Every so often, as happened last week, I am in public with new people when it comes up that I have a food blog. And then I am left to explain it, because while this may be your pretty standard food blog (with some posts about life and books I love thrown in for good measure), the title can imply a lot. The truth is, I’m pretty proud of the fact that this is a pretty standard food blog and that if you threw a different title on top people might not notice the lack of things like tomatoes and onions and fruit in what I cook.
But the point remains that this is a blog about picky eating, and while I may not be as picky as I once was, there are still plenty of food hang ups that remain (some of which I feel sure I will never ever get over).
I’ve been thinking about this a lot, too, because I have a child that is going to eat real food soon, and as a result I hope that I can be some help in that department. All the time I hear stories from other moms about how picky their children are, and all I feel like I can offer right now is to tell them that there is hope because I was once the pickiest eater in the world! and my mom joked about not wanting to come eat at my house because she would only be served peanut butter and jelly! and now I have a food blog!
I’m sure I will have more to say on this subject in the coming months and years. I of course don’t want Evelyn to be an extremely picky eater (although I’m half expecting it because karma. also genetics re: taste buds.), but I am excited to talk about her food experiences once we start her on solids here in a couple months.
But in the meantime you are just stuck with me, and my relative non-pickyness. And today you are stuck with coffee cake. And in the spirit of this being a blog about picky eating, I will tell you that when I was younger I used to claim to not like coffee cake because I was sure that it had coffee in it. I mean, why else would it be called coffee cake? I actually think my first experience with coffee cake might have been a coffee flavored one. But I was so pleased to find out that this is not that case and that really coffee cake is just regular cake that you get to eat for breakfast. And when it is studded with chocolate and cinnamon sugar there is no way that you could argue against it.
Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake
serves 10-12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 50 minutes
For the cake:
– 3 large eggs, separated
– 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
– 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
– 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
– 2 cups (16 oz.) sour cream
– 3 cups all-purpose flour
– 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 3/4 teaspoon fine salt
For the filling and topping:
– 2 cups (10-12 oz.) semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
– 1/2 cup granulated sugar
– 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 13 inch baking dish.
- In a medium sized bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, using the same electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Then beat in the egg yolks and the vanilla.
- Sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. (A note here–I didn’t sift mine and it turned out fine.) Alternately add the dry ingredients and the sour cream to butter mixture in batches, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and mixing after each addition. (Another note–I dumped all of mine in at once and it turned out fine.) Use a rubber spatula to scrape the bottom of the bowl and make sure that all ingredients are mixed together.
- Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the sugar and cinnamon for the filling/topping.
- Spread half of the batter into the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle half the cinnamon sugar mixture and 1 cup of the chocolate chips evenly over the top. Then dollop spoonfuls of the remaining batter over the top. Use a rubber spatula and do our best to spread it out evenly. Then sprinkle the remaining sugar, followed by the remaining chocolate chips, over the top. Press the chocolate chips down just a bit with your fingertips so that they adhere to the batter.
- Bake for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (save some melted chocolate). Serve warm or at room temperature.
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
I remember being suspicious/confused about coffee cake when I was little too! My mom made it occasionally and it just seemed too good to be true that it was cake you were allowed to eat for breakfast, and the “coffee” in the name didn’t mean anything.
(Of course, now, if someone could put my morning coffee into cake form I’d be a huge fan.)