Commander's Palace Sour Cream Pecan Coffee Cake

Source: Commander's Palace Restaurant, New Orleans, Louisiana

Cake
1 cup (2 sticks) softened unsalted butter
2 cups granulated sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1 1/2 cups sour cream

Pecan Filling
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
1 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter well a 10-inch Bundt pan and dust with flour, shaking out the excess.

In a bowl with an electric mixer beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar, a little at a time, and beat the mixture until it is light and fluffy. Beat in the vanilla extract and the eggs, one at a time.

Into a bowl sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, beating slowly until just combined. Fold in the sour cream.

Make the pecan filling: In a bowl combine filling ingredients. Spoon 2/3 of the batter into the prepared pan, sprinkle the top with the pecan filling, gently pressing filling into batter, going completely around the cake until all remaining nut mixture is used. Add remaining batter to pan and smooth top. Bake for 1 hour, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. If necessary, loosely cover top of cake with piece of aluminum foil to prevent overbrowning. Let cool on a rack in the pan for 5 minutes. Invert onto the rack and let cool completely.