Grandma’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake – An Old Fashioned Pound Cake Recipe

Grandma’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe is an old fashioned pound cake recipe made in a Bundt pan.  This moist coffee cake is perfect for breakfast or as dessert, especially when served with a hot cup of coffee.

We love a good, old-fashioned coffee cake recipe any day of the week, with or without coffee. It can be breakfast as much as dessert, and everyone is happy with this moist and delicious version. Many people wonder why sour cream is in the list of ingredients, and that is because it makes the cake moist. Yum!

Why does sour cream make a cake moist?

To get into the science of the matter, sour cream is a naturally acidic ingredient. The acid in the sour cream acts as a tenderizer to the gluten in the flour. Sour cream is also fatty in nature lending to a more dense, moist final texture.

Does Sour Cream Coffee Cake need to be refrigerated?

If you are going to consume the cake within 1 – 2 days, the moist sour cream coffee cake can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature.  However, any more than 2 days, go ahead and refrigerate the cake to prevent molding.

Grandma’s Classic Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Grandma used this as her go-to coffee cake recipe. She got the recipe from a friend, and then she passed it down to our generation. The recipe can be found in the list of recipes she helped Barbara record and also in her wooden recipe box that Barbara still uses today. We decided that it was just too good not to share here on our blog too.

We would put this Sour Cream Coffee Cake right up there with Paula Deen’s or Martha Stewart’s!

This coffee cake is made in a Bundt pan so be sure to grease and flour the pan generously before adding the batter.  Do not skip the flouring step; this can cause the cake to stick to the pan when removing.

Classic Coffee Cake Ingredient List

Butter

Margarine

Sugar

Eggs

Flour

Baking Soda

Baking Powder

Sour Cream

Vanilla

Chopped Nuts

Cinnamon

Moist Coffee Cake

Sour cream is the key ingredient. It keeps the cake extra moist. The recipe also calls for a half cup of butter AND a half cup of margarine. We never asked Grandma why both butter and margarine but we can’t argue about the results!

The cake also includes two layers or cinnamon, sugar, and chopped nuts which take it over the top. There is no need for an icing or a glaze; this recipe is perfect on it’s own.

An important step is to let the cake cool in the pan for an hour.  Grandma’s orders!

How to make Old Fashioned Pound Cake Recipe:

Full recipe steps and ingredient amounts for Old Fashioned Coffee Cake is at the bottom of the page.

1. Beat the butter, margarine and sugar until creamy.
2. Add eggs one at a time and mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and baking soda.
4. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with sour cream, mixing after each addition.
5. Add vanilla and mix until incorporated.
6. In a small bowl mix together the cinnamon, sugar and nuts.
7. Grease and flour Bundt pan.
8. Pour one-third of cake batter into prepared pan, sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture on top. Add another third of the batter and top with cinnamon mixture. Add the last of the batter.
9. Bake for one hour or until done. Let cool in pan for at least one hour.

Notes About Classic Coffee Cake Recipe

• Be sure to soften butter and margarine before creaming with sugar.
• Room temperature eggs work best for baking.
• Grease Bundt pan and flour lightly on the inner and outer edges. Do not skip the flouring step; this is what helps the cake come out of the pan in a clean fashion.
• Let the cake cool in the pan for 1 hour.
• Take a knife and run around the inner and outer edges gently before inverting to remove from the pan.
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Old Fashioned Cake Recipes

Granny’s Boston Cream Cake

Old Fashioned Rhubarb Cake 

Fanciful Fudge Cake

Butterscotch Zucchini Cake

Granny’s German Chocolate Cake