Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Orange & Chocolate
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It took 32 years for me to start listening to my mother. I’m only just beginning to understand how annoying this must have been, only just appreciating how many gray hairs I may have caused, only just accepting how many wrinkles I may have induced.
The other day I asked Ella (my four-year old) to help me pick up a mess she created, and she said: “Um, you can just do it all by yourself.” I’ve read enough self-help parenting books to know that freaking out is not the appropriate reaction to this response, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t want to strangle her.
I have it in for me. Every time Ella yells: “No Mom, I’m telling you a question!” I think of my poor mother and all the times she offered advice only to receive pushback.
Why was it so hard for me to just say, “Yes! Of course! That’s a great idea!” every time my mother told me to “Enunciate!” or to “Eat [my] greens!” or to “Put [my] shoulders back!”?
Why couldn’t I have just said, “You’re right,” when she told me the best chickens come from her kosher market, the best lamb from Australia?
Why couldn’t I have just smiled when she told me not to frown?
Because she is right. She is ALWAYS right.
And for this, I have started to listen: I now save all of my receipts. I keep a journal. I floss. I salvage the juices from that roasted kosher chicken, and I cook potatoes in those juices on subsequent nights. They are the best potatoes in the world.
And it seems her granddaughter is listening, too: Yesterday, Ella dropped a box of toothpicks all over the floor and asked for help picking it up because she was too tired to do it all by herself. As I knelt on the ground next to her, she looked at me and said, “Many hands make light work.” Yes they do, Ella. Yes they do. My mother would be so proud.
…or chopped chocolate. This Guittard chocolate is delicious:
Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Orange & Chocolate
- Total Time: 1 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 2 loaves
Description
Inspired by a recipe in More From Macrina
Notes: The original recipe calls for an orange syrup, a chocolate glaze, almonds, and a number of other ingredients/changes, so please check out the original if you are looking for the Macrina version.
I absolutely love this cake — the texture is super moist, and the orange zest and juice offer the nicest complement to the chocolate.
Ingredients
- 1¾ (224 g) cups unbleached all-purpose flour
- 1/2 (114 g) cup sugar
- 1/2 (116 g) cup light brown sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Zest of 1 orange
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed (or not) orange juice
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 cup butter, melted
- a scant cup semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate from a bar
Instructions
- Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 325˚F. Grease two 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pans or a bundt pan with butter or nonstick spray.
- Whisk together the flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix in the orange zest with your fingers until evenly distributed. Set aside.
- Whisk together the orange juice, vanilla, eggs, and sour cream in a separate medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
- Whisk wet and dry ingredients together. Pour in melted butter and stir to combine. Fold in chocolate chips or chopped chocolate.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the cake is golden brown on top and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. If you have an instant-read thermometer, it should register 200ºF. Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a plate.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 – 60 minutes
- Category: Quick Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
146 Comments on “Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Orange & Chocolate”
mmmmm….Yummy!
My Mom liked to say “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”. (guess that didn’t apply to her criticisms lol)
Thank you for hosting the giveaway!
My mom has always told me (and she still tells me!) that I need to pick my battles. Some things just aren’t worth stressing about, and it’s only going to make life stressful and use up energy that could go toward something awesome. 🙂
My mom didn’t give out too much advice, but she taught me not to be too terribly upset when we got lost…which is often when she drives.
My mom always tell me to help others as much as I can. She definitely puts that in action and helps the people around her. That is something I truly admire.
Thanks for hosting this giveaway. That coffee cake sounds incredible!
Your mother was right Australia does have the best lamb.
A question you have included the metric measurements (which I love) so are the tablespoon and cup measurements in metric? I know our teaspoon is the same but the others are different sizes.
Love your blog.
Carol.
My beautiful mother taught me to give of myself. And give, and give, and give. And that new clothes are not important.
My mother is full of odd-bit advice. However, the best odd thing she taught me was to hold the blade of scissors rather than the handles when not using them to cut. This has saved me quite a few stabs and snips. Also, everything seems to be a “fire hazard” when growing up (even things that simply warm up.) So, I’ve become quite careful with anything that heats. Not counting all the wonderful life advice and positive energy she has given me. Thanks mom!
my mom told me to expect the best but prepare for the worst!
We were just talking about this the other day. My Mother always warned me not to stick my tongue on a doorknob, etc. when it was freezing outside! Of course, I had to learn this out the hard way when I was six or seven years old. LOL.
The first piece of advice from my mom that really stuck with me? How to properly load a dishwasher.
My mom has become one of my closest friends. I thought moving back home after college (since rent is unreasonably high in the city I work in) was going to be a drag. But, I’ve been living at home for almost two years now while I’ve been working and I never thought it would be so good for our relationship. My dad worked for NASA when I was a kid. Growing up I thought only people who were good at math and science (aka my sisters and my dad) were smart.
Over the years, I’ve learned that my mom is probably the smartest of us all. She’s given me countless pieces of advice – but perhaps the one I remember and cherish the most is “Don’t cry over spilled milk.” Which I know is a cliche piece of advice, except when it’s actually said about a spilled gallon of milk that’s pouring out of the entry way and down the front steps of our house – like a lactose waterfall. Which may have accidentally been my fault when after grocery shopping I thought my mom was closer behind me and accidentally bumped her with our door. She dropped the milk and it rushed down the steps. I was horrified at first – fearing that I’d hurt her and how mad my dad would be. But, then she started to laugh at the sight of the milk waterfall and our golden retriever who was feverishly lapping it up. We cleaned up the mess, washed off the front steps, bought a replacement gallon of milk and she said we didn’t have to tell my dad. We ended up telling him years later – but that was when I learned that she always has my back – and that sometimes it’s just not worth crying over spilled milk.
My parents were always hosting when we were growing up – extended family, friends, baby showers, post-funeral meals, birthdays. My mom taught me how to be a gracious host, to always have enough food and how to prep like the dickens so you could look relax during the event.
everyone new years day mom said to us “study hard. eat well so you can study hard”. she’s a Korean tiger mom.
“If it is worth doing, my darling, it is worth doing right”. Gosh…I miss that sweet old girl and her advise.
My Mom also said that helping others is never a wast of time. I guess she was an early believer that karma is a bitch.
My mother always told me to think before I speak, to avoid getting myself in trouble or hurting others.
My mom always told me to be patient with people and with myself, to be happy even when I’m sad
My mother always told me to stand up straight.
She also always said when using raw egg white always rinse and pat dry the egg first. My mother also told us kids to always respect grown ups even if we didn’t agree with what they had to say.
My mom always told me to “say your prayers” she knew how much a personal relationship with God would help me throughout my life =)
My mom always said to live within your means! It’s tempting to charge up a lifestyle you can’t afford.
My Moms funniest advice was “if you can make good tortillas, you’re ready to get married”. My sister learned to make tortillas at 11 years of age. LOL!!!! ❤️
My mother always advised to ‘Bloom where you’re planted’. This has been wonderful advice as I have moved several times in the last five years. It’s easy to get caught up in the things you don’t like about a new town or be sad about the friends you are leaving, but the real challenge is to start over again beautifully each time.
My Mom’s advice—pretty is and pretty does and if the shoe fits, wear it.
Oh yeah—-lots of advice about clean bra straps. Writing this made me laugh.
Thank you. I am a HUGE proponent of Fair Trade. Yahoo for you for giving it some ‘air’ time. The coffee cake by the way looks divine. I love the mix of ingredients and flavors.
my mom always said to lead with your headlights…
Always wear clean underwear
So many of my mom’ wisest words related to the kitchen and cooking! Roll a lemon before slicing to make it juicier, don’t be fooled by the ultra skinny asparagus, go for the uniformly thicker stalks, how to slice onions, etc. But the best: taste, taste, taste throughout the cooking process!
My mother put a very strong emphasis on labeling things correctly. Especially when I kept loosing my water bottles at school. And, also keeping copies of important documents, because you may never know when you need them. Both proved very useful in life.
When Flappy Fowl was 1st released, prior to installation, it
only questioned for two permissions’Internet access and blocking the unit
from shutting down. It appears the reply to that issue is
“of course” and “no” all at the moment. The fake tale was almost
believable considering that the extremely addictive high quality of the video game is to conquer the
optimum score, which can direct to stress for some users.
My Mom often said, “Don’t try to put 20lbs in a 10lb sack!” — Whenever I was trying to do way too much in a short amount of time, especially back in high school and college. I think she got it from her mom. 🙂 She doesn’t remind me of this quite as often now, but I still remember it as a valid point that I would probably do well to follow. 🙂
My mom always said don’t be afraid to follow your dreams
My mother always said “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”. I can’t say that I’m as good about this as she was, but I am inspired by the example she set. She was an amazing woman who raised 6 children, worked in an office M-F, and still managed to make a home-cooked dinner every day. I still don’t know how she did it.