Homemade Corner Bakery Cinnamon Creme Coffee Cake

The Corner Bakery Cafe’s Cinnamon Creme Coffee cake is a “rich, golden cake swirled with ribbons of cinnamon, topped with a crumbly cinnamon streusel and powdered sugar.” Similar to a New York crumb cake, this cinnamon crumb coffee cake is perfect for a decadent breakfast, mid-day snack, or dessert.

When my daughter and I were having lunch at the Corner Bakery, she raved about their Cinnamon Creme Coffee Cake. Of course, I ordered a slice and it is heavenly. Since it’s over $20 for a small cake, she asked if I could recreate it a home.

Update: I’ve added a video to show how easy and delicious this coffee cake is to make.

A quick internet search took me to IgoUgo (no longer on the web) and a copy cat version of Corner Bakery’s signature coffee cake. I used their recipe as a starting point. My daughter thought it needed more cinnamon because it didn’t quite have the oh wow factor of the original. So I’ve doubled the cinnamon in the recipe below.

How to Make Corner Bakery Cinnamon Coffee Cake

This cake is more moist and delicious the day after it’s made, so you may want to make Cinnamon Coffee Cake the day before you plan to serve it.

Before you start baking, note that you will need a coffee cake pan or a tube pan (affiliate link) to make this cake. The batter will overflow from a regular bundt pan. 

Start by making the streusel, which will become the filling and topping for your cake. To make homemade cinnamon streusel, combine white and brown sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and flour. Drizzle in some melted butter and use a wooden spoon just to combine the streusel. Be gentle here and careful not to overmix, as you want nice big chunks of topping. 

Next, make the cake batter. Start by combing the dry ingredients in one bowl and creaming the sugar, butter and shortening with a stand or hand mixer in a separate bowl. The creamed butter should be very light and fluffy when it’s finished. 

Add 5 eggs and your extract of choice to the creamed butter mixture, beating well between additions. Then, slowly add the dry ingredients and the sour cream to the creamed butter mixture. 

Start by adding a third of the dry ingredient mixture, then half of the sour cream. Mix those in. Add another third of the dry ingredients, the rest of the sour cream, then finish with the last of the dry ingredients. Stir to combine everything fully, but not overmix. 

Now you’re ready to assemble this beautiful Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake.

How to Assemble Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

When your cinnamon streusel topping and cake batter are mixed up and your cake pan is greased and ready to go, it’s time to assemble your coffee cake. 

First, add half of the cake batter to the prepared cake pan. Then sprinkle half of the streusel on top. 

It can be hard to spread out the rest of the batter after you add a streusel layer. So I use an ice cream scoop or disher (affiliate link) to place scoops of batter on top of the streusel. Then, it’s easy to spread the batter out evenly with a spoon or a spatula. 

Finally, top off the cake with the last layer of cinnamon streusel. Gently pat the topping in so it sticks to the cake while baking.

How Long Should I Cook Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake?

Because this is such a large, dense coffee cake with a crumbly filling, it has a longer cooking time than you might expect. And the pan you use can also make a big difference in your cooking time. I find that the best way to check for doneness is by taking the cake’s temperature.

The cinnamon coffee cake is ready when a thermometer inserted into the middle registers 210°F. If you find that the top starts browning before the cake is fully cooked, cover it with aluminum foil and continue baking. 

Let the cake rest in the pan after baking for 30 minutes. This gives the cake some time to set fully. And your slice will still be warm, melty and delicious. 

Ingredient Notes for Corner Bakery Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

This recipe for cinnamon coffee cake uses standard baking ingredients that you likely already have on hand. Before you get started, here are a few answers to questions we’ve heard from readers:

What kind of shortening should I use? 

I choose butter-flavored Crisco for baking recipes like this coffee cake. It comes in sticks, so it’s easy to measure out. You could also substitute the shortening with butter in this recipe, and use 1 cup of butter rather than half a cup of each. 

Should I use Vanilla or Almond Extract?

This choice is yours! Either pick your favorite flavor or use a combination of both. I love the subtle nutty flavor from almond, but vanilla is always a classic crowd-pleaser. 

Can I Substitute Sour Cream with Something Else?

If you don’t have sour cream on hand or simply aren’t a fan, you can substitute yogurt. The cake won’t have quite the same tang but it will be a slightly lighter coffee cake. 

How to Store and Freeze Cinnamon Coffee Cake for Freshness

If you find yourself with too much coffee cake on your hands, first count yourself lucky! If you will be enjoying the cake within the next few days, it stores well on your counter covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. 

You can also freeze the cake. To do so, cut the cake into portions. Then freeze the slices on a baking sheet to keep them from sticking together. Once they’re fully frozen, you can transfer them to a Ziploc bag for safekeeping. Simply let the slices come up to room temperature before enjoying.

You could also freeze the cake whole after it’s cooled fully. I recommend covering the cake tightly in plastic wrap, then in aluminum foil to ensure extra freshness. Remember that the whole cake is quite dense, so it will take some time to defrost fully on the counter. 

When you are ready to serve this cinnamony treat, it’s helpful to place parchment around the cake before sprinkling the top the powdered sugar. This will keep the serving platter clean. See the photos above.

This cake is more moist and delicious the day after it’s made, so you may want to make this Cinnamon Creme Coffee Cake the day before you plan to serve it.

Coffee cake is one of my favorite ways to start the day. Be sure and check out all my luscious coffee cake recipes, including two of my most popular streusel-topped coffee cakes, Fresh Peach Coffee Cake and Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake. 

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Corner Bakery Cinnamon Creme Coffee Cake

Course: Coffee cake

Keyword: Breakfast, cooking, Dessert, food, recipe

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 580kcal

Author: Barbara Schieving

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going to sleep

Equipment

• Nordic Ware Tube Cake Pan
• Breville BEM800XL Scraper Mixer Pro 5-Quart Die-Cast Stand Mixer
• OXO Good Grips 3-Piece Stainless-Steel Mixing Bowl Set, White

Ingredients

Topping and Filling Ingredients

• ½ cup sugar
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 ⅔ cups flour
• 2 sticks salted butter melted

Cake Ingredients

• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup unsalted butter room temp, cut into pieces
• ½ cup vegetable shortening
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 5 eggs
• 1 ½ teaspoon vanilla or almond extract
• 2 cups sour cream

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350º. Grease and flour 10 inch/12 cup tube pan very well. (Do not use a smaller pan or a bundt pan.)
• Combine first five topping ingredients in a large bowl, add melted butter and combine with a wooden spoon. You want big chunks of the topping and filling so don’t over mix.
• Cake: Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium size bowl, set aside.
• In a large bowl cream butter, shortening, and sugar until very light. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Mix in almond extract. Add the dry cake ingredients alternating with the sour cream. The batter will be very thick.
• Spoon half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture over the batter, then the remaining cake batter, then remaining topping. Press the final topping layer into the cake layer very gently, just to make sure it ’sticks’.
• Bake in the center of the oven for 50 – 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cake is done when it starts to pull away from the sides and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Or when the Internal Temperature Reads 210°F.
• Cool in pan for 30 minutes. Loosen sides of cake with knife and invert onto a wire rack and then invert again on to serving platter. Sprinkle with powder sugar to finish.

Video

Notes

I made the following high altitude changes in the cake batter: 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¾ teaspoon baking soda, 1 ¼ cup sugar. slightly adapted from IgoYOUgo

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 580kcal | Carbohydrates: 69g | Protein: 7g | Fat: 31g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 124mg | Sodium: 344mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 34g

Other Coffee Cake Recipes You Might Enjoy

If coffee cake is your new favorite way to start (or end) the day, like it is for me, give one of these other decadent treats a try:

• Pumpkin Sour Cream Streusel Coffee Cake has the cinnamon streusel you love in this recipe, plus a festive pumpkin flavor.
• Fresh Peach Coffee Cake is a summery take on this classic treat. 
• Lemon Blueberry Coffee Cake is jam-packed with melty blueberries, zesty lemon and plenty of chunky streusel. 
• Apple Streusel Coffee Cake from That Skinny Chick Can Bake is a classic for fall: soft, gooey apples and cinnamon in a moist coffee cake. 
• Classic Banana Streusel Coffee Cake with Maple Glaze from Shugary Sweets marries banana bread with coffee cake in a truly delicious way! 

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