Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake

Have you ever heard of a "zebra cake"? It is achieved by alternately pouring chocolate and vanilla batter into your cake pan, giving the finished product a swirled design - quite lovely!

This recipe uses the same method, but swaps the chocolate batter for cinnamon batter. It makes for a treat that is both delicious and pretty - oh yeah!

Whip one of these up soon - you'll be glad you did! Yum...

Cinnamon-Swirl Coffee Cake

Adapted from this recipe

Makes one 9" coffee cake

4 eggs

1 cup sugar (or honey sucanat)

1 cup milk

1 cup vegetable oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour (or 10 oz Soft White wheat flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

Crumb Topping (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" cake pan, and line with parchment. (I used a springform pan, so I didn't use parchment).

Mix together eggs and sugar in a large bowl until light and creamy. Stir in the milk, oil, and vanilla.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl Add to wet ingredients. Whisk to combine. Measure out just over two cups of the batter and place in a bowl. Add cinnamon and whisk until thoroughly incorporated.

Pour 1/4 cup of vanilla batter into the center of pan and allow to spread. Pour 1/4 cup of cinnamon batter on top, in the center of the vanilla batter (this will push the vanilla batter out more). Alternate between adding vanilla and cinnamon batters until all has been added. Top with crumb mixture.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine took closer to 1 hour. Just make sure the toothpick comes out clean, and you'll be fine). Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

Crumb Topping

Adapted from this recipe

1/3 cup granulated sugar (or honey sucanat)

1/3 cup dark brown sugar (or molasses sucanat)

3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and still warm

1 3/4 cups cake flour (or 8 oz Soft White wheat flour + 3 tbls cornstarch)

In a medium bowl whisk together the sugars, cinnamon, salt, and flour (plus the cornstarch, if using wheat flour). Add butter and stir until mixture comes together like a dough. Break apart into large pea-sized pieces. Set aside until needed.