Ringing in the new year. I brought coffee cake.

2014. Dang. Hey. 

Last year, I wrote about a flippin' delicious apple cake that still leaves me drooling. 

This year, a sour cream coffee cake that is no stranger to the food blogging world. It's moist and just sweet enough to appeal to adults and children alike. 

I brought slices of the cake to my family's annual new year celebration. Before our typical lox and bagel breakfast and traditional tteok guk lunch, we ate bites of the coffee cake with our coffee. There were "mm's" all around.

I made it a second time after my grandparents requested some more hunks. 

I made it a third time so my mom could bring some to a potluck and I could bring some to a friend. 

Three times in a week and a half. This cake is dangerously simple. And though it is essential for the cake to be cool before slicing into clean cuts, please take some forkfuls when the cake is still warm. Actually, scratch that. You must take warm bites of cake. You must.  

Happy new year, everyone. May 2014 be your sweetest year yet. 



Click through for the recipe! 

Sour Cream Coffee Cake 

Adapted from Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

This cake has three components: crumb, swirl, cake.

Crumb:

¾ c. all purpose flour

¾ c. packed light brown sugar

½ t. salt

1 c. pecans, toasted

6 T. cold unsalted butter, cut into inch pieces

Pulse flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Add the pecans and pulse until finely chopped. Add butter and pulse until it looks like “coarse sand.” Cover and refrigerate while you make the rest of the cake.

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Swirl:

½ c. granulated sugar

2 t. unsweetened cocoa powder

2 t. cinnamon

Mix.

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Cake:

3 ½ c. all purpose flour

1 t. baking powder

1 ½ t. baking soda

½ t. salt

1 c. softened unsalted butter

1 ½ c. granulated sugar

⅛ c. light brown sugar

4 large eggs, room temperature

2 heaping c. / 16 oz. sour cream, room temperature

2 t. pure vanilla extract

Preheat to 350. Butter a 9x13 pan. Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. WIth the help of your stand mixer/hand mixer/biceps, cream butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat well. Add eggs ONE AT A TIME! Crack each egg into a small bowl before adding into the butter/sugar. Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat until incorporated. Add dry ingredients in three additions. Scrape down the bowl before each addition. Do not overmix; only beat until the flour is just incorporated.

⅓ cake batter - ½ swirl - ⅓ cake batter - ½ swirl - ⅓ cake batter - CRUMB

To make big crumbs, take a handful of the crumb and press hard and slightly break apart when you sprinkle over the cake.

Bake for an hour. (Mine baked for an hour and 20 minutes because I didn’t rotate. Rotate ya cake!) Cool for 30 minutes on a wire rack. Cut. Devour. “16 servings?” Um, okay… I guess.