Easy Overnight Coffee Cake

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Topped with a sweet, buttery crumble, this Easy Overnight Coffee Cake is super moist and perfect for holidays and lazy weekends.

You guys have changed my life, did you know that? I really mean it, in a good sense, a challenging sense and a really fun sense. You might remember that last January we asked for some input from you via our Reader Survey 2016. Guess what? After carefully reviewing all the responses, a switch flipped in my brain. And it was all because of you.

It was the first survey in the five year history of The Café Sucre Farine. We asked for your thoughts on lots of different issues and sent the questionnaire out, with the intent of making your experience here at The Café more valuable. We hoped that some of you would participate and give us a better sense of what type of content you wanted. Wow! Lots of you responded and we were so grateful for your input as well as your super, kind encouragement.

The switch that flipped? I have to go back a bit to explain what I’m talking about. For as long as I can remember, I’ve been fascinated with everything that has to do with food. When Scott and I were first married, we had a tiny one bedroom flat, a block from the university Scott’s was attending. Although the kitchen wasn’t much bigger than a shoebox, I cooked up a storm in that little space.

There was no dining room, just a minuscule footprint of a living room and the only dinner table was a forlorn little card table in the kitchen. Tuna cans sat beneath each leg of the table to make it an adequate height for dining. I covered the table with a pretty, floor length tablecloth, as a disguise. Nevertheless, if anyone’s foot slipped and bumped one of those tuna cans, we were in big trouble! We thought this wee little living space was the most gorgeous place on the planet, entertaining a steady stream of guests for meals, desserts and parties.

Over the years, my fascination and love of all things culinary has grown exponentially, with no clear end in sight! Even after cooking all day, I still often fall asleep at night looking at cooking magazines or clicking my way through Pinterest. And my hair doesn’t always look so good, because I’m always trying to browse through a cookbook and dry my locks at the same time.

All this to say, I love to cook – always have, probably always will. I don’t mind making recipes that have lots of steps. And at this point in my life, I have the extra time to spend in the kitchen. But what the survey helped me realize was that having lots of time to cook is not necessarily true for many of you. I learned that while a lot of you enjoy cooking, most of you don’t have a ton of time to spend fussing about in the kitchen. You asked for, “more quick easy dinner recipes”, “more slow cooker/crockpot meals”, “more recipes with everyday ingredients”. The survey also revealed that you like delicious, attractive food. One overwhelming popular choice on the survey was, “more dinner party quality, everyday-easy recipes”.

So that’s where the “switch flipped” and your, “wish became my command”. I made it a goal to discover, create and test more recipes that would fit into these categories. I pulled out the slow cooker and had fun coming up with recipes like this Slow Cooker Pasta e Fagioli Soup and this Slow Cooker Lemon Orzo Chicken Soup. Easy, one pan skillet meals were also on my radar, like this Skillet Shrimp Scampi Pasta. The really cool thing about this “revelation” is that it fits very comfortably with our byline here at the Café; Casually Elegant Deliciousness, so it was great to make the transition!

Admirably, “healthy” is also important to you, according to the survey, so I’ve worked hard to make healthy meals easy and delicious like this Best Ever Granola and came up with a super easy to make Juicy, Tender, Baked Boneless Chicken Breasts and lots of delicious-but-easy salads and shake-it-all-up-in-a-jar-or-blender-salad dressings.

So what does all this have to do with the Easy Overnight Coffee Cake featured above? Everything. It’s another recipe, created with love, just for all of you. Definitely one of those company-worthy dishes, made easy! “Overnight” is in the title because you make the cake batter and crumbly, cinnamon-laced topping the night before. The next morning, it’s ready to bake. Want to get someone out of bed without saying a word? The aroma that wafts through the house as this wonderful breakfast cakes bakes will pull even the sleepiest heads out from the covers!

I found the recipe over at AllRecipes, but it needed a bit of work. I adapted it the to be a one-bowl wonder. Yup, no mixer, no separate bowls, no fuss. It took a number of tries to get it just right, but that wasn’t such a bad thing, since this coffee cake is moist, buttery and super delicious. My jeans might not agree!

I also learned that adding the topping right away (as indicated in the original recipe) doesn’t work out very well. The batter likes to creep up at the edges and cover the fabulous crumble (see picture below). Then those outer edges become very dry and brittle before the center is baked through.

I tried a few things to eliminate this problem and found that adding the crumble during the last 10-15 minutes worked perfectly.

So, now do you see? You have changed my life, at least in the kitchen. And I’ve really enjoyed the challenge. Think you might be able to help me in some of the other areas of my life?

Ideas for Serving this Easy Overnight Coffee Cake:

You can serve this easy overnight coffee cake just as it is, warm or at room temperature. If I want to splurge a bit, I’ll add some ribbons of Vanilla Bean Drizzle over the top. I’ve included this drizzle as an option in the recipe. To make a pretty presentation, but still keep it simple, just sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar.

Café Tips for making this Easy Overnight Coffee Cake…

No buttermilk? No worries. You can also use Greek yogurt thinned with milk (use half yogurt, half milk). You can also make your own buttermilk with regular milk. Just add a tablespoon of vinegar or lemon juice to a cup of milk. Let it sit for 5 minutes and it’s ready to go.
The recipe calls for baking spray to grease the pan. Baking spray is not the same as cooking spray. Baking spray is a combination of shortening and flour. If you don’t have or don’t want to use baking spray, generously grease the pan, then add a tablespoon of flour. Rotate the pan until all the butter is coated with flour. Then proceed with parchment paper as directed in the recipe.

LOTS OF PEOPLE ASK WHAT KIND OF COOKWARE, SMALL APPLIANCES, CUTLERY, ETC. I USE IN THE KITCHEN. HERE’S WHAT I USED TO MAKE THIS EASY OVERNIGHT COFFEE CAKE: