Brown Sugar Coffee Cake

This recipe was part of Rachel Ray's make ahead Christmas brunch. We loved it! There were a lot of steps involved and it made quite a few dirty dishes, but it was so yummy that after tasting it, I didn't mind.

From EveryDay with Rachel Ray Dec 2012 issue

Brown Sugar Coffee Cake
Serves 10-12 Prep 35 Min Bake 1 Hr 10 Min

1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
2 cups packed light brown sugar
2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream (I used whole milk Greek yogurt)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature
6 eggs at room temperature
powdered sugar for dusting (I never made it to this step)

Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch (10 cup) bundt pan. Using a food processor, finely grind almonds and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a large bowl. Whisk in the ground almond mixture. In a small bowl, combine sour cream (or yogurt) and vanilla.

Using a stand mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy. (About 2 minutes.) Turn to medium high and add remaining 1 and 3/4 cup brown sugar, scraping the bowl occasionally. Beat about 5 minutes. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with sour cream (or yogurt) mixture in 2 batches. Begin and end with flour mixture. Beat just until combined.

Transfer batter to prepared bundt pan. Smooth the top. Bake until toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (About an hour and 10 minutes.) Let cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert cake onto rack and cool completely.

To serve Christmas morning, wrap cake in foil and store at room temperature overnight. Before serving, transfer cake to a platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar.

Our complete Christmas brunch loosely based on Rachel Ray's menu