Overnight Whole Wheat Sour Cream Coffee Cake for Two

I love playing the role of hostess. I probably stress over the finer details of hosting far more than I need to, but I always want people to feel welcome well taken care of when they visit me. When my dad came to stay with us for a night after going to my cousin's wedding, I couldn't miss an opportunity to make him a home-cooked meal, even if he was only around for breakfast. My husband was responsible for the late night drive back from Chicago and he's not really a breakfast person (at least not as early I'm ready to eat), but this made it the ideal opportunity to try out one of the breakfast for two recipes in my recipe queue. Because this coffee cake can be prepared ahead or even frozen, it makes you into an even better host as you can spend time with your guests while breakfast is prepared and perfumes the house with irresistible aromas. As is my wont, I made this into a whole grain recipe, also swapping out light brown sugar for the more deeply flavored dark brown sugar and spicing it up a bit with some freshly ground nutmeg. I rarely question the genius of America's Test Kitchen, but I think my few simple swaps made what was already a delicious basic coffee cake into an even better one. ATK also offers up a few variations and now that I've verified the success of the basic recipe, either their variations or some of my own are sure to follow.

Overnight Whole Wheat Sour Cream Coffee Cake for Two
adapted from America's Test Kitchen Cooking for Two 2010
serves 2

STREUSEL
1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 tablespoon whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts, pecans, or almonds

CAKE
2/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
1/4 cup regular or light sour cream
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 large egg, room temperature

1. FOR THE STREUSEL: Using your fingers, combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and cinnamon until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the nuts and set aside.

2. FOR THE CAKE : Grease a 6-inch round cake pan, then line the bottom with parchment paper. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt together in a medium bowl. Whisk the sour cream, brown sugar, melted butter, granulated sugar, and egg together in another bowl until smooth. Gently fold the sour cream mixture into the flour mixture with a rubber spatula until just combined. (The batter will be lumpy with a few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.

3. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top of the cake. Wrap the pan tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, or freeze for up to 1 month (do not thaw the frozen cake before baking). (To bake the cake right away, do not wrap the pan with plastic wrap. Bake the cake as directed in step 4, reducing the baking time to 22 to 27 minutes).

4. When ready to bake, adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Unwrap the cake and bake until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs attached, 27 to 32 minutes if refrigerated or 37 to 42 minutes if frozen, rotating the pan halfway through.

5. Let the cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a small knife around the edge of the cake, then flip it out onto a wire rack. Peel off the parchment paper, flip the cake right-side up, and let cool completely before serving.