Coffee Cake with a Side of Coffee

So...I set an "intention" to post every week, but after a month of not eating (or baking) desserts I really didn't have much. Second try starting now!

This past week I had had a very hectic and stressful few days and decided the only cure for it was to bake a cake. Claire recently made her Coffee Coffee Cake on the Dessert Person YouTube channel and it sounded delicious. I love coffee cake, but I've never made it before. It always felt like a special treat and I think I've really only had the store bought kind - which is amazing.

Look at that crumb!

The main thing I noticed about this recipe before starting was that it took a lot of ingredients. I had to run to the store to buy several things before I could begin, and even then my counter was covered in items I'd dug out of the pantry. It was also many steps. This cake took me almost 2 hours to put together, including baking time, which I didn't expect. I do feel the need to say this is not a complaint! A long recipe is exactly what I was in the mood for.

Posing in front of our cookbooks.

While it is a lot of steps, the recipe itself is easy. Once all ingredients are measured it came together quickly. My favorite part is probably the coffee ribbon that goes through the middle. You can see a little trickle of coffee running throughout the cake, which is satisfying. The only thing I'd fix? The cake itself is a little dry, but I think some fresh whipped cream would do the trick.

Three cheers for that coffee ribbon.

Another great part with coffee cake is that it freezes so well! I currently have a freezer full of cake - what could be better than that? Plus, it's a great thing to eat on a cold, snowy Sunday. While the snow turned quickly to rain here, I'll still pretend we're in a blizzard as an excuse to eat cake.

Have a happy snowy day!