I made this once when we had a houseful of guests for the weekend and they said, “This is awful. You can tell how much we hate it,” as they went back for more. Sarcasm aside, this recipe takes a little effort, but the taste is worth it! It’s based on a recipe on the King Arthur Flour website, though I didn’t use their brand and it still came out well. I’ve also made a gluten-free version using a 1:1 mix and it turned out just as delicious.

This can be mixed the day before and kept unbaked in the fridge overnight if you want to bake it fresh in the morning.

Topping
1 cup (198g) granulated sugar
1/4 tsp table salt, (if you use unsalted butter)
1 cup (120g) All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp. cinnamon
6 tbsps (85g) butter, melted

Filling
1 cup (213g) dark brown sugar or light brown sugar, packed
1 1/2 tbps. cinnamon
2 tbsps. unsweetened cocoa, Dutch-process or natural

Cake
12 tbps (170g) butter, at room temperature, at least 65°F
1 tsp table salt, (1 1/4 teaspoons if you use unsalted butter)
1 1/2 cups (298g) granulated sugar
1/3 cup (71g) light brown sugar or dark brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 tsps baking powder
2 tsps Vanilla Extract
3 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup (170g) sour cream or plain yogurt, at room temperature
1 1/4 cups (283g) milk, anything from skim to whole, at room temperature
3 3/4 cups (450g) flour

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9″ x 13″ pan, or two 9″ round cake pans.

Make the topping by whisking together the sugar, salt, flour, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter, stirring until well combined. Set the topping aside.

Make the filling by mixing together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa powder. Set it aside.

To make the cake, in a large bowl, beat together the butter, salt, sugars, baking powder, and vanilla until well combined and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt and milk until well combined. You don’t need to whisk out all the lumps.

Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the milk/sour cream mixture, beating gently to combine.

Pour/spread half the batter (a scant 3 cups or 28 ounces) into the prepared pan(s), spreading all the way to the edges. If you’re using two 9″ round pans, spread 1 1/3 cups batter in each pan. Sprinkle the filling evenly on the batter.

Spread the remaining batter atop the filling. Use a table knife to gently swirl the filling into the batter, as though you were making a marble cake. Don’t combine filling and batter thoroughly; just swirl the filling through the batter. Sprinkle the topping over the batter in the pan.

Bake the cake until it’s a dark golden brown around the edges; medium-golden with no light patches showing on top, and a toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 55 to 60 minutes for the 9″ x 13″ pan, 50 to 55 minutes for the 9″ round pans. When pressed gently in the middle, the cake should spring back.

Remove the cake from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before cutting and serving. Serve cake right from the pan.

OPTIONAL: Make a glaze with 1/2 cup (57g) confectioners’ or glazing sugar and 1 tablespoon milk; drizzle glaze over the cooled coffee cake.