I have been in the process of rebuilding myself for a while. Since I last put up a post, I’ve had my third and very last baby. She is beautiful and sweet. She completes our family and she’s adored by everyone. Now I need to rebuild my body, my career, and find myself again so that I can make sure I can raise all these babies of mine as a whole person and not just as the harried shell I usually feel like.

Part of my personal rebuild is through exercise. I have found several different workout sources that suit me. These workouts are usually fairly short, are always done in the privacy of my home, and very seldom require me to make a fool of myself by requiring me to do some sort of coordinated dancing. If I were ever dragged to a Zumba class and dared attempt that workout I would die of mortification in the first ten minutes.

I’m very slowly working on how I can build some sort of career. I’m taking a course online and I will likely take several more to rebuild my lost skills. I don’t plan on job hunting for a while because I want to be with my little Evelyn at home for a while yet. That bright ambitious person I used to be is around somewhere and these courses are helping me find her.

Finding myself again is a much harder task than taking a few courses and squeezing in the odd workout. Part of how I’m doing that is getting into blogging again. There may have been a metaphorical minute where I wanted to make a career out of this site, but that notion is long past me now. What I plan on doing here is sharing recipes that I’m very happy with, getting rid of recipes that I’m not proud of anymore, and updating older recipes with better photos or improved recipe writing.

This cake was originally posted as a gluten free coffee cake that I had adapted from a Martha Stewart recipe I’d cut out of a magazine a lifetime ago. I’ve made this recipe countless times but I haven’t made it in its gluten free iteration for years. Nobody in my house follows a gluten free diet anymore so I wanted to update my recipe to reflect that. The ganache is also a relatively new addition and I can’t believe I ever served it without it.

I hope you will stick around a while with me as I rebuild. Starting with a cake that is easy to make and easy to love was where I want to begin again. xoxo

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter softened
3/4 granulated sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp Bailey's Irish Cream
1 cup sour cream

Filling

2 tsp instant espresso powder
1 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tbsp raw or organic granulated sugar

Ganache Topping

1/3 cup good quality chocolate chips
1/3 cup whipping cream 35% cream
1 tbsp corn syrup

Instructions

Butter and flour your bundt pan and preheat the oven to 350 F.
In a small bowl, mix the instant coffee with the cocoa powder and 2 tbsp of organic (or raw) granulated sugar and set it aside.
In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set it aside for the time being.
In the bowl of a stand mixer (or other large mixing bowl if using a hand mixer), mix the butter with the granulated and brown sugar and beat until fluffy with the paddle attachment.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.
Add the Bailey's and vanilla extract and mix well.
Alternate adding one third of the flour with one third of the sour cream, mixing well in between each addition until it is all incorporated.
Pour the dry filling mixture into the bowl. Turn the mixer on and off quickly 3 or 4 times. If you are using a hand mixer then use a spatula and create the streaks by using a figure eight pattern once or twice to give you the streaks in the batter. This should give you some streaks of filling in the batter. You don't want to over mix at this point because the filling will just disappear into the batter.
Spoon the batter into the bundt pan and give the pan a light tap on the counter to settle to batter into the pan well.
Bake at 350 F for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean when you test the cake. Let the cake cool in the pan for 5 minutes and then turn it out onto a cooling rack.
Let the cake cool completely before topping with the ganache.

Ganache

Put the chocolate chips in a heat proof bowl
In a small pot, heat the cream until bubble barely start to form around the edges.
Pour the hot cream over the chocolate chips and add corn syrup.
Let it sit for a minute and then stir until all the chocolate is melted and it is glossy. Let the ganache cool slightly, leave it about 5 - 10 minutes or so.
Place a plate or some parchment paper under the cake that is still on the cooling rack to catch the ganache drips.
Pour the ganache over the top of the cake and allow it to drip down the sides. Pour it slowly so that you can use the ganache to fill in any spots to create the look you want with the ganache. Wait at least a half an hour before serving so that the ganache sets a little bit.