I had purchased a quart of Greek yogurt to make Claire Saffitz's Grapefruit-Poppy Seed Loaf Cake, and as I stared at the half-empty container in the fridge, it triggered my memory that there was a recipe I had been meaning to make from The Vintage Baker by Jessie Sheehan. Her "Vanilla Yogurt Coffee Cake" calls for 420 grams of whole Greek yogurt, and I had just enough to make it.
This cake includes a brown sugar-cinnamon mixture that is used both to create a swirl inside the cake, and as a topping. It's simply a mixture of melted butter, flour, dark brown sugar, and cinnamon. To make the cake batter, you beat sugar, oil, and vanilla; add eggs and egg yolks; and alternately add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and the Greek yogurt. I spread half of the batter in a buttered and floured tube pan with a removable bottom; sprinkled on half of the crumb mixture; spread on the remaining cake batter; and added the remaining crumbs. I baked the cake and let it cool in the pan completely before unmolding it.
I was surprised and slightly disappointed when I cut into the cooled cake and could barely see any of the crumb mixture inside. Sheehan describes mixture inside the cake as a "swirl," and the cookbook photo shows a contiguous squiggle of crumb mixture running through the cake. By contrast. I could only see a chunk of crumb mixture here and there. I am baffled as to what happened, because when I sprinkled the crumbs onto the first half of the cake batter I spread in the pan, it looked like a lot of crumbs. I did just eyeball the amount of crumbs, so it's possible that fewer than half ended up inside the cake, but still -- I was fully expecting that there would be a clear layer of crumbs inside.
The amount of crumbs on top of the cake was generous, and while the crumbs were very firm and crunchy, they were not difficult to slice through with a serrated knife. I loved, loved, loved the crumbs on top. They were buttery, flavorful, and super-crunchy -- my ideal crumb topping in every way. The recipe headnote says that you can double the amount of brown sugar-cinnamon crumb if you're all about the topping and swirl, and I think I would do that if I make this cake again. The crumbs definitely make this cake.
The cake itself was fine. It was moist, but the texture could have been softer. However, the crumb topping and cake together were terrific. Having more crumbs in the middle definitely would have been preferable, but making more crumbs is an easy fix!
Recipe: "Vanilla Yogurt Coffee Cake" from The Vintage Baker by Jessie Sheehan.
This cake includes a brown sugar-cinnamon mixture that is used both to create a swirl inside the cake, and as a topping. It's simply a mixture of melted butter, flour, dark brown sugar, and cinnamon. To make the cake batter, you beat sugar, oil, and vanilla; add eggs and egg yolks; and alternately add the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) and the Greek yogurt. I spread half of the batter in a buttered and floured tube pan with a removable bottom; sprinkled on half of the crumb mixture; spread on the remaining cake batter; and added the remaining crumbs. I baked the cake and let it cool in the pan completely before unmolding it.
The cake itself was fine. It was moist, but the texture could have been softer. However, the crumb topping and cake together were terrific. Having more crumbs in the middle definitely would have been preferable, but making more crumbs is an easy fix!
Recipe: "Vanilla Yogurt Coffee Cake" from The Vintage Baker by Jessie Sheehan.
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