Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

I really think it’s the simple recipes I enjoy the very most.

These are the recipes I crave; The ones I long for; The ones I go to back to time, and time again to savour bite, by delicious bite.

Recipes like this Cinnamon Coffee Cake…

There is nothing particularly new and exciting about this cake. I mean after all, it’s just a cinnamon coffee cake – one that I have probably made about a hundred times, but no matter how many times, it never seems to get old.

It’s a modest cake at heart – made simply with the most basic of ingredients – In fact the only thing that elevates it a step above a plain vanilla cake is a bit of cinnamon and a buttery crumble. But this doesn’t make it any less spectacular…

I will always find extraordinary comfort in a piece of good coffee cake. The kind with a the most tender fluffy interior enveloped in a crisp buttery crumble, and perhaps a drizzle of glaze. The kind you eat standing up at the kitchen counter or sit down to enjoy with a cup of warm coffee…

I think that’s what it so inviting about coffee cake – the fact that it is here for you when you want to be casual, while simultaneously having the ability to be elevated when you’re feeling fancy. Coffee Cake can be whatever you want it to be. It’s a good friend to have.

Vanilla cake spiced with cinnamon and topped with cream cheese glaze, this cake has an aroma and flavour reminiscent to that of a cinnamon bun, but with the texture of a tender cake, and I’m not sure if you can ask for anything better than that…

The wonderful thing about this recipe, is that you can use it as a base for the coffee cake of your dreams. I recently omitted the cinnamon, and swirled in homemade lemon curd for the most incredible lemon crumb cake. In the summer time I love to play around with seasonal berries, and in the fall apples or pears…

So here is the recipe lovelies. Do with it what you will, and I hope you enjoy.

Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake with Cream Cheese Glaze

Things you need…

Vanilla Cake
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Cinnamon Swirl
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp melted butter

Brown Sugar Crumble
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup cold butter, cubed

Cream Cheese Glaze
3 tbsp cream cheese
1 tbsp milk + more if needed
1 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

How to make

Brown Sugar Crumble
Whisk together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add cold butter, and work it in with your fingers until crumbly. Add in Pecans and work them in until crumbly. Set aside until ready to use.

Cake
Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Grease a 9×9 inch square baking pan.

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugars until pale and fluffy – about 4 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, mixing until fluffy and scraping down the sides of your bowl after each addition. Add in vanilla and beat until fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.

Turn your mixer to low, and add the flour alternately with the buttermilk in three additions, ending with the flour until everything is added. Turn mixer to medium and beat until smooth and there are no lumps, but don’t over mix.

Scoop 1/2 of the batter into prepared baking pan, and use an off-set spatula to spread the batter to the outer edges of the pan. sprinkle the cinnamon swirl mixture evenly on top. Scoop the remaining batter on top of the swirl and spread to the outer edges of the pan.

Sprinkle all of the the brown sugar crumble over top of the cake batter. Bake cake in the center of your oven for 45-55 minutes or until the center is set and a skewer inserted comes out clean.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before glazing.

Cream Cheese Glaze
While your cake cools prepare your glaze.

In a bowl beat cream cheese with an electric mixer until smooth and there are no lumps. Add milk and vanilla; beat until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat on low until smooth and creamy. If your glaze is too thick, add more milk 1 tsp at a time until desired consistency is achieved. I like my glaze thick but still pourable.