For a while there I thought I was getting the hang of this whole “infant and toddler” thing.
I had craftily coordinated everyone’s nap schedule so that I could have a 30-60 minute overlap between Charlotte’s afternoon nap and Eleanora’s nap; in other words, a glorious chunk of quiet time during the day when I could do fun, self-centered things such as filling out health insurance applications or scrubbing toilets or prepping dinner… all alone. 🙂
But I’m starting to think these girls are in cahoots against me… because, lately, Charlotte has been emerging from her nap only about 10 minutes after Eleanora goes down. Hmpf.
So while I had planned to bake our Christmas coffeecake (and live to blog about it) all alone…
… Charlotte had other ideas. So I ended up having an assistant.
Luckily, this coffeecake is not only moist and buttery and studded with crunchy bits of sugar and pecans… it is also very EASY to make.
Since it starts with a mix, you can throw it together pretty quickly, even if you have gifts that need wrapping, or wassail that needs wassailing, or an assistant who will only sit this way for a few minutes before demanding to be held.
I will be serving this coffeecake on Christmas morning alongside my family’s traditional Sausage Casserole (pdf), but it would also be awesome with the Ham & Gruyere Quiche (pdf) I posted recently. My assistant and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!
EASY SOUR CREAM COFFEECAKE (printable pdf)
- 1 C chopped pecans
- 1/4 C brown sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 box butter golden cake mix
- 1/4 C granulated sugar
- 4 eggs
- 1 C sour cream
- 3/4 C vegetable or canola oil
Preheat oven to 325. Grease a bundt pan with a generous amount of cooking spray or with butter.
In a small bowl, mix together pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Remove 1 Tbsp of the dry cake mix and stir it into the pecan mixture.
In a mixing bowl, beat together remaining cake mix, granulated sugar, eggs, sour cream, and oil.
Spread 1/3 of the pecan mixture in the bottom of the greased bundt pan. Pour half the cake batter on top, followed by 1/3 of the pecan mixture, then the remaining cake batter. Finish by sprinkling the remaining pecan mixture on top.
Bake until the cake is set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes.
Allow the cake to cool in the pan on a cooling rack before gently inverting to remove the cake from the pan.
The coffeecake can be made a couple of weeks in advance and frozen. To freeze, first allow the cake to cool completely. Wrap securely in plastic wrap, then in two layers of heavy duty aluminum foil before putting in the freezer. Allow the cake to thaw at room temperature, covered, for 24 hours before serving.
Merry Christmas!
