The birth of coffee cake was more the result of evolution than creation. Coffee cake’s origins can be traced back to Central and Northern Europe in the 17th century. Back in those days, coffee was still new to Europe. Germany, Austria, and Denmark, being well versed in sweet breads, claim to have created the coffee cake. And so it became a tradition to have a small sweet treat with coffee in these countries.
Coffee cake was first mentioned as ‘gugelhupf’ in German, in 1763. It was only in 1850 that the use of the term ‘coffee cake’ was recorded in a play by Virginia de Wyze. Coffee cake doesn’t have a clear definition. Some versions contain coffee while others don’t. British coffee cake is made up of two layers of coffee-flavoured sponge cake with a coffee-butter icing. Other countries consider it more of an accompaniment to coffee rather than a coffee-flavoured dessert.
German migrants took the coffee cake with them to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It rose in popularity as it began to line the shelves of refrigerators in grocery stores. Adding sour cream to the cake batter became common practice, mainly to add more moisture to the cake and also to activate the baking soda. Coffee cake was most recently modified when bundt pans became popular in the 1950s. Their ring-shaped design contributed to increasing the moisture content in cakes and allowing the batter to be cooked the whole way through without bakers having to worry about the centre remaining uncooked.
Today, coffee cake is a favoured snack at corner coffee shops and bigger chains like Starbucks. Every cafe has its own version: some with coffee-flavoured icing, and others topped with real coffee beans. Families bake coffee cakes together to celebrate special occasions and home bakers make it to practice their skills.