C's to the Fifth Degree

.  I tried to come up with a creative title for this post.  But this was all I came up with.  So humor me.

Cinnamon Cream Cheese Coffee Cake.

5 C's, get it??

Anyway, this post is my first ode to the Fall season.  I know it may be a bit early but the sooner we get to Fall baking, the better for everyone.  Trust me.

When it comes to Fall, I think of pumpkins, apples, pies, and spices.  Spices.  Like nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice.  You get the gist.  So this perfectly classic, cinnamon-bursting coffee cake is a great start to the most wonderful season there is.

If you've never had coffee cake, this is the coffee cake for you start out with.  Or if you're just a sucker for plain delicious, then this is right up your alley, too.  The cake itself is dense, yet moist, due to the addition of sour cream.  And that is topped with ribbon of sweet, cinnamon cream cheese and a generously thick layer of crunchy, cinnamoney streusel.  Simplistic, yes, but jam packed with the essence of Fall.  Well, to me at least...

I mean really, isn't this coffee cake just lovely?  Your guests will think so, too.

On a side note, I'd like to give a quick update on my knee.  I know, we're back to that again.  But I actually have some semi good news.  The orthopedist told me I have what they call runners knee.  Fortunately it's nothing major and over time, it can be 'fixed.'  The frustrating part about the whole thing for me was that [in the short version] my knee problem is probably due to the new shoes I bought a few months back.  Basically, the [not-so-cheap] shoes I was persuaded to buy [shame on me!] have arch support, which the orthopedist told me I actually didn't need.  Even though I have flat fleet, the arch support is adding pressure to a ligament [can't remember the name of it for the life of me...] on the outside of my knee and that's causing me all of this dang pain.

So you can bet that I'll be going back to my old style of shoes, Nike Free's, and hopefully back out on the pavement in no time.  Fall only lasts so long, so staying inside to work out has been a complete bummer.  Looks like I'm going shoe shopping!

Now bake some coffee cake  .

My Notes:

• I'm a streusel girl, so next time around I would think about doubling the streusel in this recipe.  There's definitely quite a bit already, in addition to that wonderful cream cheese layer,  but I'm simply a sucker for that crunchiness.

From Bake or Break

Ingredients:
Crumb topping:
1/4 c. unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped pecans
Pinch of salt

Cream Cheese Swirl:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. packed light brown sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 c. chopped pecans

Cake:
3 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1-1/4 c. sour cream

Directions:

1. For crumb topping, combine butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, pecans, and salt in a small bowl.  Mix with a fork until mixture resembles crumbs; set aside.
2. For cream cheese swirl, beat cream cheese and brown sugar in a small bowl until fluffy.  Mix in vanilla extract and cinnamon.  Stir in pecans.  Set aside.
3. Heat oven to 350°F and grease 13x9-inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.  For cake, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.  Set aside.
4. Beat butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating just until combined after each addition.  Mix in vanilla extract.  Gradually add dry ingredients, mixing just until combined.  Stir in sour cream and mix until just combined.
5. Transfer batter to prepared pan.  Top batter with spoonfuls of cream cheese mixture and using an up and down motion with a knife, swirl mixture into batter.  Sprinkle crumb mixture evenly over top.
6. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Yield: 16 large servings