Sour Cream Coffee Cake

On the rare occasion that I buy sour cream, I really need to use it before it goes bad. That means a lot of cake and muffins are baked in my house, then frozen for future breakfasts. I mean, I don’t want to waste a perfectly good ingredient. In this case, I decided to bake coffee cake, because it’s classic New York cuisine and easy to make for breakfast. I found a recipe in an old issue of Bon Appetit I had lying around, and it was perfect! A thick crumb topping and a nice moist cake.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

For the cake:

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1/3 cups sour cream
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping:
  • 1 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 2 1/2 cups flour

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Butter a 9×13 baking dish (I used an 8×8 and make 6 big muffins) and set aside.

3. Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Mix thoroughly.

4. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat on medium until light and fluffy.

5. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until incorporated.

6. Add flour and vanilla, mix.

7. Add flour mixture in three additions, until the batter just comes together. Don’t overmix.

8. Transfer batter to the baking dish and spread evenly.

9. Make the topping: combine sugars, cinnamon, and salt, and mix. Add the butter and stir, then add the flour and and toss with a fork until you have moist clumps.

10. Drop clumps of topping onto the batter so it is covered completely.

11. Bake for 1 hour, then transfer to a rack and let cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.