Cape Fear Sour Cream Coffee Cake​

Reprinted with permission from Kiln to Kitchen: Favorite Recipes from Beloved North Carolina Potters (The University of North Carolina Press, 2019).
Yield: one 6 1/2- to 7-inch Bundt loaf (6-8 servings)

​1 cup unsifted all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) room temperature butter
1 cup sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup firmly packed sour cream (not low fat)
1/2 cup golden or dark seedless raisins
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Onto a piece of wax paper, sift flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt and reserve. Using a hand electric mixer at moderately high speed, cream butter and sugar for about 3 minutes or until fluffy and light, pausing midway to scoop mixture from sides and bottom of bowl. Next, beat in egg. By hand, add sifted dry ingredients alternately with sour cream, beginning and ending with dry and working each in to form a stiff batter — 3 additions of dry ingredients and 2 of sour cream are about right. Finally, fold in raisins and walnuts, again working in gently but thoroughly to incorporate.
Line bottom of a 6 1/2- or 7-inch oven-proof stoneware, other pottery, ceramic or heat-resistant glass Bundt or tube with a circle of baking parchment or nonstick aluminum foil, then spritz pan well with nonstick cooking spray, paying particular attention to central tube and pan sides. Pack batter into pan, smoothing top and spreading to edge. Slide pan onto middle shelf of a cold oven, set thermostat at 350 degrees and bake coffee cake for about 50 to 60 minutes or until lightly browned, springy to the touch and a cake tester, inserted midway between rim and central tube, comes out clean.
Transfer coffee cake to a wire rack, setting it right-side up, and cool in pan to room temperature. This may take 1 hour or more. Carefully run a small thin-blade spatula around edge of coffee cake and central tube to loosen it, using a poultry pin to free stubborn spots if needed, then invert on a large round plate. Cut coffee cake into slim wedges and serve. This coffee cake is delicious on its own and needs no accompaniment other than a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.