Sour Cream Coffee Cake

The term ‘Coffee Cake’ gets misconstrued at times, many people assume it is called that because the cake must have an intense coffee flavour. However what it usually means is that this cake is usually served with or goes really well with a cup of coffee. Coffee cakes usually incorporate a layer or two of streusel, which is essentially a crumbly topping of flour, butter and sugar, at times with a few extra additions. The use of sour cream for this particular recipe, which is my all-time favourite one, makes it incredibly moist, tender, decadent and oh so delicious.

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Servings 1 9*11 inch

Ingredients

Ingredients for Cake Batter

2 cups all purpose flour 240g
1/2 cup butter at room temperature (113g)
3/4 cup granulated sugar 150g - for sweeter cake, you can use up to 1 cup of sugar)
2 large eggs at room temperature (or 3 small eggs)
1 cup sour cream at room temperature (200ml)
2 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Ingredients for Streusel Topping

4 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp cold butter
1-2 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts optional
pinch of salt

Instructions

First, grease and flour a 9×11 baking pan. Preheat the oven at 180 C.
In a bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside. These will be your dry ingredients.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter and sugar together until light, creamy and fluffy, then add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Then add the dry ingredients into the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream and vanilla. Mix until combined, but be careful not to overmix the batter.
Then prepare the topping by mixing the streusel ingredients together. You can rub the butter in with your fingertips to form a nice crumbly texture.
Pour half the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with half the streusel topping. Then add the remainder of the batter on top (you can use a tablespoon to scoop batter and drop dollops of it into the pan, then spread it out gently with an offset spatula or butter knife). Sprinkle on the remaining topping.
Bake at 180 C for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.
Serve with some strong black coffee.
Enjoy!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake