Coffee Cinnamon Crunch Cake

Today is my Mum's birthday. I say that with a sad little sigh, since another year goes by where I don't get to celebrate it with her. My parents are enjoying retirement bliss in Malaysia so we see each other 3-4 times a year at most. A while back I came across some old photos of my parents and was so fascinated and in love with all of them that I spent the whole day flipping through them. Coming across things like this makes me miss them a lot.

It's been about 6 months since their last visit and one of the things I remembered the other day was a cinnamon coffee cake that my Mother adored at her favourite cafe (which has closed down unfortunately). I woke up this morning determine to recreate that cake, to give as a virtual gift until I can give her a real one in person.

Unfortunately, this was no easy feat since I never actually got to taste this cake myself, so it was purely up to some vague descriptions from my brother and my imagination that this cake became a reality. According to him it was an incredibly moist, dense cake with a just a hint of coffee in it. I came across a similar sounding recipe in one of my favourite books, so I decided to improvise a little.

The result: A moist, soft, dense but not heavy cake with a thin crunchy layer tinged with coffee and cinnamon on top. It may be a cake from the imagination, but it wasn't too shabby. When I first sliced it open for a taste test, it was so moist it almost reminded me of mai lai gou (a super moist Chinese steamed sponge cake), and the crunchy crust with that subtle hint of coffee brought back memories of my favourite Roti Boy buns from Malaysia. And it was just the type of cake that my Mum enjoys; no whipped cream and not too sweet. So even though I can't give this cake to my Mum in person to get her nod of approval, I hope she knows I'm thinking of her.

Coffee Cinnamon Crunch Cake
(loosely adapted from The Golden Book of Patisserie)
For the cake:
1 2/3 cup plain flour
1/3 tsp bicarb soda
1/8 tsp salt
120g butter, softened
170g cream cheese, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk

For the crunchy topping:
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup plain flour
40g butter, cold and cubed
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp instant coffee granules

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C. Grease and line a 20cm square cake tin. Make the crunchy topping first by combining the brown sugar, cinnamon, coffee and flour in a medium bowl and then gently and quickly rub the cold butter into this with the tips of your fingers until it forms a fine crumbed mixture. Set aside.

Combine the flour, bicarb soda and salt in a medium bowl and set aside. Beat the butter, cream cheese and sugar in a large mixing bowl with an electric beater on medium speed until it is creamy. Continue to beat at medium speed, adding one egg at a time until it is just combined.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and gradually add the dry ingredients, alternating with the milk until just combined. You don't want to beat too much air into the mixture as this cake should not rise too much, so stir it up with a wooden spoon if it looks really fluffy. Spoon the batter into the cake tin and sprinkle the crunchy topping over the batter.

Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. If it starts to rise up too much in the centre of the cake while in the oven, gently pat the centre down with a spatula. Cool the cake inside the tin on a rack.

When cooled, very very gently turn out of the tin using two large plates, and then carefully cut into cubes. The topping with be a thin, delicate crunch and can fall off easily if you don't take care.