This Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake was inspired by a visit to Zingerman’s Bakehouse. After tasting one of their coconut & lime flavored cakes, I couldn’t wait to get home and try making one. Alas, it was not the coconut & lime cake that came out of my kitchen, but this chocolate streusel topped cake.
Based on how much fun I had making a chocolate coffee cake, I kind of want to open up a little shop and just make flavored coffee cakes all day. Here’s another photo.
Old Chocolatier Magazine Recipe
This recipe, which I hope to be the first of many more, is based on one from an old magazine called Chocolatier. It’s a vanilla flavored coffee cake with a cinnamon sugar and chocolate chip filling andstreusel. The texture is different than my usual coffee cake in that it is a bit sturdier and not as smooth, but it works with the texture of the filling.
The cake is so good I’ve made it twice.
First I halved the recipe and baked the cake in a loaf pan. Next, I made the full recipe in a 9 inch round springform. I liked the springform version best, but the loaf pan coffee cake tasted great and used half of the ingredients. If you’re in the mood for a coffee cake, give this one a try!
Recipe
Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients
Filling and Topping
- 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup chopped and toasted pecans
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter softened
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (336 grams)
- 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks 8 oz unsalted butter, softened
- 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream at room temperature
- Confectioners’ sugar for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9 inch round springform pan.
- Mix the cinnamon and sugar together in a medium size bowl, then stir in the 1 cup of chopped pecans. Remove 3/4 cup of this pecan mixture and put in another bowl along with the chocolate chips. This will be the filling.
- In a mixing bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder and salt. Add the 4 tablespoons of softened butter and mash it in until thick and smooth. Stir the remaining nut/sugar mixture into the cocoa mixture so that the mixture is thick and bumpy and nuts are evenly distributed. Put this in the refrigerator while you make the batter.
- Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
- With an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Gradually add sugar and beat at high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and yolk one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in vanilla extract.
- Using a heavy duty scraper, add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately in three additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and mixing just until combined.
- Scrape half of batter into prepared pan and smooth it evenly. Sprinkle with filling. Top with remaining batter and smooth as evenly as possible.
- Remove topping from the refrigerator and crumble it over the top. If desired, sprinkle some more chocolate chips on top.
- Set the springform pan on a large sheet pan and bake the cake for 65-75 minutes (mine took 75).
- Let cake cool in pan set on wire rack for 10 minutes. While cake is still warm, loosen sides, but do not remove. Let the cake cool, then carefully remove sides of pan.
- Sift confectioners’ sugar generously over the top.
Anna
Hi Lori!
I think it took about an hour, but I can’t remember. If you have a skewer, just start testing it after 45 minutes. However, I think mine did take at least an hour at 325 when baked as a loaf. I liked the round cake pan version better.
Lori West
Hi Anna! Looks yummy!! I’m trying this today : )
I’m curious to know how long the loaves took you to bake?
Sue
I haven’t thought about that recipe in a long time. The one on Epicurious isn’t ‘the one’ but thanks for suggesting it because it made me look around and there are now more possibilities than the last time I looked.
Anna
Great question! When I made it as a loaf, I sprinkled a handful over the top. It tasted great, but it browned really quickly. If you add coconut, you might want to check after 30 or 40 minutes and shield the loaf. As far as how much to use, that’s up to you. I just sprinkled some over the top. It was probably about 1/3 cup.
Mary Ann Corder
Anna, it looks like you have coconut in your cake topping but I don’t see it in the recipe. I think I would like to add that when I make it. About how much did you use?
Carol
That sure is a pretty coffee cake! I want a piece right now and I usually am not interested in anything this early in the morning.
Anna
Sue, I just saw the orange one somewhere! I think it might have been on Epicurious.
Sue
If you open a shop I want to be first in line!
I think I used to have this issue of Chocolatier but I never made this recipe. It’s going to the top of the must try list. I love coffee cake!
I have this memory of a coffee cake similar to this but it also had orange incorporated in with the chocolate. Id love to figure out that recipe.
Katrina
I love coffee cake. When you do open a shop, make sure you make a few gluten/refined sugar free. 😉
Anna
It was really good! I especially liked the crumbly topping and am thinking of using it on other coffee cakes and quick breads. This recipe makes me miss Chocolatier Magazine, for sure.
d
Wow – can’t wait to try this!!
Sonya
This looks amazing!