Sour Cream Coffee Cake Loaf with Cinnamon Swirl & Brown Sugar Streusel

By Sprig Originals ✓ · cooked up in Sprig

All the best parts of a bakery coffee cake — the buttery ribbon of cinnamon in the middle, the craggy brown sugar streusel on top — packed into a tall, tender loaf you can slice for dessert. Sour cream keeps the crumb moist for days, and a thin vanilla glaze drizzled over the warm streusel sets into a sweet, crackly finish.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon fine salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 1/3 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped (optional)

• 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 pinch fine salt

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled, 220 g)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened to 68°F
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 tablespoon milk or heavy cream, plus more as needed
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 pinch fine salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower third. Grease a 9x5-inch loaf pan and line it with a parchment sling that overhangs the two long sides.
2. Make the streusel: in a small bowl, whisk the 1/2 cup flour, 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and salt. Pour in the melted butter and stir with a fork until the mixture looks like damp sand, then squeeze handfuls together to make pea- and marble-sized clumps. Stir in the nuts if using and refrigerate while you mix the batter.
3. Make the swirl: in another small bowl, stir together the 1/3 cup dark brown sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 tablespoon flour and pinch of salt. Break up any lumps with your fingers.
4. Whisk the 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt together in a medium bowl.
5. In a large bowl with a hand mixer (or a stand mixer with the paddle), beat the softened butter and granulated sugar on medium-high for 3 to 4 minutes, until pale and fluffy, scraping the bowl once. Add the eggs one at a time, beating 30 seconds after each, then beat in the vanilla.
6. Add the flour mixture in three additions alternating with the sour cream in two, mixing on low just until each addition disappears. Stop while a few streaks of flour remain and finish by hand with a spatula — the batter should be thick and scoopable, like frosting. Do not overmix.
7. Spread a little over half the batter into the pan and smooth it flat. Sprinkle the cinnamon swirl mixture evenly over the surface, leaving a scant 1/2 inch bare around the edges. Dollop the remaining batter over the top in spoonfuls and gently spread to cover, then drag a butter knife through the loaf in 3 or 4 lazy S-shapes, going no deeper than two-thirds of the way down.
8. Scatter the chilled streusel clumps over the top and press them very lightly so they anchor into the batter without sinking.
9. Bake 60 to 70 minutes, tenting loosely with foil at the 40-minute mark once the streusel is deep golden. The loaf is done when a thin skewer inserted into the center comes out with no wet batter (a few moist crumbs are fine) and the center reads 205 to 208°F on an instant-read thermometer.
10. Cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes, then lift the loaf out by the parchment and cool on the rack at least 45 minutes more — cutting too early makes the swirl gummy.
11. Whisk the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt until smooth and just pourable, adding milk 1/2 teaspoon at a time if needed. Drizzle over the cooled loaf and let the glaze set 15 minutes before slicing into thick pieces with a serrated knife.

Chef's tips

Nutrition (per serving, estimated)

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