We made the Reddit-famous Cinnamon Flop cake — and it's perfect with coffee

It's like coffee cake — but floppier.

When Allie Bernhard asked her grandmother to dig up some old family recipes, she wasn't sure what to think about a recipe card detailing how to make "Cinnamon Flop." So Bernhard, who lives in New York, took to the the Baking subreddit to ask her fellow bakers what they thought the recipe was all about.

"We think it was typed up by my great grandmother who we referred to as 'Granny Granny' and who I was actually lucky enough to meet before she passed away," said Bernhard, adding that Granny Granny was born in 1898. "She was a dietician, and my mom and I were trying to figure out if shortening was considered healthy or not at the time."

Other Reddit bakers chimed in on Bernhard's post, explaining that flop cake is a lighter version of a buttery coffee cake, pointing her toward Swedish flop cakes, a similar baked good that involves sour cream and occasionally a fruit topping.

But Granny Granny's recipe only uses five main ingredients: shortening, sugar, flour, baking powder and milk with a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar on top.

After it was suggested that she post the recipe in the Old_Recipes subreddit, Bernhard saw her family recipe gain momentum, with lots of members of the subreddit attempting the cinnamon flop at home and sharing their own photos.

"That's where it really took off," said Bernhard, explaining the excitement surrounding the recipe has been fun for her family. "Due to COVID I haven't been able to see my grandma, so I wanted to find a way to stay in touch better and share something with her. I asked her if she could go through some family recipes to share with me."

I tested Granny Granny's simple cake recipe at home, combining the few ingredients and baking it in a 350 F oven for almost an hour. The result was a light — dare I say floppy? — cake, a cross between coffee cake and angel food cake. It made a great breakfast both for my kids, who loved it, and for my husband and I, who found it to be a perfect complement to our morning coffee.

Bernhard said she's made the recipe so often, it's becoming a bit of a obsession.

"I'm making some more today," she shared. "It's so easy and it's a great light coffee-cake-like 'flop.'

"I've been referring to it as just 'flop' and my partner may be sick of me saying it, but we all think it tastes great in our house."