CINNAMON AND WALNUT COFFEE CAKE

Note from source: This simple recipe, a fairly standard sour-cream batter, has been in my file for a long time. The batter is silky smooth and can handle many other additions, such as sliced ripe fruit (peaches, nectarines, plums) or berries (raspberries, blueberries). A sandy mixture of granulated sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon and ground walnuts becomes both a filling and a topping for the cake. It is at its most agreeable best when eaten slightly warm, for that is when the full aroma of the nuts and cinnamon comes forth.

CAKE BATTER:
1 1/2 cups unsifted cake flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
8 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 extra-large eggs
1 cup sour cream blended with 3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
CINNAMON-SUGAR-WALNUT "SAND":
1/4 cup ground walnuts
1 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 9x9x2-inch baking pan.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and cardamom; set aside.

In the large bowl of an electric mixer, cream the butter on moderate speed for 3-5 minutes. Add the 3/4 cup granulated sugar and 1/4 cup brown sugar, and beat for 3 minutes. Blend in the vanilla. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition. On low speed, alternately add the sifted mixture in 3 additions with the sour cream in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the sifted mixture. Stir in the 1/4 cup chopped walnuts.

Stir together all the ingredients for the cinnamon-sugar-walnut "sand."

Spoon half the batter into the baking pan. Sprinkle over about 1/3 of the "sand." Spoon over the remaining batter. Sprinkle the remaining "sand" on top of the batter.

Bake the cake for 35-40 minutes, or until a wooden pick withdraws from the center of the cake without any clinging particles of unbaked batter. Cool the cake in the pan on a rack.

If serving warm, cut squares of the warm cake directly from the pan. Otherwise, after 5 minutes of cooling, invert the cake onto another cooling rack, then invert again to cool right-side-up.

Makes 1 (9-inch) cake
Source: Lisa Yockelson, The Washington Post FOOD Section, 9/14/94