There comes a time in every baker’s life where you wake up and decide you need cake for breakfast. I call this “Tuesday.” or “Wednesday.” or “Saturday.” OK–you got me. I could eat cake for breakfast every day. Of course, eating cake for breakfast isn’t socially acceptable unless you swirl in cinnamon and sugar and call it Coffee Cake. Every home maker needs a solid coffee cake recipe in their repertoire. I happen to have several, though that doesn’t stop me from trying others. Much like my search for the perfect brownie recipe, I know my favorite coffee cake recipe is out there–the recipe that will make me forsake all other recipes. Though, unlike my search for the perfect brownie recipe (click here for the latest brownie attempt), I will always recommend making your own coffee cake. I say this as a person who regularly gets the coffee cake at Starbucks and wishes I’d just made my own (probably for around the same price as I paid for that one slice.)
When I search for a coffee cake recipe, I always look for one with sour cream! It adds moisture while keeping it light. Dry, dense coffee cake is a crime. There’s flavor balance aspects to it too, but I’ll spare you the science of acidity in baking (for now 😉 ). This particular recipe is also pretty useful because it gives you the choice of sour cream or yogurt. It was especially helpful this time around because I thought I had enough sour cream for this recipe, but I was a bit short. I did have greek yogurt in my fridge, so I was able to make a quick substitute instead of packing the baby up and going to the store. Being able to use one or the other or some of each is definitely an argument for keeping this recipe from King Arthur Flour in the arsenal, because I seem to always have some of either left over after I buy sour cream or yogurt for some other purpose, for example, Taco Tuesday or my quarterly epiphany that I should be making more smoothies.
In addition to my coffee cake recipes needing sour cream or buttermilk, I usually opt for some sort of streusel crumble topping. A streusel topping contains flour and butter (or something like it), and this one was basically sugar and cinnamon moistened with vanilla. Adding 1/2 cup of optional walnuts or pecans would probably make it more robust, but without, the filling was just not enough for me. It would have been enough for just the center layer. Also, I used brown sugar because I just like the flavor better in things like coffee cake.
Also note, the recipe below says to use a 9″ square pan. I… didn’t. I couldn’t find mine, so I used a 9″ round. That made it thicker than it would be in the 9″ square, so it took extra time to cook.
Even as I was making this, I had some reservations about the overall outcome. I really loved the flavor and the moistness of this cake. I’d definitely double the amount of filling or find a more traditional streusel recipe for the topping. I really missed that. Of course, if that isn’t your preference, you could definitely use the entire amount of filling for the middle, leave the top bare, and then whip up a quick glaze (which I did for the photos) using powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. I sometimes don’t even use a recipe, but I use glazes a lot, so I’ll link it here: Quick Vanilla Glaze.
The perfect coffee cake is a matter of preference. Luckily, there are a lot of recipes out there. As I tweak the elements to fashion what I consider to be the perfect coffee cake, this one is definitely not a disappointment!! I’m pretty sure this cake base will make the cut, especially when there is leftover sour cream and yogurt to use!
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Cake for breakfast? Perfectly acceptable if you call it coffee cake and pair it with your morning coffee. Serve with fruit, to make sure everyone knows it's totally healthy! Recipe compliments of King Arthur Flour
Ingredients
- For the Cake:
- 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, softened
- 1 cup Sugar
- 2 Large Eggs
- 2 cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 cup Sour Cream or Yogurt (I used a combo!)
- For the Swirl:
- 1/2 cup Sugar (I subbed in Brown Sugar!)
- 2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9×9 pan
- Step 2 Beat together the butter, sugar, and eggs. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt
- Step 3 Add the flour to the butter mixture alternately with the sour cream or yogurt, stirring after each addition
- Step 4 In a separate bowl, add the topping ingredients and stir until evenly crumbly
- Step 5 Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan and sprinkle with half the topping mixture. Repeat with the remaining batter and topping. Take a knife or skewer and gently swirl topping and batter
- Step 6 Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean
- Step 7 You can serve directly from the pan or remove gently after allowing to cool for 10 minutes. (I suggest using parchment if you intend to remove it!) Serve warm or at room temperature. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days
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