Irresistible Coffee Cake Recipes to “Perk” Up Your Day!
I think we can all agree that a cup of coffee or tea just tastes better when you have a piece of cake to eat it with! Whether it’s your mid-morning cuppa, a coffee date with friends, a book club meeting, or after-dinner hot drinks at a family gathering, it just goes better with cake. In this roundup post, I’m sharing my favourite coffee cake ideas with maximum deliciousness and very little effort or bake time necessary. So, grab your mixer and favorite baking pan and let’s make a beautiful coffee cake together!
What is a Coffee Cake?
Some of you might be wondering what I mean by “coffee cake”. It’s very simply a cake that is meant to be served with coffee (or tea if you like)! What makes it stand apart from other cakes is that it is not glazed or frosted. Sometimes a coffee cake might have a crumb mixture or streusel mixture topping (stay tuned for recipes like this!), but a truly classic coffee cake has no topping at all. A coffee cake is often made the night before to be eaten the next morning and served at room temperature. I think this is because a warm, iced cake would be too messy to serve to people sitting on your couch and balancing a plate of cake on their lap while they drink their hot cup of coffee! So, when we talk about coffee cake we mean a cooled, frosting-free cake that is easily served in a group setting.
Fresh from the Garden
Let’s start with some coffee cake ideas that use fresh fruit (or vegetables!) straight from your garden, your friend’s freezer, or the farmers market stall. I love using fresh ingredients whenever possible, and these delicious garden-fresh options will leave you and your guests satisfied down to the last moist crumbs on your plate.
Simple & Delicious
Rhubarb Coffee Cake
My Rhubarb Coffee Cake recipe is simple and delicious! It’s made up of a yummy white cake batter full of sour cream to add depth and flavour plus a sweet and tangy layer of rhubarb. (You could use plain Greek yogurt instead.) Then the whole thing is topped with a beautiful cinnamon streusel. You can put fresh or frozen rhubarb in this cake, which makes it perfect for using up excess rhubarb from your garden in the spring or the freezer in the dead of winter! Serve this cake for breakfast, brunch, or dessert and sit back and collect all the praise.
Perfect for afternoon tea
Rhubarb Sour Cream Snack Cake
Need another idea for all that rhubarb in your life? This cake is very similar to the last one but it’s also just a little bit different. It’s light and vanilla-flavoured and it comes with a delightful crumb topping on the top of the cake instead of streusel. (It’s amazing what a little flour, cinnamon, and melted butter can do.) This one is really almost like a crumble to look at and taste, but holds together like a cake! This is a perfectly delicious, moist cake that is perfect for afternoon tea.
The perfect summertime cake
Strawberry Rhubarb Cinnamon Swirl Cake
If there’s one homemade coffee cake idea that’s absolutely perfect for the summertime, it’s this one. There are so many different ways to serve rhubarb, and combining it with the fresh taste of strawberries is one of my faves! Strawberries add perfectly sweet balance to the tartness of the rhubarb, and when combined with a soft vanilla cake and a cinnamon sugar swirl it’s all irresistible. This is one of those delicious recipes your family and friends will beg for at summer gatherings. Make it today and start a tradition!
A treat for friends
Apple Coffee Cake
Is it your turn to bake for your afternoon book club or are you hosting friends for a casual lunch? Look no further than this Apple Cinnamon Coffee Cake! It’s perfect for serving because I bake it in a bundt pan to make it look fancy, even without frosting or glaze or a crumbly topping! This cake is made up of my soft vanilla cake recipe combined with chopped apples and a dash of cinnamon. (You could even replace the vanilla with maple flavour. It would go so well with the apple!) What could be better than that for afternoon tea or coffee with friends?
a love of lemons!
Lemon Bundt Cake
If you love lemons and cake, then you’re in luck with this bright and delicious Lemon Bundt Cake! The base for this cake is my go-to vanilla bundt cake recipe, but with the addition of fresh lemon juice and zest in the batter. Then after baking a fresh lemon juice/sugar mix is drizzled onto and poked into the cake, taking this cake to the next level! This cake is vanilla-y, lemony and so good. I really think this is the best lemon bundt cake recipe!
A cake perfect for brunch
Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Cake
Just like rhubarb, sometimes you have to be creative to use up all the garden zucchini in your life, either off the vine or in the freezer! I recommend this Cinnamon Swirl Zucchini Cake. It’s easy to put together: just put an even layer of delicious white cake mix in the bottom of the prepared pan, put most of your cinnamon sugar mixture on top of this layer, and then cover with the other half of the batter. Sprinkle the remainder of your cinnamon sugar on top of the batter and bake! Voila! A gorgeous coffee cake idea in just a few simple steps. Because zucchini is a vegetable, I consider this a perfectly acceptable breakfast cake and you should too!
sweet and fruity
Peach Bundt Cake
Anyone else buy peaches by the case and get desperate trying to use them all up before they go bad? Guilty! That’s how I came up with the idea for this amazing Peach Bundt Cake. A white cake that is flavoured with just a hint of cinnamon and the explosively sweet and fruity taste of overripe peaches: what could be better? The great thing about this cake is that you could fill it with any type of fruit you wanted to use up: apples, blueberries, strawberries, plums…the list goes on and on. Just bake in a pretty bundt pan and sprinkle with sugar before you slice and serve, and you’ve got the best afternoon snack ever!
perfectly Chocolatey
Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake
There’s just something SO GOOD about a warm vanilla cake studded with chocolate chips…so if you’re craving a chocolate chip cake, then you need to try this recipe! This Chocolate Chip Bundt Cake is a moist vanilla cake loaded with chocolate chips. It’s a perfect cake for coffee dates!
perfectly Chocolatey
Raisin Oatmeal Cake
This Raisin Oatmeal Cake with Broiled Coconut Topping is so delicious! I know I said that coffee cakes don’t need to have frostings or a topping, BUT this is the exception. The sweet broiled coconut topping on this moist oatmeal cake base is a MUST! So good. This oatmeal cake is perfection with a cup of coffee…and dare I say it’s my favourite coffee date cake?!
a pumpkin latte in cake form
Pumpkin Bundt Cake
Fall really has a certain taste, and this Pumpkin Bundt Cake captures it perfectly! I think this cake is perfect for any cold month: pumpkin, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger, nutmeg. Yum! My favorite way of serving this cake is to dust it with icing sugar and add a good dollop of whipped cream on top. Almost like a pumpkin latte in cake form! I hope you like it as much as I do.
Time for Tea
I think coffee cakes that are good for teatime (stay with me here) are important enough to have their own section! These cake ideas would be fine served alongside coffee too, but there’s something uniquely tea-like about them that I think you should consider.
a delicious teatime treat
Earl Grey Tea Cake
Nothing screams afternoon tea party like this Earl Grey Tea Cake with hints of lavender and bergamot orange (I made a Lady Grey version) mixed into a delicious vanilla cake base. I mean, sipping tea with dessert is a perfectly acceptable after-dinner pastime, right? So why not add tea to the dessert itself? Makes sense to me! I steeped the tea in whole milk and added it to my tried-and-tested recipe for pound cake. Then I baked it in a bundt cake pan and sprinkled it with icing sugar for an absolutely perfect afternoon tea treat! Try it, you won’t be disappointed.
A new Flavour to try
Lavender Honey Cake
This cake was inspired by an ice cream cone I had on vacation that made me think about how good honey and lavender would taste in a cake. Because really, I’m always thinking about cake! Warm vanilla cake with soft flavours of lavender and honey…this was a challenge I was up for! To get the beautiful lavender flavour into the cake, I steeped fresh lavender flowers in cold cream. The result was amazing. Not only does the cake look beautiful with little purple flecks of lavender throughout, but it’s sweet, tender, and perfectly lavender-flavoured too. Try it for yourself, you won’t regret it!
a cake for cinnamon lovers
Cinnamon Swirl Loaf
I’m sure you’ve gathered by now that I am a big fan of cinnamon. There’s something so cozy about this spice! And if you love cinnamon as much as I do and need a cinnamon sugar overload every once in a while, make this cake for your next coffee-time treat. Not only is the top of the loaf a crunchy delicious cinnamon sugar crust. There’s a scrumptious cinnamon sugar swirl inside too! Flavoured with vanilla and buttermilk, this is the ultimate tasty, moist coffee cake recipe with a ribbon of cinnamon filling running through it. I love to make this for lazy Sunday morning brunch or coffee dates with friends.
There you go! A whole bunch of delicious ideas that are perfect for any occasion where you want a plate of cake in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other! I hope you find one you love. Feel free to leave a pic in the comments of the one you choose or tag me @aprettylife! I would love to see how your cakes turn out.
Our Favourite
Coffee Cake Drinks
If you’re not sure what to serve with your coffee cakes, here are some delicious ideas:
Sweet or Savoury
Spring Brunch Recipe Ideas
Gather your friends and family together and have brunch! Here are 10+ Spring Brunch Recipe Ideas to inspire your delicious gathering, with both sweet and savoury ideas.
More to try
11+ Delicious Rhubarb Recipes
If you love rhubarb, you’re in the right place! Here are 11+ Rhubarb Recipes to try…from pies to cakes, loaves and muffins, to jam, crisps, appetizers and more.
I hope you found something delicious to make from all of these coffee cake ideas! Have a delicious day!
