We all love a good piece of coffee cake with a big cup of coffee, but, have you ever wondered where it came from?
There is no actual evidence that coffee cake was made in 17th century Europe. Previous to that, coffee had not reached Europe so no coffee cake can be considered to have existed before that period. The first ones are thought to have originated in Germany. These were more like sweet breads than cakes. Almost immediately, the modern style of cakes came into view and they were filled with nuts and fruit, topped with icing or Streusel. Nowadays, the great assortment of coffee cakes even makes it hard to decide the best one for breakfast or brunch.
Coffee cake wasn’t invented—it evolved
We don’t have just one person to thank for coffee cakes, we have generations. According to our study, these treats evolved from other pastries over several centuries. Sweetened breads raised with yeast, in fact, are documented back to the 1600s when they were popular in many European countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.
Around the same time, the National Coffee Association says that coffee had been introduced to Europe in the previous century. It caught on quickly, and by the 1600s there were also hundreds of coffee houses across the continent. Food Timeline further notes that traditional sweet breads, along with stimulating conversation, became a natural pairing with coffee — similar to how it remains today.
By the mid-19th century, immigrants from these coffee- and sweet bread–loving countries arrived in America with their traditional recipes in hand (via Tori Avey). Though the treats they brought with them began as yeast-risen cookies, scones, and other sweetened breads, the delectables eventually became more cake-like with a tender crumb. Smithsonian Magazine notes that both baking powder and baking soda were introduced at this time (in 1856), which helped home cooks create the early version of coffee cakes that resemble what we know today
Their recipes from the colonial times are very similar to those used today. Meanwhile Scandinavians had introduced their versions as well as the concept of the coffee break for which we are all ever grateful. The British have their own version that includes toffee.
By 1879, coffee cakes were well-known in America and there were already countless recipes for crumb cakes, streusel cakes and streusel/crumb-cake combinations. Streusel cakes have that swirl of cinnamon/brown sugar throughout the center while crumb cakes have a topping of crumbly flour, sugar and butter and cinnamon. However, food purists know that most Americans have these terms confused. Streusel (pronounced STROI-zuhl in German) means “granules” and actually refers to the crumb topping, not the swirl. Whichever way you pronounce it, the effect is still the same, delicious!
Coffee Cake and Health
Despite the fact that most will see coffee cake as a high-carb dessert, it is possibly less known that coffee cakes with whole grains and berries, which are sources of disease-fighting antioxidants, are helpful to good health. It is a precondition of making any decision that you have sufficient knowledge about that field. And now that you have read this composition about coffee cake, you must be able to make the right decisions.
A baked good that’s as versatile as a coffee cake definitely doesn’t need to be relegated to a single day of celebration. However, we do like having an excuse to dig out our baking pan, mix up some buttery, cinnamon streusel, and make an irresistibly sweet and tender treat.
So there you have it, the story of how coffee cakes came to be the popular cake that we like today.