Sourdough Discard Coffee Cake With Cinnamon Swirl
A proper American-style sourdough coffee cake, built for a slice with your coffee rather than a splash of it inside. Buttery, tender sourdough discard cake, a thick ribbon of cinnamon swirl through the middle, and a heavy hand of streusel on top. Not too sweet, with an optional icing drizzle if you want it.
Equipment
- Stand mixer or electric handheld mixer
- Mixing bowls
- Wire rack
Ingredients
For the streusel topping:
- 90 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 90 g light brown sugar
- 30 g granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of salt
- 85 g cold unsalted butter, cubed
For the cinnamon swirl:
- 70 g light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 15 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- Pinch of salt
For the cake:
- 180 g plain flour (all-purpose flour)
- 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 140 g unsalted butter, softened
- 110 g granulated sugar
- 30 g light brown sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
- 140 g sour cream, room temperature
- 130 g sourdough discard, 100% hydration
For the icing drizzle (optional):
- 100 g powdered sugar
- 1½-2 tablespoon milk
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
Instructions
Make the streusel
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, light brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon and salt. Rub in the cold, cubed butter with your fingertips (or work it in with a fork or pastry cutter) until you have a mix of coarse crumbs and pea-sized clumps. Chill it in the fridge while you get on with the rest, it holds its shape better cold.
Make the streusel
- In a separate small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and salt. Set aside.
Make the cake batter
- Preheat your oven to 180°C (350°F). Grease a 9x9 inch square pan and line it with parchment paper, leaving a couple of inches of overhang on two sides to lift the cake out later.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the plain flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Set aside.
- Using an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter, granulated sugar and light brown sugar together for 2-3 minutes, until visibly paler, light and fluffy.
- Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
- Add the soured cream and vanilla extract and beat again until just combined.
- Switch to a spatula here rather than going back to the mixer. Fold in the sourdough discard by hand until smooth. Discard still has some structure left over from its life as a starter, and mixing it in on a machine can develop what gluten is left, which toughens the crumb. This is the one part of the batter that wants a gentle hand rather than a motor.
- Add the flour mixture to the bowl and fold it in with the spatula just until no streaks of dry flour remain. The batter will be noticeably thick, more like a scoopable cake batter than a pourable one, that's exactly what you want, it's what holds the swirl and streusel in place instead of letting them sink.
Assemble and bake
- Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan in an even layer, working right into the corners.
- Scatter the cinnamon swirl mixture evenly over the batter, leaving a small border around the edge.
- Dollop the remaining batter over the top in spoonfuls, then gently spread it to cover the cinnamon layer, working from the centre outwards. Dragging it back and forth will pull the cinnamon swirl up through the top layer and blur it.
- Take the streusel out of the fridge and scatter it evenly over the top, starting at the edges and working in, pressing very lightly so it doesn't roll off as the cake rises.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, checking at the 35 minute mark. If the streusel is colouring too quickly, tent the pan loosely with foil for the rest of the bake. The cake is ready when the top is deep golden, the edges have pulled slightly away from the pan, and a skewer or toothpick inserted just off-centre comes out with only a few moist crumbs. Test slightly to one side of the middle rather than dead centre, the cinnamon swirl will always look a little wet on a toothpick even when the cake around it is fully baked.
- Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes before lifting it out. It's worth the wait, the crumb is still setting and slicing too early will squash it.
Ice and serve
- If using the icing, whisk the icing sugar, vanilla extract and milk together until smooth. Drizzle it over the cooled cake just before slicing.
Notes
On the sweetness: the cake itself is deliberately not that sweet, most of the sugar is doing work in the swirl and streusel. If you want it sweeter, the icing drizzle is where to add it back in, rather than upping the sugar in the batter itself.
On folding in the discard by hand: it's a small extra step but worth it. Discard still has some structure left over from its life as a starter, and running it through the mixer on top of everything else risks a slightly tougher, chewier crumb instead of a tender one.
On the skewer test: don't panic if it comes out sticky right where it hits the cinnamon swirl, that layer stays soft and jammy even when the cake around it is fully baked. Test slightly to one side of centre for a true read.
Nutrition
Calories: 304kcalCarbohydrates: 43gProtein: 3gFat: 14gSaturated Fat: 8gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 56mgSodium: 207mgPotassium: 61mgFiber: 1gSugar: 27gVitamin A: 439IUVitamin C: 0.1mgCalcium: 51mgIron: 1mg
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