Based on the recipe by Toronto’s cooking and baking maven in her book Lillian Kaplun’s Kitchen. Lillian died in 2005. She left a legacy as a cookbook author, as a cooking teacher and a legion of fans. I like to bake this in a small non-stick bundt pan – about 8 inches/20 cm in diameter. The small pans are hard to find – you can bake it in an 8 -inch/20-cm non-stick springform pan. I sometimes double the chocolate chips or pecans in the filling ingredients. Lillian advises to sift the dry ingredients – it’s an important step with cake and pastry flour. It’s important to measure the flour by the “spoon-and-level” method before sifting. Spoon it into a 1-cup measuring spoon, then level it with a knife. Don’t pack it down – let it be airy. The weight of 2 cups of cake and pastry flour is 240 grams. This cake is moist and has a tender crumb.
1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
2 cups cake and pastry flour
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
½ cup butter, at room temperature
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
Filling:
¼ cup brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbsp dark chocolate chips and/or chopped toasted pecans
Icing sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a small non-stick bundt pan with butter or line the bottom of an 8-inch springform pan with parchment paper.
In small bowl, combine sour cream and baking soda.
In medium bowl, sift together in a sieve flour, salt and baking powder.
In large bowl, using electric mixer or a standing mixer, cream butter until soft. Add granulated sugar; beat until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then vanilla. Stir in sour cream mixture. Fold in dry ingredients until just combined. Do not overmix.
In small bowl, combine filling ingredients.
Spread half of batter in prepared pan; sprinkle Filling mixture on top. Dollop with remaining batter, trying to cover top as much as possible.
Bake in oven 30 to 40 minutes or until tester comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack. Invert on to plate. Dust with icing sugar.
Makes 8 to 10 servings.