cinnamon coffeecake with crumb topping

PJ Hamel’s selected cinnamon-streusel coffee cake has a soft, moist cake beneath buttery cinnamon crumbs. A generous brown-sugar filling runs through the middle, giving the baked cake its cinnamon stripe.

Granulated sugar, flour and ground cinnamon mix with melted butter for the topping. The filling combines the selected dark brown sugar and ground cinnamon, with unsweetened natural cocoa offered optionally for colour.

Butter, table salt, granulated and light brown sugars, baking powder and vanilla are beaten smooth before three eggs enter one at a time. The selected sour cream is whisked with milk, then this mixture and flour are added alternately to the batter.

Half the batter spreads across a greased rectangular pan before the filling is sprinkled over it. The remaining batter covers the filling, which is gently swirled through with a knife; the crumb topping goes on last before baking.

The cake bakes until its top and edges are golden, then cools briefly before being cut and served directly from the pan. An optional glaze of icing sugar and milk can finish the cooled cake.