The Store-Bought Coffee Cake We Ranked Best Has Used A Nana's Secret Recipe For Decades

We're huge fans of all types of cake but especially those which bring a little extra sweetness to our coffee breaks without the hard work. When we sat down to taste and rank five store-bought coffee cakes, there was one clear winner. The rankings were based on flavor, texture, and overall consistency, and The Original Boston cinnamon walnut coffee cake managed to impress in each department. And turns out, the cake is made using a treasured family recipe.

Whether you're unfamiliar with coffee cakes and don't know if they even have any coffee in them, or are a veteran cake baker taking a break from the kitchen, The Original Boston cinnamon walnut version makes store-bought cakes feel less commercial and more like they're fresh out of the oven. This coffee cake was the most expensive in the ranking (it costs between $11 to $14 depending on your store location), but it did stand out well beyond the others. It had a certain homemade element to it, maybe because it is baked in a bundt pan (which, if you know, also makes the cakes hard to get out of the tin in one piece). Or, it could very well be the recipe that the cake comes from.

Boston Coffee Cake was born in 1992 and still maintains the secret recipe created by Nana Esther, founder Mark Forman's grandmother. On its website, the company describes the cinnamon walnut as the "cake that made us famous" and positions it as one you'll enjoy if you prefer old-fashioned, homemade coffee cakes.

We ranked The Original Boston cinnamon walnut coffee cake highly because not only is the texture fluffy with a sturdy structure, but the flavors are well balanced too: sweet but not so overpowering that a strong black coffee wouldn't rectify it. With a sour cream-based batter, streusel walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar as key flavors, it's no wonder these warming ingredients make the cake enjoyable for so many. The cake has stellar reviews and is listed as one of the bestsellers on The Original Boston website. The coffee cake has a 5-star rating and 1,666 reviews on the site. One reviewer feels that the recipe stands the test of time: "This is the best cake of any kind that I've ever tasted! Absolutely the Best! This 80 year old has tasted his share of cake over a lifetime! Congratulations Boston Coffee Cake!"

One criticism of the coffee cake is that the walnuts might not be to everyone's liking. We found the walnuts on top to be a little too toasty, while those added to the streusel weren't chopped enough. Overall, however, many regard it as a dessert which tastes like childhood and nostalgia in one bite. So it's no surprise the brand is known and loved across the nation, and produces roughly 15,000 coffee cakes per day, of which the cinnamon walnut is the top seller.