Heart Coffee Cake

One of my family’s favorite and most requested cakes is a scrumptious coffee cake that I make in a loaf pan.  For Valentine’s Day, I bake the cake in a 9 x 2-inch heart pan with great results.  I love to serve this cake with a steaming cup of coffee or cocoa, accompanied with little marshmallow hearts to float in the cocoa, or chocolate dipped spoons to swirl in the coffee. For an additional treat, I use heart shaped cookie cutters on fruits of different colors, such as watermelon, cantaloupe, and kiwi to make fruit lollipops. Enjoy and Happy Valentine’s Day!

Before you begin: Grease and flour a 9 x 2-inch heart shaped pan.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder and baking soda.

In a medium bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter for about 1 minute, then add the sugar and beat for about 2 minutes until fluffy.

Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat well.  Then add the sour cream and vanilla and beat for another minute until well combined.

Add the flour, baking powder and baking soda mixture and beat on low speed until just combined.

In a small bowl combine well the filling and topping ingredients.

Pour ½ of the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle ½ of the filling/topping mixture on top of batter.

Spread the remaining batter into the pan and sprinkle with remaining filling/topping mixture.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 55 minutes until a cake tester inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean, and the cake is golden brown and starting to pull away from the sides.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan.  Gently remove the cake from the pan and serve on a round or heart shaped cake plate.  If desired, dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Serves 8 to 12.