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Aunt Patty's Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is a classic and after you try this recipe, you'll crave this timeless dish again and again. It can be frozen and served with coffee or hot chocolate as part of breakfast, or you can change it up and serve with a scoop of ice cream for dessert. From the book "Mad Hungry," by Lucinda Scala Quinn (Artisan Books).
Mad Hungry, September 2010
  • Yield Makes 1 Bundt cake
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Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 1 tablespoon instant coffee
  • 1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
  • 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.

  2. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar, instant coffee, and cocoa.

  3. Separately whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add one egg at a time, beating until just combined. Beat in one third of the flour mixture, then half of the sour cream, then another third of the flour mixture. Beat in the remainder of the sour cream and the last third of the flour mixture. (Always start with flour and end with flour.) Add the vanilla and mix for another minute or two, scraping the sides of the bowl well with a spatula.

  4. Pour one third of the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle half of the filling on top. Pour in another third of the batter and sprinkle the remainder of the filling on top of that. End with the last third of the batter. Run a dinner knife down through the batter and swirl the knife gently to marble the batter in about six places.

  5. Bake for 50 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 30 minutes, then turn out onto a plate or onto foil. The cake can be frozen while still warm.

Recipe Reviews

Reviews (9)

  • Tobias Schmidt
    18 Apr, 2013

    Hi, I tried this recipe to serve the coffee cake to my choir for 20th anniversary. I baked it in a pan with a violin note key. As a variation I frosted the cake with an icing of some instant coffee and powdered sugar. It was a great success!! What a great fluffy batter! Everybody liked it and some of them asked for the recipe. Thank you very much for this delicious cake. This was surely not the last time I made it.
    Best regards from Lower Saxony, Germany.

  • Tobias Schmidt
    18 Apr, 2013

    Hi, I tried this recipe to serve the coffee cake to my choir for 20th anniversary. I baked it in a pan with a violin note key. As a variation I frosted the cake with an icing of some instant coffee and powdered sugar. It was a great success!! What a great fluffy batter! Everybody liked it and some of them asked for the recipe. Thank you very much for this delicious cake. This was surely not the last time I made it.
    Best regards from Lower Saxony, Germany.

  • Bstrong711
    8 Aug, 2012

    This is a wonderful recipe. The addition of the espresso abd coffee gave it a unique taste. my coffee cake looked just as pictured and it was a hit at my brunch. Thanks Lucinda

  • olenki
    18 Apr, 2012

    the taste and texture of this recipe were completely off. it was too salty, dry and bitter. i was actually embarrassed to serve it to my guests.

  • tylergirl
    8 Sep, 2011

    I thought the cake came out dry and not to much flavor.

  • spudugan
    26 Aug, 2011

    i really like this cake. I substituted all the sourc cream with Fage 0% fat greek yogurt-which worked perfectly. The cocoa/instant coffee filling adds great flavor. Mine baked in 45 minutes. Will be making this again!

  • sharo11
    26 Apr, 2011

    Made this for Easter brunch and thought it was very dry and flavorless! Would not recommend!

  • Javaginny
    24 Feb, 2011

    I made this! It turned out great! Next time I would like to try Greek yogurt in place of sour cream! What do do you think?

  • annapell
    9 Feb, 2011

    Would light sour cream work? It would save me a trip to the store!