![Breakfast Potatoes](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2023/10/19/multimedia/ND-Breakfast-Potatoes-fhkv/ND-Breakfast-Potatoes-fhkv-mediumThreeByTwo440.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
Sour-Cream Coffee Cake
![Sour-Cream Coffee Cake](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/12/10/dining/10COOKING-SOURCRMCOFFEECAKE1/10COOKING-SOURCRMCOFFEECAKE1-articleLarge.jpg?width=1280&quality=75&auto=webp)
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
Advertisement
Ingredients
- ½cup/113 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
- 1¼cups/260 grams sugar
- 2large eggs
- 1½cups flour/188 grams
- 1½teaspoons baking powder
- ½teaspoon baking soda
- ½teaspoon salt
- 1¼cups/300 grams sour cream
- 1teaspoon vanilla
- ½cup/104 grams sugar
- 2teaspoons all-purpose flour
- 1tablespoon cinnamon
- ⅓cup/70 grams chopped pecans or walnuts
For the Cake
For the Topping
Preparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and generously butter a 9-by-13-inch baking pan. Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
- Step 2
In a separate bowl, sift flour with baking powder, baking soda and salt. With the mixer on low speed, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with sour cream and vanilla until just combined. Do not overmix. Pour batter into prepared baking pan.
- Step 3
Make the topping: Combine sugar, cinnamon, flour and nuts in a small bowl and mix well.
- Step 4
Sprinkle the topping evenly over the cake and bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool, cut into pieces and serve.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Thanks, Vicky — we retested the pan size and found the recipe worked well in an 8 x 8-inch pan. You'll see that change here.
This cake is really delicious but there is nowhere near enough batter by a 9x13 pan. I baked it in a 9" square an that was perfect
After reading about the issues many of you were having, we retested this recipe a third time. We brought the pan size back to the original 9 x 13. We also doubled the topping (although removed the butter) and decreased the baking soda. All of this should help with the overflow and/or sinkage some of you were experiencing. We also provided metric measurements for those of you who prefer to weigh your ingredients. Happy Cooking!
we have made this recipe for years in our family but with one difference: we split the topping into 2 portions. We put half of the batter in the pan, then half of the topping, then the remainder of the batter followed by the remainder of the topping. Sometimes we add raisins or thinly sliced apples or cranberries just for fun. Sometimes we add 1T vanilla or bourbon. This cake can also be baked in a tube pan or a bundt pan which makes for a beautiful presentation. Enjoy!
Not even Pythagoras could get 18 servings out of this in an 8x8 pan at 3"x2" squares.
This is my Great Aunt Sarah's coffee cake BUT ... add 1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice to the sour cream mixture. Gives the cake a bright note.
Wish the Times would make the correction to baking pan size in directions not in cooking notes. Easily overlooked and could cause a great recipe to come out flat and ruined.
Would substituting plain Greek yogurt for the cream cheese work? Fat-free especially?
64 square inches of pan area divided by 6 square inches per serving yields 10.67 servings. To get 18 servings, they would have to be approximately 1 7/8 inches square.
Ok, I admit to being a nerd.
I made this cake with walnuts and once removed from oven I drizzled with browned butter frosting. It tastes like nothing ive ever tasted, it is beyond perfection! For browned butter drizzle I used 3 tbsp sweet cream butter 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup powdered sugar And 1 tablespoon milk (you will need to add a few splashes more to get it to drizzle) You can find recipe online!!
Make sure your baking powder is fresh - that might also help the 'sunken middle' problem. (In my opinion, even if it hasn't reached it's expiration date yet, if it's been open for more than 10 or 12 months, throw it out and get fresh - it's not that expensive and really worth it in the long run considering how much you're spending on the other ingredients.)
My Mom always made this in a bundt pan, putting in half the batter, then a layer of the topping (she used walnuts) then the remaining batter and top with filling again. always a family favorite
I did not have enough sour cream so I substituted in some 2% greek yogurt and it was perfectly fine.
Chop the streussel finer to spread evenly over the top - the finer it is chopped, the less it will sink down into the batter.
I have an almost identical recipe except: 1 C sugar, 2 C flour, 1 C sour cream, 1tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda.....those are the only changes. Baked up perfect in 45 minutes in angel food cake pan!
My topping didn't melt. Hmmmm. What went wrong?
Next time put butter with topping and use brown sugar and put in 9by 9
Made in 8x8 glass - split topping in 2 to have a layer in the middle as well. For the topping - need to chop nuts finely, and add a tbsp of melted butter so it’s not sandy after baking. Can cut sugar in cake batter by 20%
Disappointing recipe. Cake had nice texture, but this recipe results in a much too thin sheet cake in the 9 x 13 pan. I should also have been skeptical of a topping with no butter or fat. With no moistening agent, most of the topping remained uncooked, dry and dusty after baking, and didn't adhere to the cake when eating. The portion of the topping that did cook became a crisp, but not in a satisfying way.
I am looking at the recipe now and it still has a 9x13 inch baking pan. Has anyone tried doubling the recipe to see if it would fit a 9x13 and still cook properly throughout?
This is seriously good cake. I was taught to beat the butter until it's whippy before adding sugar to a cake recipe. Forgot but made no difference I think. Followed instructions as written and it went over a bomb— fluffy, moist, and perfect!
I’ve been looking for a coffee cake like my mom made with a less messy topping. This was great for that. Made for coffee hour st church and most of the cake disappeared quickly. We liked the moistness of the cake and the thickness I. The 9x13” pan was perfect for servings in napkins. Other than using dark brown sugar instead of white sugar, we followed the recipe and it tasted great. The batter was a little darker from the sugar choice. This recipe has replaced my mom’s version going forward.
This is like if cinnamon rolls and pancakes had a cake baby. It's really, really good. I followed the instructions for the most part. Replaced sour cream with Greek yogurt because that's what I had at home. Baked in a Bundt pan because I wanted it to look pretty. Turned out incredible. Will def make again and again.
Although a cake tester came out clean after 30 minutes, the texture was still too moist, so it went back in the oven for another 15 minutes. That helped, but the cake was still almost batter-like. I won’t make this recipe again. BTW, I used a 9x13 pan and the cake came out thin. Maybe an &x8 pan and a longer bake time at a lower temperature would have helped.
Was so delicious and moist! Very proud of myself and tastes like bakery quality! Glad I wasn’t the only one with the pan issues ! Thought I did something wrong… it worked ok with the 9x13 was just a bit thin. Was surprised how much it rose anyways.
Made this last night with half the butter and a 9 x 13 pan. It was delicious and tender cake. My only suggestion is that the cinnamon/sugar/nut/topping needs a little melted butter (and a pinch of salt) to help bind it and stick to the cake
I am shocked at the 5 star reviews. I followed the recipe exactly except I used an 8x8 pan. The cake tastes eggy and the topping is just a layer of flour sand. A standard coffee cake would have included butter in the topping to make it actually cook and turn into a crumble. 5 star recipes are usually the way to go here, but this was not one of them.
Use an 8x8 inch pan. Noted by NYT revised testing.
This is a great cake. For those wanting classic streusel topping, I found this recipe makes the right amount for this large cake: mix together: 1 & 2/3 cup flour, 2/3 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup white sugar (and some cinnamon if you like)- then drizzle stick (1/2 cup) melted butter into it and mix with a fork until it looks crumbly.
I made this with all King Arthur White Whole Wheat flower, utilizing the ingredients’ weights in grams, and it turned out amazing!
Advertisement