Sour Cream Coffee Cake Heaven
Tuesday, September 30, 2008Oh boy.
Baked is the name of a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn that is worth a visit next time you are in NYC. Baked is also the title of a cookbook that the bakery recently published, which has been getting lots of press. With good reason—it is exceptional. And perhaps most exceptional of all is their Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon Swirl. It is a dream come true.
The cake is moist and tender with swirls of cocoa and cinnamon and the crumb topping is exactly right—not too overwhelming but just gives that cake that extra crunch it needs. It is a recipe I will make again and again.
So far, I have also made a spicy version of Baked’s brownies as well as the raspberry breakfast bars, both of which were posted over at Smitten Kitchen. They were both great. The book is full of good recipes, even though it is a little heavy on chocolate for my taste. For those of us that are already fans of the bakery we will be happy to make some of our favorite recipes at home. The rest of you will be inspired to venture out to Red Hook next time you are in New York.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl
Crumb Topping
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup pecans, toasted
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon dark unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
Cake
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Crumb Topping:
Put the flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse to combine. Add the pecans and pulse until they are finely chopped and incorporated. Add the butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse sand. Cover and refrigerate.
Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl:
Mix ingredients in small bowl.
Sour Cream Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter until smooth. Scrape down bowl and add sugar. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl as needed.
Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl before each addition and beating only until each addition is just incorporated. Do not overmix.
Pour one third of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle half of the chocolate cinnamon swirl mixture over batter, covering the entire surface of the batter. Spoon half of remaining batter over the swirl mixture and spread it evenly. Top with remaining swirl mixture, then the remaining batter, and spread the batter evenly. Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top of the batter.
Bake in the center of the oven for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Let the cake cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes. Serves 16.
Notes:
The recipe originally called for 2 1/4 cups sugar in the cake. That seemed like too much so I reduced it to 2 this first go around. I think you could even try 1 3/4.
Spreading the batter in the pan takes some patience. It doesn’t need to be perfect, just do your best to get each layer evenly spread.
This seems to keep well at room temperature for a couple of days.
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October 16th, 2008 at 9:56 am
ooo sounds like the perfect thing to wake up to in the morning :]
October 16th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Thanks for the info about the cookbook. I have read quite a bit about it. Guess I better check it out.
Your coffee cake looks outstanding. I’m loving your swirls of goodness!
~ingrid
October 16th, 2008 at 11:58 am
this does look amazing!
November 10th, 2008 at 8:57 am
Made this over the weekend … so very delicious.
June 20th, 2009 at 12:10 am
mmm, looks about as good as my mom’s! how would the recipe work if i added in some apple slices?
June 20th, 2009 at 9:24 pm
I honestly don’t know how this would work with apple slices, but I think you should give it a try. I might cut apples into chunks and toss in some lemon juice and then the filling mixture before adding them to cake. I might also leave out the cocoa? Let me know how it works!
November 7th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
making this right now – reduced the flour by a 1/2 cup as well as the sugar wanted it to be moister and less sweet – hope it works.
December 11th, 2009 at 5:31 am
Many years ago I worked in a restaurant which made a great sour cream coffee cake and have been looking for a recipe worthy of the name ever since. This one looks terrific, and I’ll be trying it this afternoon!
January 30th, 2010 at 1:15 am
Absolutely delicious! I used plain yogurt instead of sour cream because it was too late to go out the the store. Turned out amazing! Thanks for sharing.
January 31st, 2010 at 8:21 pm
I made this cake last week for my birthday. Took it to work and it was a huge hit! Delicious.
July 26th, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Yum!!
I overbaked mine slightly (I’m always messing up something) and it was still fantabulous. Weighs a ton in the pan. Baked Rocks.
January 11th, 2011 at 11:44 pm
I search like a madman for your blog/recipe whenever I need to make coffeecake, I always seem to lose my bookmark. Thank you so much for this! It’s divine.
March 7th, 2011 at 9:32 am
Wow, made this cake last night and it was phenominal! I had some topping leftover that I’ve been eating by the palmful (hehe). Don’t think it will last through another breakfast though. Thanks for sharing!
April 17th, 2011 at 6:31 pm
HI Tim! I am 12 years old and I LOVE to bake! i made this coffeecake for my brother who was in heaven when he first took a bite! I also made your vanilla caramel cake and it came out delicious!! I am trying to find a good recipe for spice cake with coffee as one of the ingredients! Also, my moms birthday is coming up on May 18 and i was wondering if u also had a good recipe for almond………….. something! it can be cake or tarts just something with almonds!
Thanks!!!
May 21st, 2011 at 4:13 pm
Honestly I just so want to know the real, actual reason why baking soda is needed in some cakes and not others? Do you happen to know why it is needed at all?
P.S. I really love what you guys are doing on this site :)
August 4th, 2011 at 1:37 pm
I have a Question: I want to take this to work on Saturday morning, but won’t have the time to make it on Friday. Do you think I could make it Thursday and just keep it in the fridge until Saturday morning?
August 4th, 2011 at 3:27 pm
Hi Molly, Sure- it won’t be as good as it is in the first 24 hours, but it will still be good. Wrap it very tightly if you are going to store it in the fridge.