This delicious Valentine’s Day Coffee Cake made with sour cream is light and fluffy and topped with crunchy, nutty, brown sugar-sweetened cinnamon streusel perfect for a Valentine’s Day celebration or quick coffee cake during the week. It’s the perfect combination of texture and sweetness without the heavy icing and sugar overload of a frosted cake (there’s a time and place for that).
We’ll give you one hint why this is the one coffee cake you want in your recipe box: it’s only takes 30 minutes to bake.
In our tech-saturated society, time is precious. Weekend or weekday, we all need more time. On top of that, we crave and deserve homemade but sometimes baking time isn’t in the schedule. Coffeecakes in particular are notorious for taking 75 minutes to bake plus the setup and mix time. That is just pure torture. That’s why we suggest our simplified, all-natural version of this original Joy of Cooking recipe to get that cake mixed and into the oven – pronto. Our version takes just 15 minutes to mix and only 30 minutes to bake. Don’t stress! You can whip this up on the fly because you already have all these ingredients in your pantry.
Unlike its namesake, coffee cake does not usually have coffee in it – it’s meant to be served with coffee or as a lighter alternative type of cake for family or perhaps for guests. It’s a long-standing tradition for ladies’ groups and home-based events because it’s a simple cake to make, presents well without icing, and tastes pretty amazing. Plus, the streusel topping means the cake comes out of the oven ready to eat.
But what we remember most about this vintage recipe is the wonderful aroma of cinnamon and cake baking in the oven. Who doesn’t want to enter a kitchen with this delicious and romantic combination of flavors wafting through the air?
Valentine’s Day Coffee Cake is also a bit unique – it’s a recipe you can start and finish while guests are present and no one will mind – not one bite.
We used pecans in our recipe but offer walnuts as an alternative. Pick whichever nuts you prefer.
Valentine’s Day Coffee Cake
Serves 12 to 16 if cut into squares
Based on the recipe from the Joy of Cooking
Preparation time: 15 minutes.
Baking time: 30 minutes.
Ingredient List:
STREUSEL
2/3 C self-rising flour
2/3 C finely chopped pecans or walnuts
2/3 C brown sugar
5 T unsalted butter, melted
2 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp salt
CAKE
2 C self-rising flour
1 ¼ C sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
4 T unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1 C sugar
2 large eggs
Instructions:
Have all ingredients at room temperature and position a rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 13 x 9-inch pan.
Prepare the streusel. Gently blend all streusel ingredients together with a fork until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Do not overmix, streusel is meant to have large pieces in it. Set aside while you make the cake.
Set up your stand mixer with bowl. Measure the flour into a separate bowl. In a third bowl, combine the sour cream and vanilla, stirring a few times to incorporate the liquid.
To the stand mixer add the softened butter and sugar. Beat on high speed until lightened in color and texture, about 4 - 5 minutes. Beat in eggs one at a time.
This cake is made just like cupcakes: dry/wet/dry/wet/dry. To the butter mixture in the stand mixer bowl, add the flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 parts, beating on low speed or stirring until smooth and scraping the sides of the bowl as necessary. You should not need to mix each portion more than 30 seconds to a minute for each step. Scrape the batter into the pan and spread evenly. Sprinkle the streusel on top making sure to cover the entire pan including corners.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. We suggest 30-35 minutes, checking at 30 minutes and baking several more minutes at a time if needed. Let cool briefly in the pan on a rack.
Serve warm with coffee, sliced bananas or berries, scrambled eggs or whatever makes your meal a romantic event and enjoy!