Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake

I'm going to be honest here-- sometimes baking doesn't go as planned. I was baking this coffee cake to take somewhere important. You'll see in the pictures below that I baked it in a bunt pan. The pictures of the sliced cake? NOT in a bunt pan. The story goes like this-- I had a very busy weekend and was ROCKING my to-do list, when the coffee cake decided not to come out of the bunt pan. I don't know why it wouldn't come out, the pan was greased/floured/all kinds of prepared- but, as anyone who has ever baked anything knows-- sometimes this just happens. Sometimes it's because you did something wrong, and sometimes it is just because it happened that way.

So, there I was, thinking I was ready to go, and I had a broken bunt cake. I had to do an emergency re-bake and bake it in a loaf pan to ensure it would come out of the pan. Luckily, cake tastes the same no matter if it is in a lovely bunt form or in a boring loaf form. And, since I was plating the cake to take tot he event, it didn't really matter. Except in my head, where this was a disaster of epic proportions. I'll ask you to do me the favor of pretending that you do not notice that my tutorial photos show a bunt pan, yet my cake is not in bunt form, umkay? Thanks. I knew I could count on you.

(For a printable version of this recipe, click here)
Cinnamon Walnut Coffee Cake (Yield - two loaves, one 9x13, or one bunt)
(Adapted from the 'Favorite Coffee Cake' recipe in the 1969 version of the Betty Crocker cookbook featured in my sidebar)

3 cups flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups milk
2 eggs

Topping:
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cinnamon
6 tablespoons firm butter
1 cup chopped walnuts



Step #1 - Preheat oven to 375* F.

Step #2- Using  a fork or pastry cutter, combine all topping ingredients, except nuts, until they resemble coarse sand. Stir in nuts. Set aside.

Step #3- Blend together all cake ingredients, using a mixer, until well incorporated.

Step #4- Grease pans well. If using a bunt pan, pour half the batter into the bottom of the pan, then cover the batter with topping, and then cover with the remaining batter. If using a loaf or 9x13 pan, pour batter into the pan and cover with topping.

Step #5- Bake at 375* - for loaves or 9x13, bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. For a bunt, bake for 45-50 minutes. Cake will be golden brown when done.