Tomorrow my sister is leaving to study abroad in Italy for four months. I don’t think I have words to express my jealousy, except that I’m using her as an excuse to get my mom to tag along with me and visit. I figured I’d see her off with a good American dessert that she didn’t ask for and probably won’t eat because it isn’t banana bread. But it’s a good parting dish, comparable to the level of deliciousness of baked goods that she will eat for breakfast in the next few months as she tries to order something in Italian and receives something else, so much better.

I didn’t want anything too rich since I’m recovering from eating everything as of late. I had my doubts because the batter was insanely thick and I had a difficult time spreading it, but I put it in the oven anyway, and it came out puffy, golden and delicious with a crust along the top from the caramelized sugar. It’s light and buttery with just enough chocolate. It’s insanely good.

Chocolate Chip Sour Cream Coffee Cake
via SmittenKitchen

Cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick, 4 ounces or 113 grams) at room temperature
1 1/2 cups (300 grams) granulated sugar
3 large eggs, separated
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (16 ounces) sour cream
3 cups (375 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon table salt

Filling and Topping
2 cups or 12 ounces semi- or bittersweet chocolate chips or coarsely chopped chocolate bars
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

 Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter a 9-x-13-inch baking pan. If not nonstick coated, cover the bottom with a rectangle of parchment paper. Set pan aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar. Beat in egg yolks and vanilla. Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together into a separate bowl. Alternately mix in sour cream and then dry ingredients into butter mixture until both are used up and the batter is smooth and very thick. In a medium bowl, beat eggs whites until stiff, then fold into batter.

In a small dish, whisk together sugar and cinnamon for filling and topping.

Spread half the cake batter in the bottom of prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon-sugar mixture and 1 cup of chocolate chips. Dollop remaining cake batter over filling in spoonfuls. Use a rubber or offset spatula to gently spread it over the filling and smooth the top. Sprinkle batter with remaining cinnamon-sugar and remaining chocolate chips. With the palm of your hand, ever-so-gently press the chocolate chips a bit into the batter. No need to submerge them, you just want to make sure they adhere bit.

Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, rotating halfway through, until a tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.