Grandma Betty’s Coffee Cake
Published 12/15/2024
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Made with love, Grandma Betty’s Coffee Cake is truly one of a kind. The cake is coated in a pâte à choux crust, giving it a light and airy texture that is simply divine! With hints of rich butter and nutty almonds, this coffee cake is perfect for enjoying with a hot cup of coffee!
I remember eating this all the time growing up, as my grandmother loved to bake, and this was one of her specialty recipes. She always said that the key to a perfectly delicious coffee cake was lots of love! After Betty passed away, it took me and my cousins YEARS to perfect this recipe. We only had one version of her handwritten recipe, and it was so hard to decipher some of her handwriting + she always baked from memory, so who knows if the written recipe we had was even accurate!
Now that we’ve finally perfected her coffee cake, we can’t wait to share it with all of you ❤️ My hope is that you’ll enjoy this recipe just as much as our family has for generations.
Top Ingredients You’ll Need
- All-purpose flour: This is the base of our dough, providing structure and stability.
- Water: You’ll need water to make the dough and the frosting.
- Salted butter: Make sure the butter is softened to room temperature for easy mixing.
- Eggs: Eggs are used to create the pâte à choux crust, giving this cake its light and airy texture.
- Almond extract: We flavored this coffee cake with almond extract, just like Grandma used to make!
- Powdered sugar: This will be used to make the delicious frosting that goes on top of the coffee cake.
- Sliced almonds (optional): Adds a nice contrasting crunch!
- Electric mixer: You’ll need an electric mixer to help mix the dough ingredients together.
Fit Foodie
Family Recipe Series
All of the recipes in this series are inspired by someone special in each of our families. These are the recipes we grew up enjoying during the holidays. From our hearts to yours ❤️
Add More Flavor with Toppings & Fillings!
If you can’t resist adding some extra flavor to your coffee cake, try experimenting with different toppings. Here are some of our faves:
Toppings
- Cinnamon sugar
- Streusel (a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, and sugar)
- Fresh fruit (such as blueberries or raspberries)
Hearth and Hand
Standing Mixer
This Hearth and Hand standing mixer is our favorite!
top tips for this coffee cake
- Be sure the loaves are long and thin enough, or you will end up with lumps.
- In step #4, we are making a pâte à choux. It is a pastry Choux pastry that is made with butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.
Storage
Store this coffee cake in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
Grandma Betty’s Coffee Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, separated
- 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon water
- 1 cup salted butter, softened
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Frosting
- 1.5 cups powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons salted butter
- ½ tablespoon almond extract
- 2 tablespoons warm water
Optional topping: sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Add the 1 cup flour, 1 tablespoon water, and ½ cup butter to a large mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to mix consistently until combined and begins to crumble together, like wet sand. Using your hands, press the dough together to form a ball.
- Separate the mixture into two balls and place them on a baking sheet. Gently form each ball into a long, flat, loaf-like shape. Set aside. The loaves should be about 10×2-inches and about ½ inches thick.
- Next, add 1 cup water, 1 cup flour, 3 eggs, ½ teaspoon almond extract, and ½ cup butter to a saucepan. Stir and heat the mixture over medium/high heat to a boil.
- Remove the pan from heat to beat the mixture with a wooden spoon to make a firm ball. This will take around 5 minutes.
- Spread the mixture evenly over the coffee cake loaves on the baking sheet.
- Bake until golden brown, about 30-40 minutes, depending on the oven.
- While the coffee cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Mix the powdered sugar, butter, almond extract, and warm water. Mix until smooth. Note that it is more of a glaze rather than a thick frosting.
- Remove the coffee cake from the oven and let the cake completely cool before frosting.
- Serve immediately or store when cool in an air-tight container.
Tips & Notes
- Be sure the loaves are long and thin enough, or you will end up with lumps.
- In step #4, we are making a pâte à choux. It is a pastry Choux pastry that is made with butter, water, flour, and eggs. Instead of a raising agent, choux pastry employs its high moisture content to create steam, as the water in the dough evaporates when baked, puffing the pastry.
Watch It
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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