Banana Coffee Cake as prepared by Chef/Owner Mary Ting Hyatt at Bagelsaurus in Boston, Massachusetts, as seen on Food Network's Triple D Nation, season 8.
Recipe courtesy of Bagelsaurus

Bagelsaurus Banana Coffeecake

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  • Level: Easy
  • Total: 2 hr 5 min (includes cooling time)
  • Active: 35 min
  • Yield: 8-12 servings

Ingredients

Crumb Topping:

Cake:

Directions

  1. For the crumb topping: Mix the sugars, espresso powder, cinnamon and salt together in the bowl of a stand mixer. Remove 1/3 cup of this spiced sugar to a small bowl and set aside. (This will be used as a filling during cake assembly.) Add the flour and butter to the remaining sugar mixture. Mix on low speed until moist crumbs form and the topping does not appear floury (this may take up to 5 minutes). Watch carefully; you don’t want cookie dough. Better to undermix than overmix. Transfer the crumb topping to a different bowl to free up the mixer bowl for the cake batter. Refrigerate while you mix the cake batter.
  2. For the cake: Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
  3. To the same mixer bowl, now empty, add the butter and cream cheese. Mix on low speed, stopping to scrape the side of the bowl, until smooth. Add the granulated sugar and cream on medium speed until fluffy and light in color, 2 to 3 minutes. On low speed, add the eggs one at a time. Scrape the bowl. Add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in 3 additions, alternating with the bananas and vanilla in 2 additions, mixing at low speed and stopping to scrape the bowl, ending with the dry ingredients.
  4. Generously spray a 9-inch round cake pan, using more baking spray than you think you should! Scoop two-thirds of the batter into the pan and level with an offset spatula. Cover evenly with the reserved spiced sugar filling. Scrape the remaining batter on top and level. Pull the crumb topping from the fridge and cover the cake all the way to the edges, piling it evenly on top.
  5. Bake, rotating halfway through, until the cake edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife comes out with crumbs attached but no batter, 50 to 60 minutes. Allow to cool at least 30 minutes before running an offset spatula or knife around the side and removing the cake from the pan. Alternatively, keep the cake in the pan and cut pieces right out of it.

Cook’s Note

This coffee cake has distinct layers, which should be mixed separately before assembly. Measure the ingredients for your crumb topping/filling and mix together before measuring for your cake, so as to not confuse your crumb butter vs cake butter, crumb flour vs cake flour, etc.