Recipe: Overnight Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Lemon-Blueberry Variation

OVERNIGHT SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

FOR THE STREUSEL:
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 cup pecans, almonds or walnuts, chopped
FOR THE CAKE:
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 3/4 cups sour cream
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

TO MAKE THE STREUSEL:
Using your fingers, mix brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon together in medium bowl until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in nuts and set aside.

TO MAKE THE CAKE:
Coat two 9-inch cake pans with cooking spray.

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together in large bowl; set aside.

In separate bowl, whisk sour cream, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs and melted butter together until smooth. Gently whisk egg mixture into flour mixture until batter looks smooth and well combined (do not overmix). Scrape batter into prepared pans and smooth tops. Sprinkle streusel evenly over top of both cakes.

TO STORE:
Wrap pans tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to 24 hours or freeze up to 1 month. (Do not thaw frozen cakes before baking.)

WHEN READY TO BAKE:
Adjust an oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Unwrap cakes and bake until tops are golden and toothpick inserted into center comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes if refrigerated, or 40 to 45 minutes if frozen.

Let cakes cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before serving.

VARIATION:

LEMON-BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE:
Toss 2 cups fresh blueberries (or 1 1/2 cups frozen, thawed, rinsed and dried) with 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour. Follow recipe for coffee cake, stirring 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest into flour mixture and stirring floured berries into finished batter. Bake as directed.

Makes two (9-inch) coffeecakes, each serving 6
Source: The Best Make-Ahead Recipe by Cook's Illustrated