Berry Coffee Cake

I baked this coffee cake on Friday.  I meant to post about it this weekend and then was just too busy having an amazing weekend.  I hope everyone had as wonderful of a 4th as I did, despite the pouring rain.  It is Seattle, after all.  If it didn't rain on the 4th of July no one would know what to do with themselves.

This coffee cake is from Aunt Sophie, my uncle's great-aunt.  I added some berries that were just getting a little too ripe.  You can totally skip the berries too, just cook it for probably 10 minutes less.  The berries add a lot of moisture.

Normally this coffee cake is baked in a cake pan but I decided to use a bundt pan.  The only downside is you miss out on the crumbly cinnamon-sugar nut topping.  If you want to make it in a cake pan, use half the cinnamon-sugar as a middle layer and half on top.

I made two berry/cinnamon sugar layers.  Normally this coffee cake is baked in a cake pan but I decided to use a bundt pan.  The only downside is you miss out on the crumbly cinnamon-sugar nut topping. 

You can see all the berries poking through. There may have been too many berries, but my philosophy with berries is to add so many that they being to undermine the structural integrity of the cake.

I think using only blueberries would also have helped with the structural integrity.  I was, I must admit, totally surprised when it actually slide right out of the bundt pan.  My cakes usually stick and I have to reassemble pieces with frosting.  

I really liked the way it turned out.  I hope you enjoy it too!  As the story goes, Aunt Sophie would announce "This is delicious!" whenever she would bring one of her dishes to the table, so in her honor: This is delicious!

Berry Coffee Cake

1/2 lb. butter
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup berries (optional)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup nuts

1. Cream butter and 1 cup granulated sugar until light and fluggy.
2. Add eggs one at a time.
3. Blend in sour cream and vanilla.
4. Add flour, baking soda and baking powder. Mix gently until just combined.
5. Grease a bundt pan. Mix the cinnamon, brown sugar and 1/4 cup granulated sugar with the nuts.
6. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture into the bundt pan.
7. Add about 1/3 of the batter. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the cinnamon mixture over the batter with 1/2 of the berries. Repeat.
8. Add remaining batter and smooth.
9. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 45-50 minutes.

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