A classic sour cream coffee cake with brown sugar cinnamon swirl and streusel packs tons of buttery, vanilla-y, brown sugar cinnamony flavor in every bite. This coffee cake is very similar to the one my mom used to make as an after-school treat. Super nostalgic, tender and moist, and perfection with a cup of coffee.
84gramsbutter, soft but not greasy or melted3 oz, 6 Tablespoons, or 3/4 stick
For the Batter
170gramsgranulated sugar6 oz or a generous 3/4 cup
252gramscake flour9 oz or about 2 cups
¾teaspoonkosher saltI use Morton's
8gramsbaking powder1 3/4 teaspoons
2gramsbaking soda1/4 teaspoon
140gramsunsalted butter5 oz, 10 Tablespoons, or 1 1/4 sticks
242gramssour cream8.55 oz or 1 cup
2teaspoonsvanilla extract
2eggs
Instructions
For the Streusel
If your instant coffee is in granules, crush it to a powder with the back of a spoon.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the dark brown sugar, salt, 10 grams (about 4 teaspoons) cinnamon, instant coffee, and vanilla until everything is evenly moistened.
Remove 4 oz of this mixture and set aside.
To the rest, add the additional 5 grams (1 1/2 teaspoons) of cinnamon, flour and butter. Work the butter into the flour and sugar mixture until you have a nice, crumbly mix. Set aside.
For the Cake
Set a rack in the middle of your oven and preheat to 350F.
Prepare a 8" or 9" square pan or a 9" x 13" pan by spraying lightly with pan spray. Fold a piece of parchment into a strip wide enough to cover the bottom of the pan and overhang 2 sides. Use a square pan for a thicker cake and a 9 x 13 for a thinner cake.
Whisk the sour cream and vanilla together until completely combined.
In the bowl of your stand mixer or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer, combine sugar, cake flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Whisk to combine well.
Add the softened butter and mix on low speed until the butter is completely incorporated and you can't see any pieces of butter. Mixture will look sandy. Scrape bowl as necessary.
Add the eggs and about 1/4 of the sour cream/vanilla mixture, and mix on low for about 15 seconds to moisten the flour mixture. Scrape the bowl.
Increase speed to medium and mix for about 90 seconds. This will help develop the structure of the cake. Scrape the bowl.
Scrape in the rest of the sour cream mixture and mix on low until incorporated, about 15 seconds, scraping bowl as necessary.
Spread half the batter into the prepared pan.
Evenly sprinkle over the reserved 4 ounces of brown sugar mixture.
Blob on the second half of the batter and use an offset spatula to carefully spread to cover the brown sugar.
Evenly pile on the crumbs to completely cover the batter. (NOTE: They may not completely cover the batter if you're baking in a 9 x 13. If you'd like to make additional crumbs, have at it!)
Bake for about 35-40 minutes for a 9" x 13" pan or up to about 50 minutes if baking in a square pan. Tent with foil during the last 15 minutes if things seem to be browning too quickly.
When the cake is done, remove from the oven and allow to cool in the pan for about 20 minutes.
Use a small offset spatula to loosen the sides of the cake without the parchment. Use the parchment "handles" to remove the cake to a cooling rack to cool completely.
NOTE: When I bake in a larger pan, I just let the cake cool in the pan and serve directly from there. When baking in a square pan, I remove it.
Wait to slice until completely cool, but serve slightly warm.
Keep leftovers tightly covered at room temperature for about 5 days. Freeze for longer storage.
Enjoy!
Notes
For an even sweeter and more tender cake, you can increase the butter to 2 sticks and increase the sugar to 10 oz. All other measurements remain the same.The extra fat will give you even more buttery flavor and a more tender crumb. The additional sugar will make the crumb even finer, hold onto moisture, and make it extra sweet.
Variations
Streusel That Sinks Into the Cake: The secret to getting those brown sugary “craters” on the top of your coffee cake is this: omit the butter from the streusel and just work in the flour. Increase the butter from 3 to 4 ounces, and melt it. Then drizzle the melted butter evenly over the streusel before baking as directed.
Super Tender, Super Rich Coffee Cake: Increase the butter from 5 ounces to 2 sticks, or 8 oz, and increase the sugar in the batter from 6 ounces to 9 oz. Everything else remains the same.
Extreme Ribbon, Extreme Streusel: Double all ribbon/streusel ingredients, holding out 6 oz for the filling and adding butter and flour to the remaining topping mix
Chocolate Chip: Reduce the cinnamon by half and sub with cocoa powder. That will give you chocolatey ribbon and streusel. Add in finely chopped dark chocolate to the streusel mix and some mini chocolate chips to the batter. I’d consider adding them only to the top “half” of the batter to reduce the risk of them sinking and burning on the bottom of the pan. Or at least use more chocolate chips in the top half than the bottom.
Chocolate Raspberry: Lose the cinnamon in the ribbon and streusel and replace with cocoa powder. Add some shaved dark chocolate and powdered, freeze-dried raspberries to the mix. If you want, fold chopped fresh raspberries into the batter at the very end of mixing and before panning.
Orange Cinnamon: Add the zest of 1 large orange to the batter and 1/2 teaspoon orange extract to the ribbon and streusel mix. Or use more zest if you have an extra orange. Some toasted and finely chopped almonds would be really nice here too.
Butterscotch Pecan: Brown 2 sticks of butter and let cool until soft but not melted anymore. Use 2/3 of that in the cake, substituting dark brown sugar for half the amount of granulated sugar. Use the rest of the browned butter in the streusel mixture. No need to change any other ingredients in the ribbon or streusel, but add finely chopped, toasted pecans to the batter and/or the streusel topping.
Orange Espresso: This is actually the original variation I posted here eons ago. I’ll show you a picture in a sec. To the batter, add the zest of 1 orange, a couple of drops of orange oil, and 2 teaspoons espresso powder. If all you have is instant coffee with big crystals, crush it to a powder with the back of a spoon so it mixes in evenly. To the ribbon/streusel, add 1 extra teaspoon of espresso powder and the zest of half an orange. Note the batter color will definitely be darker. But it also may be The Best Ever.