Eats - Sour Cream Coffeecake

Hello! For various reasons, our daughter had three occasions at school in November which warranted the bringing in of a breakfast treat. Doughnuts were an option, but she insisted on supplying the same homemade baked good each time, a sour cream coffeecake. You know a recipe's good when it's requested that often! Her appreciative classmates and teachers gobbled it up each time.

This coffeecake has become popular in commercial establishments too; I have seen variations of it sold at coffeehouses, and the Ann Arbor food paradise known as Zingerman's (highly regarded nationwide) sells it by the slice or by the whole cake. It can be shipped through their mail order service, at prices starting at $40 for a small coffeecake (serves 5-7) and $55 for the large size (serves 10-12). 

I don't know if my recipe is identical to Zingerman's, but I suspect it's close, so give it a try if you want a homemade breakfast treat also! It's easy and relatively inexpensive to make:

Sour Cream Coffeecake

Cake:
1 cup butter, softened
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:
1/2 cup chopped nuts (can leave out if desired)
1/4 cup brown sugar (when I'm omitting nuts, I increase this to 1/2 cup
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a Bundt pan. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, sour cream and vanilla; beat. Add flour, baking powder and salt; blend all. Set aside. 

To making filling: in a small bowl, combine nuts (if using), brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Spoon 1/3 of batter in bottom of Bundt pan. Sprinkle half of filling over batter. Add 1/3 more batter and remainder of filling. Add remaining batter. 

Bake for 50-60 minutes, until browned and tester inserted in cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool for 15 minutes before
turning out onto cooling rack. 

Serves at least 10-12. Cake is not too sweet but is rich and moist. 

Don't happen to have a Bundt pan? The recipe actually calls for a 10" tube pan; I make it in a Bundt pan because I think it looks prettier that way (Zingerman's must agree, as their coffeecakes are also baked in Bundt pans). 

Don't happen to have either type of baking pan? No problem - just head over to a local thrift store. Both pans can often be found there; that's where my Bundt pan came from!

Oh, and to whet your appetite, here's what the coffeecake looks like:

All ready to slice, serve and eat!