Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe

One of the definite highlights of my college years was getting to be roommates with my friend, Natalie. In addition to being a wonderful friend, and my first serious walking buddy (seriously – we lived together during the year I had to stop running, and she graciously gave up her jogging to walk a few miles with me each day…such great memories!)….Natalie is also a fantastic cook. :)
So needless to say, we had a blast in the kitchen that year. (I threw in a picture below of the two of us and the “creation” we made for a Christmas dessert contest!) At the time, I was obsessed with all sorts of ethnic recipes. Whereas Nat was raised in a small town, and was the pro at all things “comfort food”. So we had a great time swapping tips and recipes! (And…consuming too many calories, but hey – that’s where the walking came in!)
Without a doubt, one of my favorite recipes from Natalie is her famous sour cream coffee cake. Oh my heavens. We made this often while we were roommates, and I have made it a few times a year ever since. In short — this recipe is coffee cake perfection. The texture is perfectly moist and fluffy, flavored with all of that wonderful buttery-cinnamon-sugary goodness, and people go NUTS over it. I always get requests for the recipe.
So cheers to amazing cakes, and amazing college roomies! Love you, Nat!!



Sour Cream Coffee Cake Recipe(From my friend, Natalie)
Ingredients:
Cake Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 (12 oz.) container of sour cream (I use reduced-fat)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients:

• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Method:
In a mixer, cream together butter and sugar. Add eggs to the mixture, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream and vanilla. Mix until combined.
Then pour half of the batter into a greased 9″x13″ baking pan, and sprinkle with half of the topping. Add the remainder of the batter on top, and sprinkle with the remaining topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean.

Ali’s Tip:
The batter will be pretty sticky, so I recommend adding your second layer in small spoonfuls all over the pan (rather than just adding the remaining batter in one big blob). This may make it easier to spread out over the cinnamon-sugar layer.  http://gimmesomeoven.com/sour-cream-coffee-cake/