Chocolate Swirl Vanilla Crumble Coffee Cake

 

What a great centerpiece to a weekend brunch this amazing coffee cake would make. Everyone at that table would surely be appreciative of this moist, delicious collision of chocolate and vanilla. I've always considered coffee cake to be a big slice-able muffin and as I'm writing this, I am thinking, "Maybe I should have made this as coffee cake muffins."; perhaps that's an idea for the future.

There is also a great combination of textures in this cake with the addition of a vanilla shortbread crumble topping and a drizzle of melt-in-your-mouth chocolate ganache. This new recipe may well be my new favorite go-to coffee cake for my weekend brunches.

Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan or bundt cake pan very well and preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Prepare the vanilla crumble by pulsing together in a food processor until well combined.

2/3 cup flour
1/3 cup butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

To prepare the cake batter begin by sifting together

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together at high speed until very foamy

4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 & 1/2 cups sugar
2 tbsp vanilla extract

 

In a large measuring cup melt
1/2 cup butter, then mix in

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Slowly add this butter and oil mixture to the egg and sugar mixture as it continues to beat.

Fold in the dry ingredients alternately with

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

When alternating wet and dry ingredients, always begin and end with the dry mixture. Here I folded in the flour in three divisions and the milk in two divisions.

Divide the batter in two equal portions and pour half of the batter into the greased and floured pan.

To the remaining half of the batter quickly beat in

1/3 cup cocoa

3 tbsp milk

Spoon the chocolate batter in large spoonfuls all over the surface of the vanilla batter in the pan. Using the handle of a wooden spoon, swirl the chocolate batter through the vanilla batter in a random pattern.

Add the crumble topping by squeezing together handfuls of the crumb mixture and breaking off small pieces which get scattered all over the surface of the batter.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The toothpick test is definitely the best way to ensure this cake is fully baked. Cool in the pan for about 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack covered in a clean tea towel. Remove the pan and then placing another wire rack on top and flipping the cake again so that the crumble is on top. Serve warm or cold. You can drizzle some chocolate ganache over the top if you like.

Chocolate Ganache

In a double boiler melt together

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup whipping cream

Spoon the ganache into a Ziploc bag and snip off a corner with scissors, then squeeze the ganache through the hole all over the surface of the cake.