The History Of The Coffee Cake Reflects How It Evolved Over Time And Countries

Coffee cake is equally understood as a cake that can be eaten with coffee and a cake infused with coffee. To understand these varying definitions, it's important to look at its history and understand how it came about. Its predecessor is believed to be the honey cakes that were baked in the 17th century in northern and central Europe. At that time, cakes probably had a texture similar to bread, since these regions were renowned for their sweet breads. They would have been made with yeast, flour, eggs, sugar, nuts, spices and dry fruits.

The story goes that Germany was the first country to pair coffee and cake. In cities like Hamburg, Dresden, Nuremberg and Berlin—a culture of coffeehouses was growing. And by the 19th century, European coffee houses served small cakes, cookies or sweet breads with their coffees. Their sweetness balanced out the coffee’s bitterness. Coffee cake was slowly but surely becoming more widespread. Different countries across the continent were starting to develop their own versions of the coffee cake.

Germany has kaffeekuchen (coffee cake) or kleine kaffeekuchen (small coffee cake), which are cakes commonly paired with coffee. Sweden has fika, Denmark and Norway have kaffee; Finland has khavi; Iceland has kaffi—all of which can mean ‘coffee’, or refer to the act of eating cake with beverage. In Scandinavia, cinnamon buns are normally had with coffee. Danish pastries are also a popular choice. In France, coffee is served with a savarin ring cake, which is a brioche style yeast cake that's been soaked in a sugar syrup infused with rum or liqueur. The Netherlands has the boterkoek or butter cake which is consumed with coffee as well as the stroopwafel, a crunchy waffle filled with caramel, often placed above the mugs and left to soften before eating.

Around the 1800s, several Europeans also migrated to the US, bringing the cakes with them. But, these coffee cake recipes were adapted to suit local tastes and abide by local ingredients. Coffee was infused in the cakes. During the first world war, US cookbooks started including recipes for a German coffee cake and soon, coffee cakes were labeled separately. It's essentially a sponge cake, spiced with cinnamon and with a topping of crumble. Around the same time, coffee cakes started appearing in the UK’s cookbooks as well, often referred to as coffee and walnut cake recipe. They’re often two layers of sponge cake infused with coffee, filled and topped with a coffee buttercream and topped with walnuts. Similar cakes are also available widely in Australia.  

Here’s a recipe of the UK version of the coffee cake.

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 170 gm butter, plus more to grease the tins
• 170 gm caster sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 170 gm self-raising flour
• 1 tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water

For the icing:

• 225 gm icing sugar
• 100 gm butter
• 1 ½ tbsp instant coffee, dissolved in 1 tbsp hot water
• strawberry jam, optional
• walnuts or cherries for topping, optional

Directions:

• Preheat the oven. Line and grease two tins.
• Add the butter and sugar to a bowl and whisk until fluffy. Set aside.
• In a mug, whisk the eggs. Slowly add them to the mixture. After each egg, add 1 tbsp of flour and mix well.
• Then add the rest of the flour and gently fold it in.
• Add the dissolved coffee to the mixture.
• Pour the batter into the two tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.
• In the meantime, make the icing by beating the sugar and butter until it's light and fluffy.
• Then add the dissolved coffee and whisk. Set aside until ready to ice the cake.
• Place the first cake on the serving plate, top with icing, and jam if using. Place the second cake on top, add the remaining icing, and top with nuts. Serve cool.

Today, like centuries ago, cakes are consumed in cafes with coffee. Whether it's a croissant, a cupcake or a donut, some type of pastry is consumed, often for breakfast, with coffee. The pastry makes for a filling dish and the coffee reduces the sweetness of the pastry on the tongue, balancing it out with its bitterness. It's a classic combination and one that, personally, we’re super glad exists.