Being in a sour mood doesn’t always have to mean that you want to plant crossed arms in front of your chest or scrunch up your face and hold it there for as long as you can. Being in a sour mood can be a good thing.

Like when you’re in the mood for something sour, for example.

I for one am a big advocate for putting sour cream in quick breads like muffins, pancakes and coffee cake. Sour cream adds a moistness (fat! Yes!) and tang without even a mutter of its presence. If it’s added in the right quantity, you won’t even know it’s there. It’s ummph, and just because it’s pucker-worthy doesn’t mean it’s having a bad day.

(Click “Read the rest of this entry” for recipe)

I tweaked this Epicurious recipe for sour cream coffee cake just a bit to use some leftover toffee chips and chocolate chips. For the original recipe (which includes a glaze), click here. The batter will look flat and barely cover the pan, but it puffs up really nicely while baking.

SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE WITH CHOCOLATE AND TOFFEE CHIPS

Yield: 10-inch round coffeecake
Adapted from Epicurious

• Streusel Topping:
• 1/2 cup granulated or brown sugar, or 1/4 cup each
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg or cloves (optional)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter or margarine, softened
• 34 cup toffee chips
• Batter:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon double-acting baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup granulated or brown sugar or 1/2 cup each
• 4 large egg yolks, or 3 large eggs
• 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream or plain yogurt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray one 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Line with parchment or waxed paper, spray with cooking spray again, and dust with flour.

2. To make the streusel: Combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and nutmeg if using. Using a fork, cut in the butter to resemble coarse crumbs. Stir in toffee chips.

3. To make the batter: Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside. In another large bowl, beat the butter until smooth, about 1 minute. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Beat in the egg yolks, one at a time. Blend in the sour cream and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture, and fold in chocolate chips.

4. Layer your ingredients: Spread half of the batter in the prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Carefully cover with the remaining batter and sprinkle with the remaining streusel.

5. Bake until the cake is golden and pulls away from the sides of the pan, about 50 minutes. Cook in pan on a rack for 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature. Wrap it in plastic and store at room temperature for up to 2 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

– Cynthia Furey

This entry was posted on Friday, June 12th, 2009 at 5:02 pm and is filed under Baking/desserts, Breakfast/brunch, Cake, In the kitchen, Muffins/quickbreads. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.