Sour Cream Coffee Cake

When I was a newlywed, I would sit at my desk at work and look up new recipes to try for dinner and dessert everynight ( ya, I had a really hard job). Besides chocolate chip cookies, my husband's favorite dessert is coffee cake, so I tried this recipe one day and it instantly became our favorite. Now that Fall has finally made it's arrival to So Cal, I decided to make this cake for dessert and I'm so happy I did because my house smells amazing!

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. plus 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 2 & 1/2 cups cake flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 12 tbsp. chilled, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 3 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 & 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1 & 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 tbsp. nonfat milk
• 1 & 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9-inch square springform pan.

In a bowl, combine 2 tbps. sugar, the walnuts, and cinnamon. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; sift the mixture twice and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. Gradually add the 2 cups sugar and beat until light and smooth, 5 to 6 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the eggs a little at a time and continue beating until the mixture is thick, fluffy, and double in volume, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in the sour cream and vanilla, 2 minutes more.

Remove the bowl from the mixer and, using a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the flour mixture in 2 additions until smooth. Pour half of the batter into the prepared pan and spread to the edges. SPrinkle the walnut/cinnamon mixture evenly over the batter. Spread the remaining batter over the top, making the sides higher than the center.

Bake until the top is set and springs back when touched, and the cake pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan, about 55-60 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool in the pan for 1 hour. Remove from the pan and set the cake on a stand or plate.

*I reserved some of the walnut/cinnamon sugar and made my own crumble for the topping, but you can also make a glaze that is amazing on top:

In a bowl, whisk together the milk and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Garnish the cake with raspberries, if desired, and drizzle the glaze over the cake.