Categories: Cake

Ingredients

• The Cake Batter:
• 1 cup salted butter, softened
• 1 and 3/4 cups white (granulated) sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 6 eggs
• 3 cups flour
• The Filling:
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 stick salted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• The Crumb Topping:
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup salted butter, softened

Directions

1. Spray the inside of a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray. You can also use nonstick baking spray, the kind with flour in it, if you prefer. If you don’t have nonstick baking or cooking spray, you can grease the inside of the cake pan with butter and then flour it, but don’t forget to knock out the excess flour.

2. Mix the cup of softened, salted butter with the white sugar until it’s thoroughly blended and is nice and fluffy.

3. Add the salt, vanilla extract, and baking powder. Mix them in until they’re thoroughly incorporated.

4. Add the eggs one by one, mixing after each addition.

5. Add the flour in one-cup increments, mixing thoroughly after each addition.

6. Spoon half of the batter in the cake pan and spread it out with a rubber spatula. Leave the rest of the batter in the bowl for later.

7. Once half of the cake batter is in the pan, it’s time to make the filling. Use another bowl for this.

8. Put half of a 12-ounce (net weight) bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips in a microwave-safe bowl.

9. Add the ounce of salted butter and the 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. Heat in the microwave on HIGH for 30 seconds. Let the mixture sit in the microwave for 1 minute, and then take it out and try to stir it smooth. If you can do this, you’re done heating the chocolate mixture. If you can’t do this, heat the chocolate mixture in 2-second intervals with one-minute standing times, until you can stir it smooth.

10. Set the chocolate mixture on the counter. Stir in the cinnamon and the nutmeg until they’re well-incorporated.

11. Drizzle the chocolate mixture over the batter in the cake pan.

12. Sprinkle the rest of the chocolate chips (approximately one cup) over the batter as evenly as you can.

13. Give the remaining cake batter another stir and then drop spoonfuls on top of the chocolate. Spread the batter out carefully with the rubber spatula.

14. To make the crumb topping, mix the brown sugar and the flour in a small bowl. (I generally use a fork to do this.)

15. Add the softened butter and mix until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with chilled butter and the steel blade.)

16. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the pan as evenly as possible.

17. Bake your Chocolate Coffee Cake at 350°F for 45 to 60 minutes. To test for doneness, use a cake tester, a thin wooden skewer, or a long toothpick. Insert it one inch from the center of the pan and pull it out again. If it has chocolate on it, that’s perfectly okay, but if it also has sticky unbaked dough clinging to it, your cake needs to bake at least another 5 or perhaps 10 minutes.

18. When your cake is done, remove it from the oven and let it cool in the pan on a wire rack.

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