Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake

Moist, soft and yummy! This cake is delicious, especially over a cup of hot black coffee, no cream please! Some cakes are good with creamed coffee, well this is good with plain black coffee, of course it's my preference, but seriously, just black coffee with this! 

This is a recipe from 'Rose's Heavenly Cakes' by Rose Levy Beranbaum.  Would you believe it, I made these weeks ago but never post it.  Now is a good time, since I have not been baking ever since I got back from my holidays! Still having the cough and it is really irritating as it kept me from having a proper sleep each night! Thank you to all you lovely ladies for all your get well wishes!  Will be back to baking by next week!  Really missed it! LOL!

This cake is especially good when it is still very warm, about 15 minutes right after baking. It is so moist and soft, delicious. It smells wonderful in the oven! On the next day, it stays moist, soft and very good too. This cake was recommended to be baked in a "one small Bundt and 2 cupcakes" pans.  Why wasn't it being recommended to use, perhaps an 8 cup Bundt pan to fit all the batter in? I used my standard muffin pan and got only 11, as the batter was not enough for my 10 cup Bundt pan.   

As you can see from the picture above, the chocolate streusel is supposed to be in the centre of the cupcake, but somehow it has risen to the top!


I'm sharing this with :
Cookbook Sundays at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen
Potluck Sunday at Mommy's Kitchen


Chocolate Streusel Coffee Cake
(adapted from "Heavenly Cakes" by Rose Levy Beranbaum)
Makes : One small Bundle-style cake and 2 cupcakes; serves 6 to 8
Baking Time : 40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes)
Rose suggested, if desired, you can make a total of 12 cupcakes instead.

Chocolate Streusel Filling
3 tbsps (1.5 ounce/40 gms) firmly packed, light brown sugar, preferably Muscovado
2 tbsp plus 1-1/2 tsp (0.5 ounce/12 gms) sifted before measuring, unsweetened (alkalized) cocoa powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Make the Chocolate Streusel Filling : In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cocoa and cinnamom. Use a fork or your finger tips to break up the sugar, if necessary.

Batter
1-3/4 cups (7 ounces/200 gms) sifted into the cup and leveled off, bleached all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 plus 1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
8 tbsp (1 stick/4 ounces/113gms) unsalted butter
1 cup (7 ounces/200 gms) superfine sugar (I use 160gm)
1 large egg, at room temperature (3 tbsp/1.7 ounce/50gms)
1 large egg white, at room temperature (2 tbsp/1 ounce/30 gms)
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup (8.5 ounce/242 gms) sour cream

Special Equipment : One 6-cup fluted metal tube pan, coated with baking spray with flour / 2 cupcake liners set in ramekins or custart cups.

Preheat The Oven : Twenty minutes or more before baking, set an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F/175C (325F/160C, if using a dark pan).

Mix The Dry Ingredients : In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt just until lightly combined.

Make The Batter : In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, cream the butter on medium-high speed for 1 minute.  Beat in the sugar slowly, taking about 2 minutes to beat it in, and then beat for another 2 minutes.  With the mixer off, pour in the egg, egg white and vanilla and scrape down the sides of the bowl onto the egg mixture.  Beat on medium speed for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

With the mixer off between additions, add the flour mixture together with the sour cream in three parts.  Beat each addition starting on low speed until the dry ingredients are moistened, then raise the speed to medium and beat for 15 seconds.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl after addition.

Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners to fill half full.  Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoons of the streusel filling and drop a spoonful of batter on top.  Use a small offset spatula or the back of a spoon to smooth the batter. The batter should fill the liner almost to the top.

Using a silicone spatula or spoon, scrape about half of the remaining batter into the prepared pan and smooth the surface evenly with a small metal spatula.  Sprinkle the remaining streusel filling evenly over the batter, making a ring around the center of the batter to keep most of the streusel away from the outside and inside edges. Drop the remaining batter in large blobs over the filling and spread it evenly.

Bake The Cake And Cupcakes : Bake for 40 to 50 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for the cupcakes), or until the cake just begins to come away from the sides of the pan.  In the cupcake liners, the cakes should spring back when pressed lightly in the center.

Cool And Unmold The Cakes : Let the cakes cool on wire racks in their pan and liners for 10 minutes.  With a small metal spatula, loosen the top edges of the large cake and invert it onto a wire rack that has been coated lightly with nonstick cooking spray.  Cool completely.