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter, sugar and molasses for several minutes until lightened in color. Stop to scrape down the sides of the bowl multiple times during mixing. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until fully incorporated before adding the next.

Add the vanilla extract and mix for several minutes until the batter is light and fluffy.

To the batter, add ⅓ of the dry ingredient mix and ⅓ of the sour cream mixture, and mix until mostly incorporated. Repeat this process 3 times until all ingredients are in the bowl. Mix on low just until the batter is homogenous, scraping down the bowl several times throughout the process.

Butter and flour the inside of a 10-cup Bundt pan. Sprinkle ⅓ of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the pan. Top with ⅔ of the batter. Sprinkle the remaining ⅔ of the crumb mixture over top the batter, followed by the remaining ⅓ of the batter. Smooth out the batter with a spatula. Bake 60-70 minutes until cake is golden brown and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to sit 15-20 minutes before inverted onto a wire rack to cool.

To Serve: The coffee cake will be delicious the way it is, but you can dress it up by sprinkling powdered sugar all over the top or make a simple powdered sugar glaze (flavor the glaze with just vanilla or try adding some caramel, chocolate or coffee) and pour it over the top of the cake so it runs down the sides.