Coffee cake is by far my favorite sweet breakfast (borderline dessert) dish to make. I prefer it over pancakes, waffles, and donuts. I mean, I guess it is basically muffins, but in baking pan form, which makes everyone’s life easier. My first slice of coffee cake came from Entenmann’s (technically they call it Crumb Cake), and I was in love! There was a distribution center not far from where I grew up. My mother didn’t bake, so pretty much ALL of our baked goods came from there.
This coffee cake is levels above the store bought stuff I used to eat as a kid. The cake has sour cream in the batter, which makes it incredibly tender. A spiced crumb topping studded with pecans gives the cake a wonderful crunch and texture. I added blueberries because that is literally the only way I can get our kid to eat a piece of fruit. If blueberries aren’t your thing, leave them out. This recipe is equally delicious without them.
- Topping:
- 1 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 2/3 cup all purpose flour
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (optional)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 5 tbsp butter, melted
- Coffee Cake:
- 4 tbsp butter, room temperature (plus additional for greasing the pan)
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 eggs, room temperature
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream, room temperature
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
- In a medium bowl, add the pecans, flour, sugars, spices, and salt. Stir to combine. Stir in melted butter. The mixture will resemble clumpy sand. Sprinkle the mixture onto a sheet pan and place in the refrigerator while you prepare the cake.
- Preheat the oven to 350°. Prepare a 13x9 baking pan, by greasing it with butter. Set aside.
- In a stand mixer (or a electric hand mixer), mix together the butter and sugar for about 4 minutes. The mixture will look like wet sand. Add the eggs, one by one and beat until incorporated. Add the vanilla and mix until combined.
- Remove the topping from the refrigerator. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, whisk the sour cream until smooth. Turn the mixer on low speed and alternately add the flour and sour cream. Starting and ending with the flour. Stir in the lemon zest and blueberries.
- Transfer the batter into the greased baking dish and lightly tap it to make sure the batter is evenly distributed. Sprinkle the cake with the all of the topping. Bake the cake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.
More sweets here!