Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Who doesn't love to start their morning off with cake? I still applaud the woman (or man!) who decided to put the word 'coffee' in front of 'cake' so that everyone could feel good about eating dessert for, well, breakfast.

Speaking of breakfast...my wonderful sister was throwing me an engagement brunch the other weekend and knowing my sister (who's KitchenAid mixer is for decoration purposes only and has no measuring cups...yes I know, I don't know how either), I knew I was on call for a delicious treat that was both sweet and rich as it was breakfast. Since the little things in life excite me, I set running with joy to the dessert/breakfast section of my cookbook. A few swift page turns later I landed on what I knew would not only fill our bellies, but would give us an excuse to eat dessert at 10 a.m - Sour Cream Coffee Cake.

Now, this coffee cake is not for the faint of heart. It is rich, dense and oh so filled with sugared topping that swirls magically throughout the center. This cake...I mean breakfast...will keep you going all day, if not make you go back for seconds at lunch time. Dig in with a fork, spoon or just pick it up and gobble it down. Either way you slice it, this coffee cake is down right delish!

Ingredients

BATTER:

1 cup butter

1 3 /4 cups white sugar

2 eggs
1 cup sour cream (I use reduced fat, but whole works fine too...just not non-fat!)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/8 teaspoon salt

TOPPING & FILLING:

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

4 tablespoons melter butter

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Recipe

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan

TOPPING & FILLING:

2. In a medium bowl prepare the filling and set aside: mix 2/3 cups flour, brown sugar, melted butter and cinnamon

BATTER:

3. In a small bowl combine 2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt - set aside

4. In another separate large bowl (or mixer), cream together butter and white sugar until light and fluffy (apx. 1-2 minutes)

5. Add in eggs, one at a time

6. Mix in sour cream and vanilla

7. Slowly add flour mixture until just combined

ASSEMBLY:

8. Pour half the batter into prepared pan

9. Sprinkle half of the topping mixture onto the cake batter

10. Spread the remaining batter over the filling and sprinkle with the rest of the topping mixture

11. Bake 35-40 minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean (tip: tent the cake with foil for the last 20 minutes, it will keep the sugar topping from over browning)

**Make it your own: the center can be filled with whatever you crave...blueberries, apples, nuts, raisins, anything!