Not Just For Breakfast or Tea Parties Anymore

Normally when one hears the title "coffee cake", 2 different varieties seem to be implied: the first being that which actually relies on coffee in its flavor and the second being those cakes we see in the glass cases at Starbucks that are intended to be paired with coffee (early in the day, for the most part). Okay, so yes my recipe is of the latter category but I prefer to view a coffee cake in a different light. While it certainly can be enjoyed as a coffee accoutrement, I believe that their versatility and beautiful presentation allows them to stand quite well on their own. For this blog entry, I will discuss the recipe for a Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Walnut Streusel and a Maple Glaze.

When I was asked to co-host a dinner party for a friend's birthday party, I immediately made a game plan to take it over the top. We certainly did, with a menu that included steamed mussels, spicy avocado soup, scalloped potatoes, beef wellington, and more. The dessert, as usual, was placed in my trusting hands. And yet I went with cake that, based on our Starbucks precedents, might seem in no way comparable up against such an elegant repertoire of dishes. Nonetheless, this cake was the star of the show.

A good coffee cake is one that has a diversity of textures. This can easily be achieved by utilizing the methods of previous posts. We know that sour cream is a pro at adding moisture to any cake recipe, and it certainly proved to do so with this cake. This recipe is from my favorite Food Network guru the Barefoot Contessa, and as is her custom she uses a LOT of butter. Don't underestimate butter, though. Dessert is the one field where I refuse to cut back, because any good pastry chef will tell you butter is the holy grail of a good recipe.

Now we have the moist texture, but how to get the crunch. That's where our streusel comes in. Obviously if you omit the walnuts, as the recipe implies, you will lose that crunch, but of course if you are making this for a friend or family member who is allergic, it won't kill the cake to leave out the crunch. It will still have an unbelievable array of flavors that marry beautifully.

So a confession - this recipe calls for cake flour...I have never used and probably never will use cake flour. There are some recipes online that call for a mixture of flour and cornstarch, etc., but all-purpose works just as well. When measuring, just make sure to se a little less than called for, and NEVER pack the flour. This should be the case with any recipe, even those that call for all-purpose. Packed flour will only result in a dense cake that will sink under its own weight. Lighter, fluffier cakes result from loosely packed and measured flour, trust me :) One other variation on this recipe I made was rather than using a 10-inch tube pan, I used a regular bundt pan. As such, rather than place the streusel in last, I place it in first since that would be the top of the cake when inverted onto a plate.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Walnut Streusel and a Maple Glaze

adapted from the Barefoot Contessa

Serves 8 to 10

Ingredients

For Coffee Cake:

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature (I used regular large eggs, little difference)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups cake flour, not self-rising (I used all-purpose, loosely measured)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For Walnut Streusel:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed (dark could work too, but it might be a little denser)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional (or any type of nut, pecans would be nice!)

For Maple Glaze:

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup (no Aunt Jemima folks!)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

For Cake: Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

For Streusel: Place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top.

Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate.

For Glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

When Life Gives You Lemons...

We all know that some of the greatest desserts use lemon, which seems in itself a contradiction to what you would look for in a dessert. Its juice has a pH that ranges from 2 to 3 and an extremely sour taste. Why, then, would we ever wish to incorporate it into baking? Precisely for these very reasons. Its sour flavor when paired with sugar creates a succulent result that many desserts have come to rely upon. This blog includes 2 such desserts I created: Lemon Pound Cake with Glaze and a Homemade Lemon Meringue Pie.

This first recipe is decadence on a plate. It is one of the richest cakes you will every try, but you will not regret it one bit. The lemon in the cake is a subtle addition to the richness the pound cake provides, while the glaze has more of the tart characteristics associated with the fruit.

I was visiting my mom and Stepdad in Georgia, and two very close family friends were invited over to dinner. I was once again given the appointment of head chef and planned out an entire menu that consisted of roasted red pepper and asparagus salad with toasted pecans, couscous with pine nuts and shallots, and caramelized leeks atop roasted salmon filets.

As if the meal wasn't rich enough, I took it one step further by making this cake. We hardly even finished a third of it. This cake provides TWO pounds cakes, and we saved the second for another occasion happening that week. Given the yield of cake, this recipe would be perfect for parties and potlucks with a good number of people.

This recipe is provided by one of my favorite Food Network chefs: Ina Garten, or the Barefoot Contessa. She rarely has let me down in terms of results, and I will always check her recipes before moving on to other chefs. This cake uses A LOT of butter, so be warned that it is bound to be irresistible! Enjoy!

Lemon Cake

Barefoot Contessa

Yield: 2 (8-inch) loaves

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, divided
• 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. You may also line the bottom with parchment paper, if desired.
2. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest.
3. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.
4. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove the cakes from the pans and set them on a rack set over a tray or sheet pan; spoon the lemon syrup over them. Allow the cakes to cool completely.
5. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a wire whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

The second dessert in this lemony post is a Lemon Meringue pie. I made this for a barbecue party. We had (literally) 3 cookouts in one week during this summer, haha! This specific hang was one that we all provided dishes for. The turnout of dishes was really exciting.

After everything was made, we all grabbed slices of the meringue pie and plunked down in the living room to play this crazily addicting game called LittleBigPlanet.

It is imperative to make this pie one day ahead to allow the lemon curd to set as well as to allow the meringue to stiffen. This is a great recipe, perfect for a warm summer day.

Foolproof Lemon Meringue Pie

Sunset

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• 6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine
• Baked 9-inch pie crust
• 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

Directions

1. In a 2- to 3-quart pan, mix 1 1/4 cups sugar with 6 tablespoons cornstarch and salt. Whisk in 1/2 cup cold water, lemon peel, and lemon juice, blending thoroughly. Whisk in the egg yolks. Add the butter and whisk in 1 1/2 cups boiling water.
2. Set pan over medium-high heat and stir with a flexible spatula until mixture boils, about 7 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir filling 1 minute more.
3. Pour filling into pie crust.
4. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup sugar with the remaining 2 teaspoons cornstarch.
5. In a deep bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer on high speed (use whisk attachment if available) until very foamy and no liquid whites remain in bottom of bowl. Continue to beat at high speed and gradually add the sugar-starch mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time. Then beat until whites hold stiff, glossy peaks.
6. Spoon meringue onto hot pie filling. With a spatula, swirl meringue to cover filling completely, touching the rim of the pie shell.
7. Bake in a 325° oven until meringue is browned, about 25 minutes. Set pie on rack until cool, about 3 hours. Serve, or invert a large bowl over pie (take care not to touch meringue) and chill up to 1 day.