Dulce de Leche Coffee Cake

Butter, sour cream, brown sugar, and dulce de leche come together to create a rich and decadent coffee cake.
I always hope that it will last a few days. But it never does. It is that good.

I have this thing about cake. I also have this thing about coffee. Not to mention I have this really big thing about dulce de leche. So, I thought let me put them all together and make a dulce de leche coffee cake! Ok, so no coffee is in the cake, but it's the perfect cake to eat with the perfect cup of coffee!

Jump to:

• What is Dulce de Leche?
• What is Coffee Cake?
• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Recipe

What is Dulce de Leche?

I like to think of dulce de leche as sweetened caramelized milk. It is made by reducing milk and sugar over low heat. There are a couple of different ways to make it. You can make it from scratch using this recipe or buy it. It is available at most stores or on Amazon.

The exact origins are a debate. Most believe that it originated in Argentina. However, this is a continuous point and many Latin American countries lay claim to creating this sweet treat. Me, well I say I don't care who created it. I am just glad they did. So on behalf of American dulce de leche lovers, thank you, whoever you are (were).

What is Coffee Cake?

Coffee cake is quite simply any cake that is eaten with coffee. Typically coffee cake has two distinct layers that are separated with a ribbon of cinnamon, butter, and flour. This same ribbon is spread across the top of the cake before baking. Once baked it becomes the crunchy signature streusel commonly associated with coffee cake.

Ingredients

This cake is baked in butter and sour cream. Which makes it heavenly, but also makes it heavier than a traditional cake. The crumb and dulce de leche are spread in the middle layer and again on the top. All of these ingredients come together to create a rich and decadent coffee cake. Here is a rundown of the ingredients that I used and why.

• All-purpose flour - This is a strong flour, sturdy enough to hold up against the weight of the sour cream and dulce de leche.
  
• Light brown sugar - Adds sweetness to the streusel crumb. You can use either light or dark, both will work with this recipe.
  
• Ground cinnamon - Is a traditional flavor used in the crumb. You could go without it, but why? Cinnamon is classic tradition worth keeping!
  
• Unsalted butter - Always use unsalted butter. Then when you add in salt you know exactly how much salt is in the recipe.
  
• Baking powder and soda - Are leveling agents that give rise to your cake. The baking powder actually lightens the texture of your cake by enlarging the air bubbles. Use products that are less than 6 months old. Anything older will lessen the rise of your cake.
  
• Sugar - Always sweetness the cake. I use good old-fashioned white sugar.
  
• Large eggs - Eggs add structure, leavening, color, and flavor to cakes. Large eggs are the default at the store and easy to find.
  
• Vanilla extract - Add a lot of flavor to your cake. The real study can be expensive. While I love the real stuff, I often use imitation to save money. (shhhhh, our secret.)
  
• Sour cream - Adds weight and smoothness that we associate with coffee cake. For this, I use full-fat sour cream. There is just no substitute.
  
• Dulce de leche - Bliss. Pure bliss. I don't know what else to say about this gift from the gods.
  
  

Instructions

First, you will need to decide if you are going to make or buy dulce de leche. If you are going to make it, I recommend using my recipe located here. If you are going to buy some, you can probably find it at your local supermarket or order it on amazon.

Next, let's make the topping. Once it is made, set it aside for later. To make the topping you will need:

1. Using a whisk, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl.
2. Using your fingers, add the butter and mix thoroughly with your fingers.
   1. It is ideal to have small clumps form. They will bake into the crunchy streusel.
3. Once mixed, set aside.

Once the topping is made, we will being to make the cake. You will need the following ingredients:

1. Preheat the oven to 350.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. These are your dry ingredients.
3. In a large bowl using either a hand or standing mixer, beat together the butter and granulated sugar at medium-high speed. The goal is to have the mixture be light and fluffy. This will take about 3 minutes.
4. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.
5. Add in the vanilla.
6. Reduce to low speed and add the flour mixture in batches, alternating with the sour cream. Two things to note here:
   1. You will want to start and end with the flour. I added mine in the following order: flour, sour cream, flour, sour cream, flour.
   2. The goal is to the flour just enough to incorporate. It is VERY easy to over-mix here. If you do over-mix the result will be a flatter cake. If you're worried about over mixing, I recommend mixing the flour and sour cream in by hand using a spatula.
7. The cake batter will be very thick. This is your goal.
8. Using the butter wrapper, grease a square cake pan or a loaf pan.
9. Spoon half of the cake batter and using a spatula, smooth the top. Sprinkle half of the crumb topping over the batter. Then drizzle half the dulce de leche over the top of the crumb.
10. Spoon the remaining cake batter on top and smooth the top. Sprinkle on the remaining crumb topping. Drizzle the dulce de leche over the top.
11. Bake at 350 for one hour. The cake and topping should be golden brown. If you're using a toothpick, once inserted into the center of the cake the toothpick should come out clean.
12. Let cool in the pan for 20 minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool.
13. If you have leftover dulce de leche it tastes great drizzled over the top!

Recipe