Yasukochi's Sweet Stop sells the best crunchy coffee cake in the Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO -- Yasukochi's Sweet Stop is the home of the one and only Coffee Crunch cake. For decades, people have regularly swarmed to the small bakery storefront in San Francisco to pick up a slice. "One day we put out six dozen slices and they were gone at about 11:30," head baker Kenji Yick says with a smile. "And we open up at 10."
The cake started as a popular dessert at Blum's, a classic San Francisco diner that closed its doors decades ago.
"I was born in 1963 in San Francisco. My mom used to take me to Blum's, especially during the holiday season. This was my favorite cake when I was a little kid," a longtime customer reveals. "Then I found this wonderful sweet shop, the only place that I know that still makes it the exact way I remember it."
And there's good reason for that. The only copy of the original recipe for the spongy cake and coffee flavored candy topping found its way into Moses Yasukochi's hands, Yick's grandfather.
"My grandfather worked with a guy that worked at Blum's, and he had the recipe," Yick explains. "Then they split off and grandpa came over here and started this bakery."
In the 47 years that Yasukochi's Sweet Stop has made the cake, many people have tried to replicate its exact taste and texture. "You can get some imitators, but if you want the real thing you have to come here," Yick explains. "Three people know the recipe...me, my grandfather, and my uncle. It's a family secret."
The bakery reopened after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and business is strong as ever.
"It makes you feel good just to know that we're helping people get through all the tough times and just having a nice, little bright spot in their day and being that bright spot is really exciting," Yick shares.
If you want to try the famous Coffee Crunch cake, you need to place an order in person or over the phone. The bakery only accepts cash or check.
Yasukochi's Sweet Stop
1790 Sutter St, San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 931-8165
