Adventures In Kaffekuchen

As an Amazon associate, I may earn a small commission if you navigate to Amazon from my site and buy something. This will not result in an extra cost to you.

As any decent coffee house knows, you can’t really properly have coffee (or tea) without coffee cake. I mean, you could make do without it, but it’s only making do. It’s not doing the thing properly. I myself like a traditional plain cake with streusel topping/filling. It’s relatively light, but sufficiently substantial to pair very nicely with a hot cuppa.

And I also like quick and easy…so when I need to make a coffee cake myself, I turn to the ever-so-useful box of yellow cake mix that I always keep in my pantry. This coffee cake comes together fast, and doesn’t require anything that you don’t probably already have, except possibly the cake mix itself, the sour cream, and the nuts. I do like nuts, but I don’t eat them very often, so to keep them from going rancid, I store them in the freezer so I always have a variety to choose from. Although my recipe calls for pecans, you could certainly use walnuts or hazelnuts or even almonds. I would stay away from peanuts or cashews for this dish. Don’t even think about the evil Brazil nut. Despite the fact that it’s fast and simple, the cake turns out at least as tasty as any you might find at a coffee house or bakery. And, since you just made it yourself, it’s definitely fresher than anything you can buy. What’s not to like?

First, the method. Start with the streusel. Melt some butter in a small bowl, and then add 2/3 cup of your cake mix along with your chopped nuts and brown sugar. Mash it all together and set it aside. In a larger bowl, mix together sour cream and eggs. Then add in the remaining cake mix and beat it until it’s smooth. Grease a 9x13” pan (I got my fabulous pan here) and put in half the cake mixture. Then sprinkle about half of the streusel mixture over the cake. Add the rest of the cake mixture and then the rest of the streusel. Bake it at 350° until it’s done, usually 30-45 minutes. Because of the streusel distributed throughout the cake, it can be hard to tell if the cake is done by the usual method of sticking a toothpick in it. I suggest just touching the surface and making sure the cake underneath seems to spring back. Also, when the cake starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, that’s a good indicator that it’s pretty close to being done. Let it cool, then cut it. This keeps very nicely covered at room temperature for 4-5 days. Enjoy!