Marion Cunningham's Coffee Cake

By Hklbrries

Nothing is more warming and comforting on a brisk autumn day than coffee cake. Not to mention that it’s the perfect excuse for indulging your sweet tooth first thing in the morning.

A form of quick bread, coffee cakes are easy to assemble, too. Put one in the oven. Make a pot of coffee. And your family and house guests will awake to a tantalizing aroma profile – caffeine wafting with cinnamon, toasted pecans, brown sugar and butter. Add sliced apples to the mix, and you have the perfect paean to fall.

Sour cream or vegetable oil ensure moistness. But coffee cakes needn’t be gussied up with toppings. A coffee cake can be pure and plain.

Just keep the cake beside the coffee pot and let your guests help themselves. It’s a magnet for nibblers. And when you want to take a homemade treat to a brunch – or even a wake – you really should consider the coffee cake.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 eggs
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sour cream
• 5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Confectioners sugar for dusting cake (optional)

Details

Servings 12
Adapted from spokesman.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan or Bundt pan.

Put the butter in a large mixing bowl and beat for several seconds. Add the sugar and beat until smooth. Add the eggs and beat for 2 minutes, or until light and creamy. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and stir with a fork to blend well. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat until smooth. Add the sour cream and vanilla and mix well.

Spoon the batter into the pan. Bake for about 50 minutes, or until a straw comes out clean when inserted into the center. Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes in the pan. Invert onto a rack and cool a little bit before slicing. Dust with confectioners sugar if desired. Serve warm.

Nutrition Information:
Per serving
360 calories
21 g fat (12 g saturated, 52 percent fat calories)
5 g protein
38 g carbohydrates
103 mg cholesterol
1 g fiber
548 mg sodium