Coffee Cake

 

Everyone has those days, days when you run out of steam, have nothing left to give to the world, when the word “hi” seems extremely annoying. We have all been there, and we all cope with these moments differently. On the longest days in the world, working in a café in Orlando, I had my special way of managing. My magic wand came in the form of a warm, moist cake capped with a crunchy cinnamon topping.  This coffee cake makes everything better. On the worst of days, I would eat just the topping of at least three or four of these little pieces of heaven (Shhh…).  Life seems a little brighter, people seem more tolerable, and the day is never all for not. So for all of you who want to knock the hats off of everyone you see, try this cake first and your life will be inextricably better.

Recipe: From Bon Appetit April 2010

Makes 1 13×9 inch Coffee Cake

Topping:

1 cup of brown sugar, packed

½ cup of granulated sugar

1 ½ tablespoons of ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon of salt

2 sticks of butter, melted

2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

Mix both sugars, cinnamon and salt together in a bowl. Add the melted butter. Using a fork, mix all of the ingredients together. Add the flour and mix again until the mixture is clumpy but moist. Set aside.

Cake:

2 ½ cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

¾ teaspoon of baking powder

½ teaspoon of salt

1 ½ sticks of butter, at room temperature

1 ½ cups of sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 cups of sour cream

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350⁰

Butter a 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl. In a mixing bowl, beat the butter with a paddle attachment until creamy. Add the sugar and beat until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well between the additions. Add sour cream and vanilla and beat just until blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, beating well between additions. Transfer the batter to the buttered baking dish. Make sure that the batter is spread evenly. (Now for the fun part) Take a handful of the topping and crumble a thick, thick layer over the top of the batter. Make sure that none of the batter is peaking through! Bake for about an hour or until a toothpick comes out of the center clean. Now here comes the test of patience, let cool for at least 30 minutes on a cooling rack. Enjoy!