By Late February rolling into March. The factory schedule has me on a Friday-Tuesday this week with Wednesday and Thursday off — an inconvenient rotation but the line manager had asked and I had said yes because saying yes to the line manager keeps my full-shift status secure. Mama had Saturday off for the first time in five weeks. She wanted Saturday morning to look like a Saturday morning.
I had pulled Carol’s 1979 sour cream apple coffee cake card out of the green metal recipe box Friday night and laid the ingredients on the kitchen counter before going to bed: flour, sugar, sour cream, butter, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, three small Granny Smiths from the fruit bowl. Saturday morning I had started the bake at seven AM while Mama was still asleep. The coffee cake was on the cooling rack by eight-thirty.
The recipe: coffee cake batter with a half-cup of sour cream folded in, layered in a tube pan with cinnamon-sugar-and-pecan filling and apple slices, topped with more streusel. Baked at three-fifty for fifty-five minutes. The sour cream keeps the cake moist for four full days, the layered filling creates a marbled cross-section, the apples on top caramelize against the streusel. Mama and I sat at the kitchen table at nine AM with coffee. She did not say much. She ate two slices. The Saturday looked like a Saturday morning should.
Sour Cream Apple Coffee Cake
Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 45 min | Total Time: 1 hr | Servings: 12
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup sour cream
- 2 medium apples, peeled, cored, and diced (about 2 cups)
- Cinnamon Swirl:
- 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking pan or a 9-inch square pan for a thicker cake.
- Make the swirl. In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts if using. Set aside.
- Whisk dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Cream butter and sugar. In a large bowl, beat the softened butter and granulated sugar together until light and fluffy, about 2–3 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating after each. Mix in vanilla.
- Combine. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture in three additions, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with flour. Stir until just combined — do not overmix. Fold in the diced apples.
- Layer and swirl. Spread half the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the cinnamon swirl mixture evenly over the top. Add the remaining batter, spreading gently to cover. Sprinkle the remaining swirl mixture over the top.
- Bake. Bake for 40–45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the top is golden. Let cool at least 10 minutes before slicing.
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories: 295 | Protein: 4g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 44g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 190mg