Bakers Agatha Kulaga And Erin Patinkin's Twist On Traditional Coffee Cake At Ovenly

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"Um, what is that incredible smell?"

Says everyone who's ever walked into a kitchen where an Ovenly coffee cake is baking. The sweet, toasty, buttery fragrance is just one of the reasons we've fallen in love with the so-simple-you-won't-believe-it recipe from baking duo Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin.

Ovenly's Agatha Kulaga (left) and Erin Patinkin (right)

Ovenly's storefront in Brooklyn's Greenpoint neighborhood may look quaint, but these ladies have built a blockbuster baking business on the merits of their currant-rosemary scones and supersoft vegan chocolate chip cookies. That success has now culminated in their first cookbook, Ovenly: Sweet and Salty Recipes from New York's Most Creative Bakery (Harlequin, $30).

Yes, scones and cookies are in its pages, but we fell in love with a throwback recipe that reminds us of lazy Sunday mornings with Entenmann's: coffee cake with a classic, crunchy crumble topping and one twist in the form of a prune-and-poppy seed filling (see the recipe).

"We both love prunes—although we've rebranded them as dried plums so more people would eat them," Patinkin laughs. "And we're both Eastern European, and there, the prune–poppy seed–lemon combination is a classic flavor combination."

Trust us, you'll want to have one of these baking for holiday morning breakfasts (that aroma!). You can assemble the coffee cake the day before and keep it in the fridge—and make the crumble way ahead and freeze it—but the real key is to bake and serve the same day.

"The cake is so moist and tender the day of baking, and because it's not overly sweet, whatever flavors you add to it will really shine through," Kulaga says.

Patinkin adds, "It's so easy to make, you don't even need a mixer. And even if you don't have all the filling ingredients on-hand, you can just fill it with brown sugar and cinnamon."

Use any leftover crumble for pies, because, hey, it's that time of year. But we're pretty sure the thick, fragrant coffee cake will disappear as soon as you put it out.