Coffeecake Bundt Cake

A tender, not too sweet coffeecake with a cinnamon, pecan and brown sugar streusel, this is a delicious treat with your coffee or a cold glass of milk.

My bundt cake pan gets a lot of use in my kitchen. The fact is, that I like desserts that I don’t have to fuss with too much.  When you make a bundt cake, the prep work is very minimal but when you take it out of the oven and serve it on a fancy plate, you’re rewarded with a stunning dessert. It’s beautiful enough to serve for company and easy enough to make for a low key evening with the family.

This is a recipe that I have been using from Cooks Illustrated for the past few years. Every time I make it for company, everyone asks if the recipe is on my blog, and I’m really surprised I haven’t shared it yet. Coffeecakes are really great. I love that they aren’t too sweet but are tender and soft. I’m glad Sergi shares my opinion; this happens to be his favorite bundt cake. He’s very partial to both coffeecakes, pecans and bundt cakes, so it’s a score on all counts. Cinnamon and pecans add great flavor and crunch. No wonder they are called “coffeecakes”, since I can’t think of anything that would be better with a nice cup of coffee. A warm cup of tea or a cold glass of milk are other great alternatives, depending on what you like. Leftovers store really well too, so you can pack some into your lunchbox the next day. 

Ingredients:

Streusel:

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 – 3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter, cold, cut into 2 pieces
1/2 – 1 cup pecans, chopped

Cake:
12 Tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
4 large eggs
1 1/2 cups sour cream
1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 – 1 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a standard size bundt cake pan with baking spray or grease it with butter or oil. This is the bundt cake pan that I use.

Streusel:

Combine the flour, granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon in a food processor. Remove 1 1/4 cup of this mixture and put it into a small bowl. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar to this mixture. Set aside. This will be the Streusel Filling used inside the cake. Add the butter and pecans to the food processor and pulse about 10 times, until you have coarse crumbs. This will be the Streusel Topping. 

Cake:

The butter is much easier to cut when it’s cold, so do it when it comes right out of the refrigerator and set aside until it softens a bit.

Whisk the eggs, 1 cup sour cream and vanilla extract in a medium bowl and set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixer (you can also use a large bowl and a hand mixer), combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined.

Add the cubed butter and the remaining 1/2 cup sour to the dry ingredients. Mix on low speed until and the mixture is moistened and you still see some chunks of butter.

Increase the speed to medium and mix until it all comes together. Scrape down the side of the bowl to make sure it’s all evenly combined.  Add the egg mixture in 3 additions on medium speed until the batter is smooth.

Spread 2 cups of the batter in the bottom of the prepared bundt pan. Sprinkle half of the streusel filling on top of it. Repeat with another 2 cups of batter and then the remaining half of streusel filling, finishing with the remaining batter. Sprinkle the streusel topping (with the butter and pecans) over the last layer of the bundt cake.

Bake in the preheated oven for 45 min – 1 hour, until a wooden skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Cool the bundt cake in the pan for 15-30 minutes, then invert it onto a serving plate.

Store the cake at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap, aluminum foil or a cake storage container.

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