On one of my last prenatal visits I was flipping through a magazine and I came upon a tasty looking coffee cake recipe. There I sat in the exam room - knowing that the doctor was going to come in at any moment. I hesitated...imagining her walking in at the exact moment I was tearing the pages out...how embarrassing. I'm sure she wouldn't have cared...but I hadn't ever done that before...so it was a big moment for me. I think I set the magazine down twice before I actually went for it. I tore out the pages, folded them, and put them in my purse. Later that day I went home and made the coffee cake. I'm glad I took that recipe...it turned out to be a keeper. Here it is from the November 2005 copy of FamilyFun.
Streusel Coffee Cake
Cinnamon Crunch Topping
1 1/2 c pecans or walnuts - chopped
1/3 c packed light brown sugar
2 T flour
1 t cinnamon
3 T cold unsalted butter - cut into pieces
Sour Cream Cake
2 3/4 c flour
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c sugar
3 large eggs
1 t lemon zest
1 t vanilla
3/4 c sour cream
1/2 milk
Sweet Glaze (optional)
1 1/4 c confectioners' sugar
2 T milk
Butter a 9 x 13 cake pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For topping, combine nuts, brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl. Mix ingredients. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or fork.
To make the sour cream cake, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a medium bowl and set it aside. Next, cream butter on medium-high speed, gradually adding the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the lemon zest and vanilla extract and blend briefly. Whisk together the sour cream and milk. Mix about a third of the mixture into the creamed ingredients until smooth. Then blend in about a third of the flour mixture. Continue alternately beating in the liquid and dry ingredients by thirds.
Spread half of the batter in the pan. Evenly sprinkle half of the topping on it, pressing it lightly into the batter. Repeat. Bake coffee cake for about 40 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean from the center.
For the glaze, combine ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until smooth and suitable to drizzle. Use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on the cooled coffee cake. Makes 12 or more servings.
