On weekday mornings, all I have time to eat is a bowl of cold cereal before I have to dash out of the door. And I do like cereal, but it can get a little monotonous. Thus, on the weekends, I love to have a fresh baked good for breakfast.
Some weekends I make muffins, others I make scones or biscuits. And there are some weekends that either my husband or I make a dash to our favorite local bakery for fresh mini cinnamon rolls and glazed doughnuts. This particular weekend, I decided to make Sour Cream Coffee Cake.
This recipe came from an old church cookbook. In my experience, those things seem to have the best recipes! You can always count on finding tried-and-true recipes for tasty dishes. Especially when it comes to the baked goods.
If there is one thing I do often in the kitchen, it is improvise. When my husband responded, “Coffee cake!” to my question of what to make for breakfast, I thumbed through my recipe file. Overnight Coffee Cake… too late for that… Streusel Coffee Cake made with yellow cake mix… no cake mix on hand. I came across this recipe and thought, “Perfect! But I have no sour cream.” However, I did have plenty of plain yogurt on hand. Yogurt and sour cream are quite interchangeable, particularly in baked goods. I substituted plain yogurt for the sour cream 1:1, and the results were just as mouthwatering! The cake seemed to be a little bit denser and baked for slightly longer, but it was still moist with a slight tang from the yogurt. It worked with what I had on hand, but given a choice between the two I prefer the sour cream version.
Here is what you need:
Start by beating together the sugar and butter, until it’s well combined and fluffy. Next, beat in the two eggs.
After they are well mixed, beat in the sour cream (I used yogurt as a substitute this time) and vanilla.
Lastly, mix in the flour, baking powder, and salt until it all comes together.
It makes a pretty thick batter. You’ll have to spread it in the greased pan with a spatula.
Put together the topping ingredients in a small bowl.
Spread them on top. Marble it with the batter using a knife. But I trust that you’ll do a better job than I did this time… You can see in the finished product that I didn’t marble so well this time!
Bake at 325 degrees for 25-35 minutes. With my substitution of yogurt for the sour cream, I had to bake it slightly longer. Test to see if the coffee cake is done as you would any other cake: insert a toothpick near the center of the cake and if it comes out clean, the cake is done baking. If it comes out with some batter still on it, set the timer for a few more minutes and check it again later.
As I mentioned before, I think it still turned out fine with the substitution of plain yogurt for sour cream, but I would recommend for the best results to use sour cream as the recipe states.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
From an old church cookbook of my mother’s
Cake:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
Cream butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add eggs, mixing well. Stir in sour cream and vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt; add to creamed mixture. Mix well. Spread batter into a greased and floured 13″ x 9″ pan. Mix together topping ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle over batter. Use a knife to cut through batter for a marbled effect. Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 25 to 35 minutes. Serve warm. Store covered at room temperature.
May 12, 2013 at 10:36 amI wasn’t sure this was going to work, the batter was so thick – but it baked up quite nicely! Thanks for sharing!