Perfect Coffee Cake
This sour cream coffee cake has it all- moist, dense cake, a thick layer cinnamon brown sugar, and the abundant crumb topping. Adapted from the Ovenly Cookbook by Erin Patinkin and Agatha Kulaga.
Ingredients
Crumble Topping
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans (heaping)
Cinnamon Filling
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
Cake
- 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 8 tablespoons melted butter
- 2 eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup sour cream
Instructions
- Prep: Preheat the oven to 350℉. Grease a 9 x 9–inch square pan and set aside
Crumble Topping
- Combine Ingredients: In a small bowl, combine all crumble ingredients. Using a fork, gently mix until combined, leaving a variety of chunk sizes. Set aside.
Cake:
- Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- Mix Butter and Sugars: In large bowl, throughly mix melted butter with the brown and granulated sugar until well combined.
- Add Eggs, Vanilla, Sour Cream and Milk: Add the eggs and vanilla to the to butter mixture and mix well. Stir the sour cream and milk into the batter until smooth
- Add Flour Mixture: Stir the dry ingredients into the batter, about one cup at a time, mixing until just absorbed. The batter will be thick.
- Filling: In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir in pecans.
- Assemble: Pour about half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread it evenly over the bottom. Sprinkle the filling evenly over the batter. Carefully spread the remaining batter over the top.
- Add Crumble: Evenly sprinkle the crumble topping over the batter, gently pressing it in so it adheres.
- Bake: Bake for 50–60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let cool for about 5 minutes (if you can wait!) before serving.
Notes
•The recipe can be doubled and baked in a 9 x 13–inch pan for 60–70 minutes.
•Coffee cake is best enjoyed the day it’s made but will stay fresh, covered, at room temperature for up to 3 days.
•Baked coffee cake can be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and frozen for up to 3 months.
•Variations:
- Replace the cinnamon filling with 1–1½ cups of jam. Warm the jam slightly to make spreading easier.
- Add chocolate chips to the cinnamon filling
- Make it nut free and skip the pecans.