cinnamon sour cream loaf

Festive baking is in full swing on blogs at the moment and here I am posting a cake I made almost two months ago. Oh well.

However, I think this could easily be considered a festive bake since cinnamon is a warm, seasonal flavour. Just display the cake with a different tablecloth. 😄

Fun fact: I've had this fun, floral tablecloth since my first year at art school in Edinburgh (shockingly, over 10 years ago now.) My Mum found it in a second hand/vintage shop in the Grassmarket and it's by Mary Quant! 

Although the flavour of the cake was great I was disappointed by the texture. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as dense but it did have quite a tight crumb. I'm unsure whether this is correct for the recipe or if I was at fault. The mixture split slightly after I added the second egg so I likely lost some air in the batter when I combined everything. The raw cake batter tasted AMAZING though, so it may be worth trying again sometime.

The cinnamon-spiced cream cheese is also worthy of capital letters as it's FANTASTIC! Oh my, so good. Not necessarily a complaint, but the recipe produced rather a lot of icing. I'd say more than necessary for this size of loaf and you can see from my photos that I put on a good, thick layer. I used about half the quantity for this cake and the rest was used a few days later on a banana bread.

I also found the quantity of cinnamon sugar in the recipe somewhat excessive. However, it keeps well in a sealed container and it has added some festive flair to my morning porridge.

So is anybody actually prepared for Christmas because I'm certainly not. I've only bought two presents and have organised zero baking or handmade gifts which is unheard of for me. I've also only watched about three corny Christmas films so far. Disaster. I've been so wrapped up with trying to finish renovating my house that Christmas hasn't really entered my head. In the past few weeks the heating has been installed, floors have been laid, doors have been hung, all walls, ceilings and woodwork have been painted and curtain poles have gone up. Just the plumbing and rewiring to finish and the kitchen units to install. It's close!

Cinnamon sour cream loaf
Recipe from Primrose Bakery "Everyday" book by Martha Swift  

for the cake:
165g self-raising flour
1 1/2tsp ground cinnamon
150g softened butter, slightly salted
180g golden caster sugar
2 eggs, large
1/2 tsp vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste
120ml sour cream

cinnamon cream cheese icing:
50g butter, softened
100g cream cheese
225g icing sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon

cinnamon sugar:
1 tbsp golden caster sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/180c/fan 160c and line a 900g loaf tin with greaseproof paper. In a large bowl sift together the flour and cinnamon, stir together and set aside. In another bowl, beat together the butter and sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the first egg and beat well before adding the second egg and the vanilla extract. Mix again. Add half of the flour mixture and mix on a slow speed until everything is combined, then add half of the sour cream and mix until just combined. Repeat the previous step so all the flour and sour cream is incorporated. 

Pour the mixture into the lined tin and spread out evenly. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a skewer/knife inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cake to cool in the tin for 10-15 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.

For the icing, put all the ingredients into a large bowl and mix until well combined. I start by mixing with a spoon before swapping to an electric mixer as it helps to minimise the icing sugar dust cloud. Beat the icing for about 1 minute until smooth. For the cinnamon sugar simply stir together the caster sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Spread the icing on top of the cooled sponge and sprinkle the cinnamon sponge on top.