There is something about cinnamon that just screams fall. Right or wrong, I will almost immediately catalogue any dessert with a hint of cinnamon as a fall dessert. Maybe it's the close connection it has with pumpkin pie or apple pie, maybe it has to do with the cinnamon spiced ciders only available after October at most coffee shops. Either way, I think cinnamon, I think fall. I also think about cinnamon coffee cake. And cinnamon rolls. And Jean Marc Chatellier's cinnamon croissants.
In the meantime, I've mentally gained 5 pounds as I salivate over these Cinnamon Sugar Lovin Sweets.
We'll start with cinnamon coffee cake, or crumb cake as you may know it. This is the cake you'll recognize by the delicious cinnamon-brown sugar streusel topping, usually covered in powdered sugar. To a New Yorker, a crumb cake is a yeast raised cake with a crumb topping. This particular kind is native to the German-Jewish bakeries in particular. Outside of New York City, most bakeries are making a yellow or white cake of some kind and finishing it with a streusel topping. This method for making crumb cake is far less time-consuming than a yeast raised cake and has a more mainstream flavor. Yeast in cake just isn't something we are used to these days.
One of the better places for crumb cake (other than my Grandma's kitchen, of course)? Starbucks. It seems lame, but they have a very good coffee/crumb cake. Just ignore the calories in it and you'll be fine. Coffee shops in general have a very good crumb cakes- they kind of need to since it goes oh so well with a hot cup of java.
In Pittsburgh, your best bet for amazing coffee cake is at Aldo Coffee in Mt. Lebanon. They also have really great lattes and coffee with amazingly knowledgeable baristas. Just beware, if you aren't a regular, you might not enjoy the kindest of service.
If you are feeling brave, here's a great coffee cake recipe from a blog I follow regularly, Smitten Kitchen. I would eliminate the rhubarb and fruit altogether myself, but to each their own!
Other cinnamon Sugar Lovin fall treats to try? The oh-so-obvious cinnamon rolls. Now, with cinnamon rolls, your best bet is just to find a really good bakery and let them do the hard work for you. A real cinnamon roll is a lot of time and effort and it's truly hard to take a shortcut and get the same result. In Pittsburgh, we have no shortage of great cinnamon rolls. The Pie Place makes a delectable cinnamon rolls, with the classic confectioner sugar glaze. Others who are looking for a cream cheese iced cinnamon roll might want to try Prantl's.
If you really wanted to make one at home, try this recipe. It's faster than the traditional cinnamon roll, and manages to make a tasty cinnamon sugar treat.
The last cinnamon goodie you must try is a cinnamon croissant from Jean Marc Chatellier's in Millvale. You've probably all had a chocolate croissant or an almond croissant, but a cinnamon croissant is unique and delicious, especially when it comes from Jean Marc's little French bakery.
Cinnamon sweets are back again to grace the fall season. Make sure to try at least one and honor that Cinnamon Sugar Lovin fall craving!
Jean Marc Chatellier's Cinnamon Croissant on the Sugar Love Scale
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