Coffee cake is the perfect autumn dessert, but it can often turn out flat and bland. There is a simple way to ensure it turns out perfectly, with an ingredient you likely already have sitting in your fridge.
Coffee cake is one of the cosiest treats you can make(Image: Getty)
Coffee cake is the ideal treat in October, when the dropping temperatures have us yearning for something sweet alongside a cup of tea or whatever warming drink you prefer. Baking a cake is a wonderfully simple and enjoyable way to spend a crisp autumn evening, yet they can often turn out rather flat if you opt to add milk to your mixing bowl.
Milk works brilliantly for lighter baked goods such as cupcakes, but when preparing a larger cake it can introduce too much liquid to the batter, ultimately undermining its structure. Not only can this cause the cake to sink rather than rise in the oven, but milk can also dilute the flavour, leaving you with a rather insipid dessert.
Instead, Ali Martin, a cook and founder of Gimme Some Oven, insists that sour cream is the only ingredient she uses when baking coffee cake.
Ali said: “It features a simple batter made with basic pantry ingredients and reduced-fat sour cream, whose tangy flavour perfectly balances the sweetness here and helps the cake bake up to be incredibly moist.”
Sour cream is an acidic ingredient that reacts with the bicarbonate of soda in the batter, producing bubbles that assist the cake in rising during baking.
The result is a taller cake with minimal effort, and sour cream’s thick consistency, high moisture content and fat levels prevent the cake from drying out.
It simply enhances the texture, giving you a wonderfully moist and velvety soft crumb that practically melts in your mouth with every bite.
The fat content in sour cream will also lend the cake a richer, more luxurious flavour, which complements the coffee notes beautifully.
Incorporating sour cream is amongst the simplest methods to prevent a cake from collapsing while maintaining its moisture and creaminess, ensuring you achieve the finest possible result from your dessert.
This recipe calls for low-fat sour cream, which works perfectly well, but if you’d prefer your cake to possess a more buttery character, then opt for the full-fat variety.
Ali said, “I’ve always made this homemade coffee cake recipe using reduced-fat sour cream, but full-fat sour cream would work just fine too.”
How to make coffee cake
You will need:
To make the cake:
- 115g of unsalted butter, softened
- 200g of caster sugar
- Two large eggs
- 250g of plain flour
- One teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda
- One teaspoon of baking powder
- Half a teaspoon of sea salt
- 340g of sour cream (reduced fat)
- Two tablespoons of vanilla extract
To make the cinnamon icing:
- 50g of caster sugar
- 50g of soft light brown sugar
- One and a half teaspoons of ground cinnamon
- 100g of chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
To make a glaze topping (optional)
- 60g of icing sugar
- One or two teaspoons of milk
Method:
To begin, preheat the oven to 180°C and prepare a square baking tin by lightly greasing it with cooking spray or a small amount of oil.
Next, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, baking powder and salt in a small mixing bowl. Stir all the dry ingredients together until well incorporated.
In a separate, larger mixing bowl (or stand mixer), combine the butter and caster sugar, then beat for two minutes until light and fluffy. Then, incorporate the vanilla extract and eggs, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Add half of the dry ingredients to the bowl and continue stirring, followed by half of the sour cream. Incorporate the remaining dry ingredients with repeated mixing, then finish with the remaining sour cream.
To prepare the cinnamon icing: Combine the caster sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and nuts (if using) in a small bowl. Whisk thoroughly until you achieve a smooth, even mixture.
Next, pour half of the cake batter into the baking dish, followed by half of the cinnamon icing spread across the top. Add the remaining batter before scattering the rest of the icing over everything to create distinct layers.
Smooth the surface with a spoon and transfer to the oven. Bake for 30 minutes until the cake has fully risen, then leave it to rest for 10 minutes prior to serving.
Should you wish to prepare the glaze: Place the icing sugar in a bowl and whisk together with one teaspoon of milk until combined. If the glaze appears too thick, incorporate additional milk; if it seems too runny, mix in more icing sugar.
Once your cake has rested sufficiently, drizzle the glaze generously over the top. Your delightful coffee cake will then be ready to enjoy.
