Sour Cream Coffee Cake With Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl
Andrea Potischman
Oct 24, 2022
Baked is the name of a bakery in Red Hook, Brooklyn that is worth a visit should you ever find yourself in the area. Baked is also the title of a cookbook which has received lots of attention since its release in 2008, and understandably so, it is a fantastic book. This sour cream coffee cake with cinnamon-chocolate swirl is Baked’s recipe, one I modified only slightly and it is truly exceptional.
I am a self-proclaimed coffee cake snob, I love to bake them and give them and despite the similar ingredients that often make up a coffee cake, there are numerous variations on how to bake one. Case in point, chances are, you’ve made a sour cream coffee cake or perhaps a cinnamon swirl coffee cake before, yet this one likely tastes completely different from to that which you’ve become accustomed. That is baking magic.
Coffee Cake or Crumb Cake
This one always confused me. Coffee or crumb cake? And what’s the actual difference? The truth is coffee and crumb cakes are actually rather similar, especially with the cake layer. The major difference between the two is the actual amount of streusel topping. Coffee cakes tend to have less streusel topping and more cake and crumb cakes have a thicker and chunkier layer of streusel on top.
The Invention of Coffee Cake
Coffee cake, as we know it, was not so much an invention as it was an evolution, with many countries given as the potential origination point. It is widely believed that coffee cake originated from Northern or Central Europe sometime during the 17th century. During that time, coffee was still relatively new to Europe. The countries laying some sort of claim to the coffee cake invention —Germany, Austria, and Denmark particularly—were already well versed in sweet breads and cakes and each was quickly paired incredibly well with this new beverage. And thus the serving of the two became common.
Coffee cake made its way to America via German migrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Here the addition of sour cream was added, both as a means of adding more moisture into the cake as well as activating the baking soda. The most known modification to the coffee cake came with the popularity of the bundt pan in the 1950s. With its ring-shaped design, the bundt pan allowed bakers to increase the moisture content in their cakes without having to worry about the center going uncooked.
This sour cream coffee cake is tender, studded with a rich cinnamon-chocolate swirl but there’s more to it. The crumble is the usual suspects, flour sugar, and butter, but also has finely chopped pecans folded in adding some texture and a lovely nutty flavor to the cake. This has become a newer favorite but a worthy addition to my top five collections: Bisquick coffee cake, chocolate chip banana coffee cake, Ina’s blueberry coffee cake, and my cranberry coffee cake.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake With Cinnamon-Chocolate Swirl
Ingredients:
For The Crumb Topping:
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup pecans, toasted and chopped
- 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1 inch pieces
For The Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
For the Cake:
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 2 1/4 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 16 ounces sour cream
- 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Directions:
- For the Crumb Topping: Put the flour, sugar, and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse to combine. Add the pecans and pulse until they are finely chopped and incorporated. Add the butter and pulse until mixture looks like coarse sand. Cover and refrigerate.
- For the Chocolate Cinnamon Swirl: in small bowl mix together the sugar, cocoa and cinnamon. Set aside.
- For the Sour Cream Cake: Preheat the oven to 350° degrees F. Butter a 9×13-inch baking pan and set aside.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl.
- In the bowl of a kitchen mixer, such as a KitchenAid fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter on medium speed until smooth. Scrape down bowl and add sugar. Beat until the mixture is light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping bowl as needed.Add the sour cream and vanilla and beat just until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients in three additions, scraping down the bowl before each addition and beating only until each addition is just incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Pour one third of the cake batter into the prepared pan. Use an offset spatula to spread batter evenly in pan. Sprinkle half of the chocolate cinnamon swirl mixture over batter, covering the entire surface of the batter. Spoon half of remaining batter over the swirl mixture and spread it as evenly as possible (this is not so easy, but don't worry). Top with remaining swirl mixture, then the remaining batter, and spread the batter evenly.
- Sprinkle the crumb topping evenly over the top of the batter.;;Bake in the center of the oven for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. ;Let the cake cool for 30 minutes before serving. Optional: Dust with additional cocoa powder and some confectioners' sugar if desired
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