brown sugar coffee cake

Colleen's take: "I made this entire recipe from Rachaels ray's december magazine, it consists of coffee cake, bacon, an eggbake, citrus salad, & mango citrus punch. It was all amazing and delicious. Today i am just talking about the brown sugar coffee cake, it was a favorite, very moist and fairly easy to make, even though i don't care much for baking."

ingredients

• 1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 2 cups (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 8 ounce sticks   unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 6 eggs, at room temperature
• Confectioner's sugar, for dusting

directions

• Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees . Grease and flour a 10-inch (10-cup) bundt pan. Using a food processor, finely grind 1 the almonds and 1/4 cup brown sugar. Into a large bowl, sift the flour, salt and baking soda; whisk in the ground almond mixture. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream and vanilla.
• Using a standing mixer, beat the butter on medium speed until creamy, about 2 minutes. Increase the speed to medium-high, add the remaining 1 3/4 cups brown sugar and beat, scraping the bowl occasionally, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. At low speed, add the flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with the sour cream mixture in 2 batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Beat until just combined.
• Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; smooth the top. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let the cake cool in the pan on a rack for 10 minutes. Invert the cake onto the rack, remove the pan and let the cake cool completely. [Make ahead: Wrap the cake in foil and store at room temperature overnight.]
• Before serving, transfer the cake to a platter and dust lightly with confectioners sugar.