Coconut Chai Coffee Cake

You guys, I worked overtime last night. 16 hours of fun at the hospital. They were short on staff, I had today off and my patients were lovely so I stayed. But needless to say, I'm a little tired this morning. It's 11 and I'm still in my pjs. You know what would be awesome right now? A fresh piece of this coconut chai coffee cake. 

Unfortunately, it's gone. But thankfully I've already committed to making it again for my family when we go for Thanksgiving next week. (CAN YOU BELIEVE THATS NEXT WEEK?) Sorry for the caps lock, I just freak out a little when I think about how late it is already. 

Back to the coffee cake. It's a light and fluffy yogurt coffee cake topped with a spice-filled crunchy streusel topping. It's got a fantastic combination of cloves, ginger, cardamom and pepper. The pepper gives it just this little kick that makes it awesome. 

And this homemade vanilla? A favor from the wedding we went to last week. Amazing! Now, lets get to this.

Coconut Chai Coffee Cake

(Shutterbean adapted from Keys to the Kitchen)

Topping:

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
• 1/2 all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup flaked coconut
• 1 tsp ground cardamom
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt

1) Easy peasy - mix all the ingredients together. Put in the refrigerator until cake is ready. 

Cake:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 cup plain greek yogurt
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1) Preheat oven to 350*. Spray a 9-inch spring form pan with nonstick spray (or coat with butter) and set aside. 

2) Using an electric mixer, mix brown sugar and butter until well combined. Add in greek yogurt, then eggs and vanilla extract while mixing in between.

3) I do the next part while the other stuff is mixing. Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda and salt.  Combine the wet and dry ingredients using a wooden spoon, just until moistened.

4) Spread the batter in greased pan. Next, put the streusel topping on top of the cake batter evenly. Gently press the topping into the cake pan so it will stick when cooked and served. 

5) Bake 50-55 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean (or knife if you can't find your toothpicks....) Transfer to a cooling rack and cool before taking the side off the pan and serving.

Enjoy!