Sock-It-To-Me Cake — Hint of Southern

My family tradition growing up was to have coffee cake for breakfast every Sunday. Some of the different cakes/pastries were New York Crumb Cake, Bear Claws, and Sock-It-To-Me Cake. A friend of mine shared a recipe of Sock-It-To-Me Cake with me and I have found that it is great for when you have company because it feeds a crowd and is delicious!

For this particular coffee cake, there are three different parts: Streusel, Cake, and Glaze. Even though there are three main steps, you can use two in the same container…this helps your dishwasher.

Streusel

2 T All-Purpose Flour

2 T Unsalted Butter (Melted)

1/4 cup Light Brown Sugar (Packed)

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

3/4 cup Pecans (Toasted)

First, melt the unsalted butter and let it cool. Pour the pecans on a sheet pan and toast in the oven at 350 degrees for about 3-5 minutes or until you start to smell them. Use the food processor to process the flour, melted butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, and pecans until finely ground. Pour the streusel into a bowl and then wipe out the food processor to use for the next step.

Cake

2-1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Baking Soda

1 tsp Salt

2 cups Granulated Sugar

4 Eggs (Room Temperature)

1 Cup Sour Cream (Room Temperature)

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

16 T Unsalted Butter (2 Sticks - Melted)

*Note: Always look ahead at a recipe to see if any ingredients need to be at room temperature.

Before preheating the oven to 325 degrees, move the rack to the middle of the oven so there is enough room for the bundt pan. When the recipe says grease the pan, I like to take a paper towel and spread butter onto the whole pan. Once it is greased, sprinkle in some flour and shake around until the whole pan is covered. Melt the butter in the microwave, so it can cool before adding to the mixture. In a medium size bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Using the food processor again, combine the sugar, eggs, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. With the food processor on a low speed, add butter until incorporated and then the flour mixture. Pulse until just combined.

Pour half of the batter into the bundt pan and then pour all of the streusel on top. Then pour the rest of the batter over the streusel. Use a knife to swirl the batter and streusel topping. This will help incorporate the streusel throughout more of the coffee cake. Smooth the batter with the spatula. Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes and until the toothpick comes out clean. I had to do it a little longer in the oven than 60 minutes because it was still unbaked in the middle. Just be patient, but be careful to not over bake the cake. **I tried this in my new oven and it was within the cooking time limit this time.** Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes. After it has cooled, place the rack upside down on the top of the bundt pan and then flip over. The cake will slip out cleanly because of the flour and butter.

Glaze

1-1/4 cups Confectioners’ Sugar

1-1/2 T Whole Milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

While the cake is cooling in the pan, make the glaze by whisking together confectioners’ sugar, milk and vanilla until smooth.

Place the rack in a rimmed baking sheet, so it will collect all of the glaze. Pour the glaze over the warm cake. Cool completely before serving.

I mentioned that this is great for company due to the size, but it is also great because you can make it the night before and serve it for breakfast or brunch.