Cake quake!

Hostess Brands filed for bankruptcy protection in January for the second time in seven years. The move once again endangered New York’s long love affair with Hostess-owned Drake’s Coffee Cake, which started in the late 1880s, when commercial production of coffee cakes began in Brooklyn with bakers Newman E. Drake and William Entenmann. They were most likely called crumb cakes at the time (for the crumbly, streusel top), or tea cakes (we were mostly tea drinkers then), and they probably had names from Germany and Austro-Hungary as well. But whatever you call it, the sweet, cakelike bread was in NYC before anywhere else in the country. And it’ll continue to live on here, no matter what happens to Drake’s, thanks to a slew of updated versions of the classic.

Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Coffee cake was the obvious choice for Agatha Kulaga and Erin Patinkin, who started their bakery-wholesale business Ovenly in 2010. When they were growing up in families of Polish (Kulaga) and other Eastern European (Patinkin) descent, the social snack was a staple. Ovenly makes hundreds of coffee cakes with “baker’s choice” fillings. One favorite contains peanut butter and blueberry bourbon jam; it’s rich, satisfying and ideal if you take your coffee light. (There’s something about PB&J and milk.) Later this spring, Ovenly’s first retail store will open to river views in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, at 31 Greenpoint Avenue. Until then, look for the cakes at mini-coffee-chain Joe and at Downtown Brooklyn’s DeKalb Market, which reopens Saturday. $3.50; 138 Willoughby St.

Classic!

A glass dome filled with coffee cake greets you at the counter at Parm on Mulberry Street. It’s an option for anyone having coffee, and an homage to the family traditions of chef-owners Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone. “Coffee and cake: That’s how we grew up,” says Carbone, who was raised in Queens. “If your uncle came over, there was coffee cake.” Parm’s Entenmann’s-inspired goods are made in a muffin tin, a technique pastry chef Megan Fitzroy introduced in February to control waste — the cakes can be baked in waves as necessary throughout the day. The cake is light, and the crumbs are big and firm, like round sugar cubes waiting for hot liquid to dissolve. $4; 248 Mulberry St.; 212-993-7189

Blueberry!

Brothers Oscar and Antonio Salinas and brother-in-law Fredy Ayala opened My NY Bakery Cafe in East Harlem in January, after years working with the likes of Zabar’s, Tom Cat and Pret a Manger. They want their baked goods to go down easy: “Sometimes with coffee cake,” Ayala says, “you can feel like you’re choking. Our main idea was to keep it nice and moist.” So there’s milk in the batter, and blueberries in the middle. “Coffee cake is really New York, and it’s very versatile,” says Antonio’s wife, Kaila, who works behind the counter. $1.50; 1565 Lexington Ave.; 212-722-7383

Cocoa and Cinnamon!

Sebastien Rouxel, Bouchon Bakery’s pastry chef, says coffee cake is cherished here for the same reason it’s loved everywhere: It evokes childhood memories and invites dunking. Bouchon’s version is made with creme fraiche in the batter, and a layer of cocoa powder and brown sugar in the middle. On top, there’s a crispy almond croustillant — a sort of French streusel, which is German for “strew,” as in, let the sugar-flour-butter-spice-blend fall as it may. Bouchon’s coffee cake is about twice the diameter of a Drake’s, though that’s pretty much the extent of their relationship. $4.50; Time Warner Center, 10 Columbus Circle; 212-722-7383; and 1 Rockefeller Plaza, 212-782-3890

Olive Oil!

“I became obsessed with great coffee cakes when I came to New York,” says Locanda Verde pastry chef Karen DeMasco. She gives it an Italian twist at the TriBeCa restaurant. “Olive oil makes cakes silky,” says DeMasco. “We slowly add it into the batter like we’re making an aioli [garlic-enhanced mayonnaise], and the streusel has Marcona almonds. The saltiness of the olive oil and nuts cuts the sweetness.” Add lemon juice and zest, and the resulting balance is further proof that coffee cake is a treat that can be enjoyed in any setting. It satisfies cravings all day, and is offered for takeout or eat-in until 5 p.m. $3.75; 377 Greenwich St.; 212-925-3797

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