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Sour Cream Coffee Cake
This Sour Cream Coffee Cake is made in the classic style with a moist, tender and slightly dense crumb, rich flavor and buttery crumb topping. It is simple enough to make weekly as a snacking cake, and perfect to serve at brunch or enjoy it at breakfast with a cup of coffee.
Ingredients
Filling & Topping:
- ¾ cup (105g) all-purpose flour
- ⅔ cup (145g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, divided
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoon (70g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Sour Cream Batter:
- 1 ½ cups (215g) all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup (75g) soft unsalted butter
- ½ cup (110g) packed light brown sugar
- ¼ cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup (180ml) full fat sour cream
- 1 teaspoon (5ml) pure vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (60ml) whole milk
Cinnamon Sugar glaze:
- ½ cup (60g) powdered sugar, sifted
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) light cream or milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line the base of a 9-inch round springform pan with a round of parchment paper and lightly butter the sides. If you only have an 8-inch round pan or you would like to use a square pan, see the notes above in the FAQ section for tips.
- Make the filling/topping. Combine flour, brown sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl and mix together until evenly blended. Add the melted butter and stir it in until it is evenly combined and the mixture forms clumps.
- To make the filling, take about ¾ cup of this crumb mixture and place in a separate bowl. Stir in the remaining 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Cover the bowls and set them aside until needed so they don't dry out.
- Make the cake batter. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into another medium bowl and whisk to blend evenly.
- Combine softened butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar in a large bowl and mix with an electric hand mixer on medium speed (or “cream” by hand using a wide spatula) until smooth and a bit fluffy – the butter should be really soft to do this since there is not a lot of butter compared to sugar. The mixture will look more like a smooth paste rather than very pale and whipped. Add one egg and mix well until combined. Add the second egg and mix until evenly blended. Mix in sour cream and vanilla until smooth and creamy.
- Add the flour mixture to the butter/egg mixture and fold it in with a spatula just until mostly combined but before all of the flour is incorporated. Add milk and fold it in until the batter is homogeneous.
- Assemble the cake. Spread half of the batter evenly into the prepared pan. It will be a thin layer and that is exactly right. Sprinkle the filling mixture evenly over top. Spoon the remaining batter in dollops over the crumbs and then gently spread it out evenly. The batter will want to puck up the crumbs beneath as you spread, so I find it is easiest done with an offset spatula and use it to connect the dollops of batter first so they have some anchor, then drag it out to the edges of the pan to continue to even it out. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the batter.
- Bake 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Transfer pan to a wire rack, cover with foil and set aside to cool for at least 30 minutes. The foil will help it steam slightly so that the crumbs soften just a touch but will still stay crunchy without drying out. Let the cake cool for at least 30 minutes in the pan before removing the sides of the springform.
- Make the icing. Whisk all of the icing ingredients together and drizzle over the slightly warm cake. Serve cake warm or at room temperature.
