Types of Coffee Cakes & Sweet Breads

A coffee cake is a sweet, leavened quick-bread like cake often made or topped with nuts, raisins, fruits, cinnamon and glazed with melted sugar, frosting or streusel, traditionally served for breakfast and brunch with coffee, hence the name. The American word "coffee cake" is thought be be coined during the time period of 1875 -1880. Coffee cakes may also be classified as coffee breads, coffee rolls/buns and Danish pastry coffee cakes etc.

Two Types of Coffee Cakes

Coffee cakes are categorized primarily as two main baking types: leavened by baking powder or leavened by yeast. The cakes made with baking powder or baking soda, involve a creaming process or muffin/quick bread method (stirring ingredients together separately and then combining quickly etc.) The yeast raised cakes are prepared with a fermentation process and involve several mixing methods: Sponge Method, Straight Dough Method and Danish Butter Method. Many of our grandmothers used cake yeast and the sponge method for their special yeast cake recipes. Today, many coffee cake recipes for the home baker rely on the straight dough method but follow your recipe's specific instructions.

There is a fine line between coffee cake yeast doughs because the same dough may be made into sweet buns, rolls and assorted pastries. Danish pastry dough is one particular kind of sweet yeast dough made into various pastries and coffee cakes.

Coffee Cake Shapes

Coffee cakes are so versatile and may be baked in any type and size pan. Popular for many varieties are the bundt, tube, savarin, fluted or loaf pans which offers nice slices of cake. A typical bundt or tube cake can easily be sliced for 20 to 25 servings. Other coffee cakes are baked in oblong, round, square or loaf pans or even muffin tins or individual molds. Kitchenware stores offer an assortment of international baking molds and pans. Many free form yeast coffee breads are baked in braids, rings and twists etc. Danish pastry baked goods are baked in a multitude of shapes with special names for each shape.

International Coffee Cakes

Coffee cakes are baked by every ethnic group and each has their own specialties. Please note that the following names of ethnic cakes are only one reference of a multitude of varieties!!. American coffee cake recipes (as well as European recipes) vary vastly from regions reflecting a melting pot of recipes brought from immigrants the world over. Interesting to note, is that many older recipes changed with the advent of commercial baking powder in the 1850's. Prior to that many of the treasured older coffee cake recipes were leavened by yeast, especially cake yeast.

The Austrian's have their Gugelhupf , the German's their Streusel Kuchens, the Finnish their Pulla (yeast coffee bread).  The Armenians, their Cheoreg, the Polish their Baba/Babka and so on.

Some Popular Ethnic Sweet Breads/ Coffee Cakes/ Coffee Breads

Please note many countries share the same recipes! For instance the former Russia, Poland and Eastern European as well as all the Scandinavian countries share a common culinary ground. Many of the traditional baking recipes reflect Easter and Christmas baking and desserts and baked goods aren't the normal everyday fare during meal time in Europe! Not all Europeans drink coffee with the cakes either and tea may be the desired beverage.

Different Types of Dough

Challah: Challah has a noticeably higher level of eggs than the other doughs on this list, which contributes to its especially golden crust and often yellowish interior crumb. It also usually contains a small amount of sugar, but for textural reasons more than for sweetness or flavor. It may contain milk, but also often includes water; it doesn’t usually, but can, include butter. It is sometimes made with a simple preferment known as a sponge, which is mixed shortly before the dough is mixed. While challah isn’t usually eggy in flavor, it’s less versatile for making pastries, and is usually reserved for making traditional breads and rolls.

Brioche: Similar to challah, brioche is made with a large amount of eggs and often a combination of milk and water (though it can be made with just milk). However, it usually contains more sugar, plus a whole bunch of butter. While brioche can be trickier to work with, it’s incredibly versatile, and can be made into loaves, cinnamon rolls, doughnuts, pastries, or even laminated into Danishes! It’s also similar to the base (and sometimes it is the base) for recipes like babka and Gugelhupf, which are made noticeably different due to the addition of fillings and inclusions.
Recipe for Brioche

Soft Rolls/Parker House Rolls: These doughs, with a soft texture and a lightly buttery flavor, are usually made with milk, butter, a small amount of sugar, and sometimes eggs. The sugar isn’t usually contributing much sweetness—just tenderness in the finished dough.
Recipe for Classic Dinner Rolls, Parker House Rolls

Danish: Traditionally, Danishes are made from a relatively sweet dough that may contain milk and/or a small amount of eggs or butter. It is usually laminated to incorporate butter and make it light and layered in the oven, but the dough itself is a bit denser, producing a less flaky pastry that's perfect for adding fillings and toppings to. Nowadays, you can call lots of pastries Danishes, even some that aren’t laminated. You can also turn other doughs (brioche, sweet dough, etc.) into Danish!
Recipe for Danish Pastries

Croissant: Croissant dough itself (before the process of lamination) is usually only lightly enriched, often made with water and only a small amount of butter (usually no eggs, and little to no sugar). But then butter is incorporated through the series of folds called lamination, which enriches the dough with layers of fat throughout.
Recipe for Classic Croissants

Sweet Dough: This can either be a general term or it can refer to a specific type of dough that's made with milk, eggs, sugar, and butter. There’s less butter in sweet dough than in brioche, but it works similarly and is equally versatile (and less butter actually makes it easier to work with). Sweet dough yields a soft bread/pastry that's only lightly sweet—it's the fillings and inclusions that take it over the top and make it special. It can be used to make cinnamon rolls, coffee cake, Danish, braided loaves, twisted loaves or pastries, and so on!
Recipe for Sweet Dough

France: Classic renown baking: using butter, cream, milk, eggs, praline, coffee, vanilla, chocolate, fruit and liquor syrups, apples, pears, cherries and too many other delicious items to list.

Brioche: light textured cake like yeast bread with characteristic top knot. Brioche, Brioche Loaves
Baba au Rhum: yeast cake like sweet bread soaked in rum syrup and usually baked in individual moulds. Baba au Rhum
Savarin: This variation on the Baba is made without raisins and baked in a large ring mold. Named after Brillat-Savarin, a famous 18th-century food writer, this rich yeast cake is soaked with rum-flavored syrup and filled with pastry cream, Crème Chantilly or fresh fruit.
Kugelhupf/Gugelhupf : Alsatian yeast cake credited to an Austrian baker, see Austria

Italy: Many desserts and baked goods include mascarpone or ricotta cheese. Chestnuts and hazelnuts are popular nuts. Fresh fruit pastries, zabaglione (marsala custard) and many small delicious fried & filled pastries/cookies are prepared during various holidays.

Pannetone: a sweet yeast coffee bread baked in a high sided form, filled with grappa or brandy soaked fruits. Recipes vary in different regions of Italy. Pannetone is traditionally offered as a gift during the Christmas season. Panettone
Italian Easter Cake/Bread: sweet yeast dough based, with recipes greatly varying in different regions
Dolce Amor- fruited yeast cake made with cornmeal, Swiss influenced

Spain:

Ensaimada: a sweet yeasted spiral shaped bun sometimes filled with cheese and may be coated with honey

Portugal:

Masa Sovada: Portuguese sweet yeast bread often flavored with lemon, similar recipes found found in the Philippines and Hawaii. Portuguese Sweet Bread

Russia, Poland and Eastern Europe: Favorite baking ingredients: poppy seeds, raisins, prune butter ( lekvar ), hazelnuts, walnuts, almonds, cherries, apples, plums, cabbage, sour cream, cream, pot cheese , cottage cheese, cinnamon, lemon etc.

Poland
Baba: a sweet cake/bread baked in a manner so the fluted bottom resembles the skirts of a woman, a vast variety of recipes exist in other European countries.
Babka: essentially the same as above. Chocolate Swirl Babka
Makowiec: refers to poppy seeds, a yeast dough pastry roll filled with poppy seeds,
Strucla: general term for Polish coffee cakes, wide varieties
Numerous other Polish coffee cakes of various kinds with specific names for shapes (Kolacz, wheel shaped, Rogi, small horns, etc.)

Russia:

Babka/Baba: see Poland above
Kulich: a tall dome shaped Russian sweet yeast Easter Bread
Krendel: sweet yeast bread
Bulka: sweet yeast bun/cake

Czechoslovakia/Slovakia:

Potica: walnut filled sweet yeast bread/cake
Bobovka: sweet yeast rum coffee cake, like the baba, traditionally baked in a crown shaped form
Vanocka: sweet yeast coffee bread/cake. Czech Christmas Bread (Vanocka)
Kolachky: popular sweet yeast filled buns/pastries filled with a variety of fillings

Hungary:

Dios Pite: Hungarian nut filled yeast bread/cake, walnuts are a favorite
Makos Patko: a filled poppy seed sweet yeast bread
Coffee cakes/pastries: a multitude of wonderful baked goods which influenced neighboring countries with their baking.

Romania:

Cozonaci: sweet yeast dough pastry often baked in cylindrical forms
Colac: nut coffee cake

Bohemia :

Houska: sweet braided yeast bread/cake sometimes with a cheese or nut filling. See Czech Christmas Bread (Vanocka)

Moravia:

Moravian love feast buns: sweet yeasted buns
Moravian sugar cake: sweet yeasted coffee cake
Both recipes popular in the U.S., baked by the Moravians who settled in Pennsylvania

Armenia:

Cherog/ Kahke: sweet yeast buns/cake

Austria/Germany

Austria:

Kugelhupf: Alsatian light textured yeast (or baking powder) cake baked in a Turk's Head Pan. Recipes consist of butter, eggs, raisins and citron. Like the Baba, various recipes for this popular cake are found in most European countries with methods that include the stirred method, sponge method or straight dough method.
A multitude of various coffee cake recipes similar to German baking recipes below

Germany:

Streusel Kuchen (crumb topped dough). Kuchen recipes are yeast and baking powder based and represent a vast variety of various coffee cakes. Cinnamon-Streusel Coffeecake (baking powder based)
Recipes often use "murbeteig" dough (mellow dough) a versatile butter/egg based dough used for cakes/pastries/tarts etc.
Bundt Cakes- German coffee cakes - yeast and baking powder based, baked in a special fluted pan form now popular most everywhere
(Dresden) Stollen: a yeast fruited sweet bread often baked during Christmas, again a most popular recipe found in many countries. German Stollen
Bienenstich- yeast or baking powder cake layers ( filled with custard /jam ) and covered with honey topping
Gefullter Kranz: Filled coffee ring

Scandinavia:

Favorite spices: cardamom, anise, cinnamon. The almond is the favorite nut. Danish pastry doughs are used for an large variety of baked goods. Coffee is the favorite beverage served with the pastries.

Norway:

Julekage: yeast based fruit coffee cake, popular during Christmas

Finland:

Pulla: yeast based sweet coffee bread/buns
Paasiaisleipa: a sweet yeast Easter bread, traditionally baked in a small pail
Nissua: Finnish sweet yeast bread

Denmark:

Kringle: (sometimes pretzel shaped) sweet yeast coffee ring
Julekage: Danish Christmas yeast bread

Sweden:

Kaffeekaka: general term for yeast or baking powder coffee cake
Limpa: yeast coffee bread
Saffronsbrod: Saffron coffee cakes /buns/ St. Lucia Buns. Saffron Bread
Vetebrod: general term for sweet yeast coffee breads

Middle East:

Hot spiced sugar syrups (some flavored with lemon, orange flower water, rose water) are often poured over a variety of cakes and pastries. Mahleb (mastihi) is used as a flavoring in many baked goods- a flavor similar to anise. Yoghurt is a popular ingredient used in many cakes. Seseme seeds and paper thin Filo dough, or shredded Kadayif dough are the basis of many splendid pastries in some Middle-Eastern countries.

Greece:

Christopsomo: Christmas yeast coffee bread/cake
Vasolipita: sweet yeast New Year's bread
Tsoureki: Greek easter bread, yeast based
Ravini: a non yeast, syrup soaked cake,often made with farina
Karithopeda: a baking powder walnut spice cake/ may be syrup soaked

England/Ireland/Wales
Tea is the favorite beverage in England to go along with the large variety of tea breads or tea cakes. Citron, raisins, currants, dates and nuts are popular baking ingredients in cakes, buns and pastries. Modern baking is most continental.

Ireland:

Barmbrack: a sweet yeast fruit filled bread. Barmbrack
Irish soda bread: a sweet quick bread leavened by baking soda, often made with buttermilk, caraway seed & raisins. Recipes vary. Irish Soda Bread

England:

Chelsea buns: sweet yeast bun
Bath buns: sweet yeast buns with a crunchy sugar topping
Hot Cross buns: a sweet yeast bun often served on Good Friday. Hot Cross Buns
Yorkshire tea cakes: a fermented bun, fruited or plain
Lardy cakes: sweet yeast buns often enriched with lard and milk
Queen cakes/Lunch cakes: small baking powder fruited cakes baked in molds
Madeira cakes: Baking powder butter/pound type of cakes.

Wales:

Bara Brith: Welsh yeast fruit bread

Central America

Mexico:

Pan Dulce: sweet yeast filled coffee bun
Rosca De Reyes: Kings bread ( 3 Kings bread ) sweet yeast cake/ bread , similar recipes baked during Mardis Gras festival in New Orleans. New Orleans King Cake
Conchas: sweet yeast rolls

North America

United States:
Sour cream coffee cakes and crumb topped coffee cakes are favorites of Americans plus we love our chocolate!. We love to bake and our favorites are regional as well as international and ethnic. However, I have listed below some specific regional recipes: .

Sally Lunn: perhaps a British bun in origin but baked as a sweet bread (yeast or baking powder based) in a Turk's head pan with the typical gold crust and creamy white interior (sun/ dark and moon/ light color quality) when the recipe arrived in America.

Cinnamon Flop: a cinnamon crumb topped coffee cake representative of Pennsylvania Dutch recipes

Shoo Fly Pie: not a pie but a crumb topped cake baked by the Pennsylvania Dutch (descendents from Germany/Switzerland who settled in Canada and America). Versions come in wet or dry recipes, moist or dry consistencies.

Philadelphia Sticky Buns: a yeasted sweet bun with a buttery brown sugar topping made popular in the 1800's. Jane's Sticky Buns, Faith's Sticky Buns

Hartford Election Cake: a sweet yeast cake popular in the 1830's in Connecticut during election time.

Gooey Butter Coffee Cake: a sweet yeast or unfermented cake/bun dough covered with a sticky coating of butter and sugar, possibly Hungarian in origin.

Herman, Amish/ Friendship/Sharing coffee cakes, sweet fermented starters similar to sourdough, used for a large variety of baked goods. Part of the batter for the recipe should be given away to others and remaining batter must be "fed" if not used immediately. Although the names/recipes of these cakes are sometimes interchangeable, the Herman/Amish starter is a fermented sweetened yeast batter and the Friendship Fruit starter is usually a fermented fruit based liquid.

Bubble, Monkey, Pull Aparts, Pluckets:yeast balls of dough coated in butter, sugar and cinnamon and when baked, pulled apart when warm and eaten. Usually recipes are sweet but many other baked goods as bubble cheese bread ( coated in butter and grated cheeses ) are also favorites.