Ina? Ina Garten, of course. Amazing recipes, interesting show and a wonderful entertainer. Love that her recipes are hearty and comforting. This classic, or old-school, style of cinnamon streusel coffee cake hits the right notes of spice, sweet and soft, with just a bit of crunch to add texture and a bit of warmth from the cinnamon to elevate it from a plain-jane cake.


The cake flour makes for a super airy and soft cake, while the sour cream lends a rich and moist quality to it. I made this for afternoon tea and was amazed at the amount of complements it received (the cake, not I). And the best part is ... it's just barely sweet, allowing the maple glaze to come through.


This coffee cake is made in an angel cake tube pan, just as in Ina's original recipe. This way you can see the nutty scatter of streusel on top of the cake. I can imagine it will look pretty in a large bundt pan as well if you don't mind not seeing the streusel on top, that is.


Another one of Ina's I've adopted and adapted. This one's a keeper ;)

Ingredients:
Coffee cake:
165 g (12 tbsp / 1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
300 g (1-1/2 cups) granulated sugar
250 g (2-1/2 cups) cake flour
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 large eggs, at room temperature
3 tbsp vanilla extract
300 ml (1-1/4 cups) sour cream

Streusel:
50 g (1/4 cup) light brown sugar
60 g (1/2 cup) all purpose flour
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
45 g (3 tbsp) cold butter, cut into 1/2 cm chunks
80 g (3/4 cup) chopped walnuts

Maple Glaze
60 g (1/2 cup) icing sugar
3 tbsp maple syrup

Directions:
1. Butter and flour a tube pan.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, on a medium to high speed, cream the butter and sugar until pale and increased in volume, about 5 minutes.

3. Preheat the oven to 175C or 350F.
4. Sift the cake flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium bowl. Set this aside.
5. Reduce the speed, and add the eggs, one at a time, waiting until it is incorporated before adding the next.
6. Add the vanilla and the sour cream and continue beating until mixed in.
7. Fold in the flour until just combined.

8. To make the streusel, place all the ingredients (except the walnuts) in a medium bowl and combine by rubbing it between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs.
9. Mix in the chopped walnuts.

10. Pour half the batter into the tube pan, tap on a towel-lined kitchen counter to settle.
11. Sprinkle about 3/4th of the streusel.
12. Pour the remaining batter into the pan and scatter the rest of the streusel on top.
13. Bake for 50 minutes to an hour until a skewer comes out clean from the centre of the cake.

14. Let cool for 20 minutes on a wire rack while still in the pan.
15. To make the glaze, whisk the icing sugar with the maple syrup, adding a bit of water if necessary, to make a 'drippable' glaze.
16. Remove the cake from the tube pan and place on your platter, streusel side up.
17. When cooled, drizzle the glaze on top and serve.