Wake and Bake
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[Photograph: Carrie Vasios]

We all know the best part of a coffee cake is the crumb, which is why there is a heap of sweet pecan streusel topping this moist banana cake.

About the author: Carrie Vasios is the editor of Serious Eats: Sweets. She likes to peruse her large collection of cookbooks while eating jam from the jar. You can follow her on Twitter @carrievasios

About This Recipe

Yield: serves 8-12
Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Special equipment: electric mixer, 9-inch springform pan

Ingredients

  • For the Streusel
  • 8 ounces chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  •  
  • For the Cake
  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs plus 1 egg yolk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 7 ounces Greek yogurt
  • 2 cups diced banana, from about 2 medium bananas

Procedures

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350°F. Grease pan with butter.

  2. For Streusel: In a medium bowl, combine pecans, dark brown sugar, sugar, cinnamon, and flour and stir to combine. Add flour and melted butter and mix until has the texture of wet sand. Set aside.

  3. For Cake: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and egg yolk and beat to combine. Add vanilla and yogurt, then dry ingredients, beating until just mixed together. Gently fold in bananas with a spatula.

  4. Pour batter into pan and smooth top. Cover with pecan mixture. Bake until a tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, 50-60 minutes. Let cool then release from springform pan and serve.