Today we celebrate National Coffee Cake Day with guest blogger, Paula Patrick!

“To me, any day can be coffee cake day!  It is absolutely delicious with a cup of  hot coffee on a cold morning.  It can even be dessert!  My husband likes his served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  There are so many yummy ways to enjoy this classic treat.  ENJOY!

Coffee Cake Extraordinaire

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup canola oil
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1 cups chopped pecans
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
EXTRA ¼ cup brown sugar
EXTRA ¼ cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Pic 1 shows the cake dough that is ready to be poured into the Bundt pan.  Dough is super easy to mix, because all ingredients are just dumped into a large mixing bowl and then blended using an electric hand mixer.

Pic 2 is the prepared Bundt pan that I have sprayed with non-stick coating, then added the EXTRA 1/4 cup of brown sugar and the 1/4 cup of chopped pecans.  After pouring in the dough and spreading evenly throughout the pan, place on middle rack of oven and bake for 50-55 min or till inserted knife comes out clean.

Pic 3 shows the cake still in the pan right after it is removed from the oven–let sit in the pan to ‘set’ for 10 minutes before removing.

Pic 4 wanted to show the cake sitting on the serving  platter to finish cooling–I usually wait about 30 minutes before drizzling the icing over the top.

Pic 5  wanted to show that I mix the icing pretty thin, that way it  will ‘run’ down the sides and pool on the plate.

Icing:

4 ounces cream cheese room temp
1  cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
Up to ¼ cup milk

Using hand mixer and medium size bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar, butter and extract till mixed well.  Add milk a little at a time till desired consistency.

Pic 6 completed  cake!!!!  it always turns out so pretty with icing trails running down the sides.