Sour Cream Coffee Cake

 Can you tell I've been eating my feelings lately? Don't worry, this was actually made for a get-together for Nick's work. It wasn't until Sunday morning that he realized we should probably bring something and the event was that afternoon. Luckily, this is made with things that are almost always on hand.

    I can be tricky to check the 'doneness' of a bunt cake unless you have super long toothpicks. Or uncooked spaghetti noodles. These work well...unless you accidentally let it snap inside and later your husband thinks he is eating a fingernail. Otherwise, it works really well. {This happened maybe 4 years ago, and I've since perfected the spaghetti technique.}

  Another cooking mishap happened a few years ago when I made this for a breakfast at work- only to find out that one of the cupboard corner cushions had somehow fallen into the batter and found it's way into the gym teacher's mouth. 

In conclusion: delicious with or without hidden goodies inside.

Lest you think I am completely careless, these are the worst things that have happened in the kitchen... that I'm aware of :)

Ingredients

Filling

1 generous cup brown sugar

1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 generous cup finely chopped walnuts

1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Cake

3 cups flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups sugar

3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

2 tsp. vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 1/2 cup sour cream

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

3-4 Tbsp. milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease and flour bunt pan. In a medium bowl, use a pastry blender to combine filling ingredients until crumbly. Set aside.

2. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs and vanilla and continue to beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Alternate adding flour mixture (approx. 1 cup) and sour cream (1/3 cup) to the sugar mixture- at a time, beating on low speed until combined. Repeat two additional times.

3. Pour 1/3 of batter into the prepared pan and layer with 1/3 of filling. Repeat with additional layers. 

4. Bake for 1 hour- until toothpick in center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool an additional 20 minutes. Prepare glaze and drizzle over coffee cake. Serve warm or room temperature.