Davenport Hotel Coffee Cake

Word through the family is that my great grandparents, Lee Chandler and Anne Bridget Kelly met at the Davenport in Spokane while both employees of the famed hotel. Lee was a maître d’ while Anne, we think, was a waitress.

I have been doing a fair amount of work on our family genealogy and thanks to Aunt Chris and distant cousin Carrie Cosby Lascano, we are making some pretty cool headway.  You will certainly hear more about it over the next few months.

Here is a picture of my great grandmother at the Davenport and the text on back of the picture.

One thing led to another and I am here. But so is their super-delicious, best-ever coffee cake. I make this on those special holiday breakfast mornings when I don’t make scones and as somewhat of a coffee cake snob, I really think this is the best coffee cake I have ever had and honestly is surprisingly easy to make.

Makes 2, 9 inch cakes at approximately 6 slices per.

Davenport Hotel Coffee Cake

1 cup salted butter, softened
2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup pecan pieces (walnuts OK as well)
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 9-inch round cake pans with foil.

In bowl of standing mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for several minutes until light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs, stopping often to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Blend in the sour cream and vanilla. Add the cake flour, baking powder and salt. The batter will be quite loose.

Divide the batter evenly between the two lined cake pans.

Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of the two cakes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Immediately lift cakes out of pans by pulling up the foil and let them cool completely on wire racks before carefully peeling back the foil. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.