Sour Cream Coffee Cake

If I had to pick a favorite breakfast food, hands down it would be coffee cake. While it really qualifies more as a dessert than a breakfast food, it is one of my favorite treats to pick up from a bakery. However, to be able to make bakery quality coffee cake at home is even better!

This recipe is truly scrumptious. The showstopper of this coffee cake is the streusel topping on top of the cake and running through the middle. The cinnamon and brown sugar combined with the butter makes for amazing topping. Adding sour cream to the cake really makes the cake moist, and by using cake flour it gives it a light, airy density. I brought it to work one night, and it quickly was consumed by hungry night shift nurses as they downed their coffee trying to stay awake. It is a great treat to eat at any time of day!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Yields: 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients:
12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
1½ cups granulated sugar
3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups sour cream
2½ cups cake flour (not self-rising)
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt

For the streusel:
¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

For the glaze:
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.

Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

Note: If you noticed my cake looks a little naked, it is because I forgot to add the glaze! I can only imagine that it added another layer of sweet goodness to the cake. 🙂

Source: Barefoot Contessa