Cinnamon Coffee Cake
We vary a Gourmet recipe slightly and use a shallow oblong pan so we can turn the cake into "hearts" with a cookie cutter. The sour cream coffee cake is easy to prepare and addicting! Originally served as part of: Valentine's Day.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons double-acting baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
- ¾ cup lowfat sour cream
- ¼ cup lowfat yogurt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 8 tablespoons unsalted, 1 stick butter
- 1⅓ cups granulated sugar (divided)
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon pure extract vanilla
- nonstick cooking spray (PAM)
Instructions
We start by preheating the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, we whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a medium bowl, we stir the sour cream, yogurt, and baking soda.
In a large measuring cup, we microwave the cold butter on 10% power until softened. This takes a minute or two. We do this in 30 second intervals since we do not want the butter melted, just soft. We put the butter in the KitchenAid, turn onto speed 2, and after 30 seconds, add 1 cup of sugar. We turn the mixer to speed 4 and cream the butter and sugar together for a few minutes until fluffy.
While the butter and sugar are mixing, we mix the topping ingredients—the 1/3 cup of remaining sugar, the brown sugar and the cinnamon—in a medium bowl with a fork.
Next, we add the eggs, one at a time, to the KitchenAid, mixing well. We turn the mixer off and scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula. At this point we stir in the vanilla.
We dump the flour mixture onto a large piece of parchment. With the mixer set at stir speed, we carefully add a third of the flour, then a third of the sour cream. We continue adding the remaining flour and sour cream mixtures until the batter is just combined. We turn off and scrape down the bowl.
We spray our oblong baking pan (8.875 inches by 12.625 inches) with Pam, put in a large piece of parchment to cover the bottom and a bit of the sides, and spray again.
We add the batter to the pan and dump on half of the topping mix. We swirl this sugar mixture into the batter with a fork and then add the rest of the topping distributed over the top and swirling it on the top with the fork.
We bake the cake for about 35 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean. We transfer the pan to a cooling rack and cool for at least half an hour before lifting the parchment out of the pan and cutting the cake with a heart cookie cutter.
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp double-acting baking powder
- ⅛ tsp fine salt
- ¾ cup low-fat sour cream
- ¼ cup low-fat yogurt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 8 tbsp unsalted butter (1 stick)
- 1 cup sugar
- ⅓ cup sugar
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar (packed)
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- nonstick cooking spray (Pam)
Instructions
What's a kid job?
A Kid job is a step kids can help with, with a grown-up nearby, not one they do on their own. Every kid is different, so go by what your child can do rather than by age. Roughly:
- Little ones (about 2 to 4) can stir, pour in ingredients a grown-up has measured, tear lettuce, wash vegetables and sprinkle toppings.
- Older kids (about 5 to 8) can also measure and level, crack eggs, whisk, roll and cut out dough, and put things together.
- Bigger kids can read the recipe aloud, keep track of the timer, and take on more of the cooking as they're ready.
Steps with a knife, microplane, skewers, stove, oven, grill or hot oil, or with raw meat, poultry or seafood, are marked Grown-up. Kids can still watch those, from a safe distance.
Grown-up
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Kid job
Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir the sour cream, yogurt and baking soda in a medium bowl.
Soften the butter in the microwave at 10% power, 30 seconds at a time, without melting it. Beat it in a stand mixer on speed 2 for 30 seconds, add the sugar, and cream on speed 4 a few minutes, until fluffy.
Kid job
Meanwhile, mix the sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon for the topping with a fork.
Beat in the eggs one at a time. Turn off the mixer, scrape down the bowl, and stir in the vanilla.
Pour the flour mixture onto parchment. On the lowest speed, add a third of the flour, then a third of the sour cream mixture, and repeat until just combined. Scrape down the bowl.
Spray a shallow oblong pan (about 9 by 12½ inches), line the bottom and a little of the sides with parchment, and spray again.
Kid job
Spread in the batter, add half the topping, and swirl it in with a fork. Sprinkle on the rest and swirl it over the top.
Bake about 35 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack at least 30 minutes, then lift it out by the parchment and cut out hearts with a cookie cutter.