You're probably familiar with streusel-topped, cinnamon-swirled coffee cake, but where does the "coffee" come from?
Does Coffee Cake Actually Have Coffee in It?
Published on Jun. 04, 2025
My grandma may not be a baker, but she sure knows how to find the best desserts when she walks into a bakery. More often than not, she leaves with fruit-filled or cream cheese-drizzled coffee cake adaptations. It’s been the sweet treat I’ve associated with her since childhood. Whether we were eating slices at her kitchen table after church or eating it directly off the serving tray while working on a puzzle up at the lake, coffee cake has been a shared love.
So it astonished me when, one time, my grandma let me have a sip of her coffee. I scrunched up my face with the typical blegh reaction that kids often have to coffee. How could something so bitter and bland have anything to do with such a sweet cake?
Does coffee cake have coffee in it?
It turns out that there’s not actually coffee in American coffee cake. It makes sense, then, why I liked the pastry version and not the actual drink. (Suffice it to say, I grow up to became an avid coffee drinker.) And since there’s no coffee in coffee cake, that means it doesn’t have caffeine either.
The name likely came from the German Kaffee und Kuchen, which translates to “coffee and cake.” The pastry-style cake is more likely to be enjoyed for breakfast or brunch than in the evening after a meal. And since it’s served in the morning, it makes sense than you’d serve it with a cup of joe or other coffee drinks.
Now, if you’re in the U.K., coffee cake generally does have instant coffee in it. It’s an entirely different cake than in the U.S., though. Coffee cake in the U.K. consists of sponge cake layered between thick sheets of icing with a walnut garnish.
What is coffee cake?
Coffee cake is a type of sweet quick bread, like banana bread or lemon loaf. It’s something you’d serve for breakfast or brunch, paired with coffee or tea. Typically, it has a cakey, muffin-like texture, and is swirled with cinnamon and sugar and topped with streusel. The buttery crumb of the cake melts in your mouth and, if your recipe calls for a drizzle of icing, it’s like eating dessert for breakfast. It doesn’t get better than that!
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