Apple Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I LOVE coffee cake for three reasons: 1. It is easy to make. 2. I can use up leftover fruit. 3. It is delicious!

There are many easy coffee cake recipes out there, but this is one of my favourite as we often have just one or two apples left by the end of the week.  If we have had perogies or Mexican food for dinner earlier in the week we will usually have a little sour cream left over too, and we are also usually down to our last egg.  This recipe for apple coffee cake makes good use of these leftovers, only uses 1 egg,  and is easy to whip up and pop in the oven.  I made this apple cake without cinnamon last week,  and it was very good, but feel free to add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon to the crumb mixture if desired.

This is a good breakfast coffee cake as it isn’t too sweet, but it could easily be served as an apple snack cake (cut into small squares.) To serve it for dessert, warm it up a little and add a dollop of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

You can easily substitute other fruit for the apples in this coffee cake recipe.  Try pears, peaches, plums, or 1 1/2 cups of blueberries or Saskatoon berries.  If you are baking a blueberry sour cream coffee cake,  freeze the blueberries for 1/2 hour then sprinkle a little flour with the half-frozen berries to keep them from getting mushy and colouring the coffee cake purple! While it might taste good, a big purple block is sure to turn off any picky eaters in your family.

This apple sour cream coffee cake marked the first time I used my new silicone bakeware, and I made it in the square 9 inch pan.  While I did grease the silicone with butter, I don’t think it was needed, as the silicone was so flexible it simply peeled away from the cake.  Give this recipe a try – and if you make any substitutions and would like to recommend them – by all means drop  us a line.  Happy Baking!

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/4 cups brown sugar

3/4 cups room temperature butter or Parkay margarine

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 egg

3/4 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon organic vanilla extract OR 1/2 teaspoon organic almond extract

2 Granny Smith or other tart apples, peeled, cored, and diced

Method:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter a 9 inch square pan and set aside.  In a large bowl, use a fork to combine flour, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon if you are using it until the mixture is crumbly. Use a tablespoon to spoon out about half of the crumb mixture, and press it into the pan evenly to form the crust.

Add baking soda and salt to the remaining crumb mixture in the bowl, and mix it well. Make a well in the middle for your wet ingredients.  Use a small bowl to whip together the egg, sour cream, and vanilla or almond extract. Pour the wet ingredients into the well in the crumb mixture, and mix gently with a fork – do not overmix or the dough will be tough.  Add in chopped apples or other fruit or berries and mix gently. Use a spatula to  scrape the coffee cake dough mixture into the prepared pan.  Bake for 60 minutes, then insert a knife into the centre. If it comes out clean, cool in the pan on a rack, but if there are sticky bits on the knife put it back in for another ten minutes.

This apple sour cream coffee cake is a perfect recipe for baking with kids, and provides a great way to use up leftovers, and experiment with different fruit and flavor combinations.  If you choose to make a Blueberry Sour Cream Coffee Cake, adding 1 tbsp of lemon juice is a nice touch.  This coffee cake also freezes well, and makes a good option for a potluck, church lunch, or to drop off at a neighbour’s house.