Chocolate Chip Coffee Cake

Papa Smurf is addicted to Einstein Bros / Noah's Bagels chocolate chip streusel coffee cake.  He was running low on the ones in the freezer, so I decided to reverse-engineer one based on the list of ingredients in the nutritional information.  The batter and crumb are manufactured by a company in New York state called The Magnificent Muffin, and it's trans-fat free. Mine might not be, but you can easily find ingredients to make yours that way.  Bear in mind, there's still a bunch of fat, and the calorie count is absurd.

I based the quantities on my Apple Coffee Cake, modifying as I went along for the different ingredients.  This is a more liquid batter, and works equally well for muffins.  I decided to buy egg whites in a carton because I wasn't sure how many I'd end up using.  They're more liquid than if you separate an egg, but the batter came out the consistency I was hoping for.

I did make one big change by stirring half the chips into the batter.  The only reason I don't like the cakes at Einstein's is because the flavoring is only on the top.  When I bring one of those home, I flip it over and slice off half of the cake.  I eat the topping, crumb, and enough cake to hold it together.  Better topping-to-cake ratio, in my opinion.  And I prefer the apple or berry cakes, as much as I love chocolate.

Don't go out to buy vanilla powder if you don't have it.  Extract will make the crumb a bit more moist, but it should come out fine.  I just happened to have some in the spice cabinet.

You can easily alter the recipe to fit any flavoring.  The crumb and batter are all-purpose.  Just replace the chocolate chips with berries, nuts, or whatever and change the vanilla to the spice or extract which works best.

And 1/8 C is 2 Tb, or one ounce.  You can use a coffee scoop, jigger, or shot glass with a line.


Crumb Topping
1/2 C flour
1-1/2 Tb shortening
1-1/2 Tb margarine
1/8 C sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla powder or extract
dash salt

1.  Cut shortening and margarine into flour to make coarse crumbs.

2.  Stir in sugar, vanilla, and salt.  Refrigerate or freeze until ready to use.

Cake
1 C flour
1/2 C sugar
2 egg whites (1/3 C)
1/4 C soybean (or vegetable) oil
1/4 C sour cream
1/8 C (2 Tb) corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
*1 C semisweet chocolate chips

1.  Preheat oven to 350º and spray an 8" round cake pan with pan spray.  In a bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

2.  In a separate bowl, combine egg whites, oil, sour cream, corn syrup, and vanilla.

3.  Combine dry and wet ingredients.  Mix until almost smooth.  Stir in 1/2 C of the chocolate chips.

4.  Pour batter into cake pan.  Spread crumb topping evenly over batter.  Sprinkle topping with remaining 1/2 C of chocolate chips.  Bake for 35 minutes at 350º, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Allow to cool to room temperature before removing from pan.

Molly helps with the dishes

Makes one 8" cake

For muffins:  Place muffin liners in muffin pan, and use pan spray.  Fill cups 2/3 of the way, top with about 1 Tb of streusel, and sprinkle with chips.  Bake 20-25 minutes, until toothpick comes out clean.  Makes about 12.

Difficulty rating  :)