Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake - Back in the Day Bakery

Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake

Coffee Cake is one of my favorites things to eat and make. No frosting, easy to cut and share, and usually just a few pans to clean up. And, you can eat it morning, noon and night.

I picked up The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook from the library. The owners of this Savannah bakery wrote a fun cookbook filled with lots of comfort food. I can't wait to try more recipes, and placed the book on my Amazon wishlist. Have you been to the bakery? If I ever visit Savannah, I definitely want to go!

This is a really easy recipe. You combine the butter, flour, and sugar until crumbly in a mixer, and then pull out 3/4 cup of the mixture and combine with the rest of the topping: pecans, chopped chocolate and pecans. The remaining batter is mixed with the eggs, buttermilk, leavening (baking soda), and extracts. Just a few items to wash up so it is simple to make in the morning.

The pecans and espresso powder are a lovely addition to your typical coffee cake. Everyone's favorites are included: nuts, chocolate and coffee. A winner.

Pecan Chocolate Espresso Coffee Cake
Adapted from "The Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook," by Cheryl Day and Griffith Day (Artisan, 2012), page 47. Find it in your library or on Amazon.

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted (I didn't toast mine)
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
2 teaspoons espresso powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup regular or low-fat buttermilk
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted this because I couldn't find the bottle of extract...)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9-inch square baking pan with baking spray or butter, and line with parchment paper.

Combine the flour, both sugars, butter and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat on low speed, then on medium speed until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pull out 3/4 cup of the mixture and place in another mixing bowl. Stir in the pecans, chocolate and espresso powder to form the crumb topping.

Sprinkle the baking soda onto the remaining flour-butter-sugar mixture; add the buttermilk, egg, and vanilla and almond extracts. Beat on medium speed just until combined. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle the crumb topping on top.

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.