Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This moist cake is so delicious it doesn't need a frosting or glaze. The pecans are optional; one of my brothers has a nut allergy so we used to make this without nuts and it was still wonderful. There's enough sugar and cinnamon that there's no need to even increase the amounts if you choose to omit the pecans. But I like using the pecans and because I buy them in bulk and keep them in the freezer, the expense isn't too bad.


Sour Cream Coffee Cake

1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans
1 box yellow cake mix
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
3/4 cup water
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup oil

Mix sugar, cinnamon, and pecans; set aside. In a large mixing bowl, combine remaining ingredients and mix with an electric mixer for the time indicated on cake box. Generously grease a Bundt pan with butter. Evenly spread some batter into the bottom of the pan. You want to use no more than one-third of the batter for this and using a little less than one-third is ideal, since the next two layers will hit where the pan is wider. Sprinkle half of the pecan mixture over the batter in the pan. Drop about half of the remaining batter by spoonfuls over the pecans. Gently spread the batter evenly, being careful to not displace the pecan mixture below. Cover the batter with the remaining pecan mixture. Top with the remaining batter, gently spreading evenly and making sure to completely cover the pecan mixture. Bake at 325° for 1 hour. Cool completely before removing from pan.

Kahlua Cake

I got the recipe for this delectable cake at our local supermarket. At first, I was intimidated by how expensive it looked to make it, but since I already had a bottle of Kahlua on hand and bought the remaining ingredients at Aldi, it really wasn't too bad. In searching online for recommended Kahlua substitutes, I noticed that some suggest using strong coffee with a hint of powdered cocoa. However, plain Kahlua does not actually contain any cocoa/chocolate. If I were going to substitute it, I would just use double-strength coffee with a dash of vanilla extract; this wouldn't give the exact same flavor as using liqueur but the cake should still taste wonderful.


Kahlua Cake

4 large eggs
2 pkgs. instant vanilla pudding
1 box devil's food cake mix
16 oz. sour cream
3/4 c. Kahlua liqueur
1/4 c. canola oil
1 c. semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 block (4 oz.) cream cheese, softened
1 container (8 oz.) whipped topping, thawed
1 c. whole milk

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Mix in 1 package of pudding, cake mix, sour cream, Kahlua, and oil. Add chocolate chips and stir until just blended. Spread batter evenly into a greased and floured 12-cup Bundt pan. Bake at 50 to 60 minutes or until top springs back when lightly pressed. [I recommend checking the center with a toothpick also.]

Cool cake in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake plate to serve warm, or cool completely on wire rack.

Meanwhile, prepare vanilla topping: In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until smooth; fold in whipped topping. In a small bowl, whisk remaining package of pudding with milk. Stir pudding mixture into cream cheese mixture until well blended. Serve warm cake with vanilla topping. Yields 16 servings.
　
Note: 2% milk works just fine. :) Also it's important to beat the cream cheese thoroughly. I didn't and it ended up rather lumpy. Still tasted good though!