Sour Cream Yeast Coffee Cake

I thought this was another bubka/babka-type cake with a cinnamon-walnut filling when I first read the recipe but I was wrong….instead it resembles the "strudel”- type cakes one sees in Eastern European bakeries, usually filled with poppyseeds, but there the resemblance ends; this one is moist, very flavourful and very delicious.

The yeast dough is enriched with butter, sugar, eggs and sour cream and is made somewhat like pastry, with the cold butter cut into the flour. The yeast and wet ingredients are added to this and kneaded. The resulting dough reminds me of brioche in texture - very easy to work with especially after an overnight rest in the fridge. I made ½ the recipe and it produced a large "loaf” that easily served 20.

Really wonderful with an afternoon cup of coffee.