Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake

I want to talk about this coffee cake.  Even though I did a piss poor job of showing you, I'm telling you it's good!  It's a cinnamon-streusel coffee cake from Martha Stewart I flound in an article they did on coffee cakes, which all look AMAZING!  I made two yesterday, but this one made the other one awful by comparison.  This sour cream cake is perfect, moist and tender with a delectable crumb I love to see in a cake.  The streusel however is what really does it for me.  The pecans and cinnamon and...ahhhh!  It's so good!  After the glaze cools the crust get crunchy just a tad bit sweeter.  This cake is a sugar lovers dream and since I'm addicted I'll be making it again.

Cinnamon- Streusel Coffee Cake


From Martha Stewart March 2011


Streusel Topping:
210 g (1 3/4 c) flour
200 g (1 c) light brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt
187 g (3/4 c) cold butter, cut into small pieces
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped toasted pecans

Cake:
240 g (2 c) flour
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
125 g (1/2 c) butter, room temperature
200 g (1 c) sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 c sour cream

Glaze:
120 g (1 c) icing sugar
2 Tbsp milk

Streusel Topping:
Mix together flour, 150 g (3/4 c) brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.  Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter or your fingertips until small to medium crumbs form.  Mix in 1/2 c pecans.  Place in the fridge until ready to use.

For streusel center, mix together remaining 50 g (1/4 c) brown sugar, 1/4 tsp cinnamon and 1 c pecans.  Set aside

For Cake:
Preheat the oven to 350F.  Butter a 9 inch tube (angel food cake) pan with a removable bottom.  Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a medium sized bowl.

Beat together butter and sugar in a mixer until fluffy and pale, 2 minutes.  Beat in the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla.  Mix in flour mixture in 3 additions alternating with the sour cream.  Begin and end with flour mix.  Turn the mixer to high for a few seconds to beat until well combined.

Spoon half of the batter into the pan and spread it evenly over the surface.  I find I have a really hard time getting the batter to stick to the pan and not my spoon, so I wet my fingers slightly and push it around until it is even.  Sprinkle streusel center topping over batter.  Top with remaining cake batter and spread evenly.  Sprinkle streusel topping over the cake evenly.

Bake until the cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 55 minutes.  Transfer to a rack and cool completely.  Place a large piece of parchment under the rack.

To make the glaze combine the icing sugar and milk.  Drizzle over the cake and let it run down the sides.

The best gingerbread cake

Today woke up dreary and grey with rain steady from the sky.  It was the perfect day for gingerbread.  I had 1/3 of a cup of molasses left, and the recipe for an awesome gingerbread cake in my newest edition of Cooks Illustrated, it couldn't have worked out better.  As I started to bake, mixing the beer, sugar and molasses, I began to swoon, and by the time it hit the oven I already knew it was the best gingerbread I'd ever smelled.  The only hurdle to overcome was the dreaded collapsed center but the article promised a sturdy middle and it delivered.  The cake came out perfect.

I went for my daily walk and come back an hour later fully soaked and cold to the bone, the smell hit me once I opened the door.  I hung my coat to dry and turned on the kettle.  Before I knew it I was blissfully consuming a large slice of cake topped with a soft, unsweetened whipped cream and a big mug of tea.  You might think "whipped cream on gingerbread cake? Weird."  But no, not weird.  The word you are looking for is, awesome.  Whipped cream on gingerbread cake is awesome.  The end.

The Best Gingerbread Ever Created


This recipe is slightly adapted from Cooks Illustrated.


I made half this recipe in a 9x5 inch pan and it worked wonderfully.  It still took 40 minutes to cook.


Ingredients:
3/4 c stout beer, I used Guinness which CI recommends
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 c mild molasses
150 g (3/4 c) light brown sugar
50 g (1/4 c) sugar
180 g (1 1/2 c) flour
2 Tbsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
2 eggs
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 Tbsp finely grated fresh ginger

Directions:
With rack in middle of the oven, preheat to 350 F.  Grease a 8x8 inch pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. (Important, mine stuck.)  Bring the beer to a boil in a medium saucepan.  When it boils remove from heat and stir in baking soda.  After it foams vigorously, stir in molasses and sugars until dissolved; set mixture aside.  Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and spices together in a large bowl.

Transfer the molasses mixture to a large bowl.  Whisk in eggs, oil and grated ginger.  Combine wet ingredients with dry ones in three additions, whisking vigorously between each, until completely smooth.  There is no risk of over mixing, in fact the batter needs to be beaten really well to keep from sinking when it bakes.

Transfer the batter into the prepared cake pan and tap against the counter a few times to shake and large air bubbles loose.  Bake until the cake top is just firm to touch and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 35-45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack, 1 1/2 hours.  Serve the cake with whipped cream and enjoy.

Applesauce cake

This cake is awesome, period.  I made it to use up some applesauce I didn't like, and as the recipe promised, I loved it.  It's moist and flavourful, absolutely delicious.  But I definitely should have made it in the fall, it takes like fall to me with the apples and cinnamon.  Never the less I've eaten my fair share of it, but I'll definitely make it again.

The cake hold really well, even for a few days in the fridge.  It's got a moist crumb with a tangy cream cheese frosting flecked with cinnamon.  The flavour of the applesauce really does come through, when I made my applesauce last year I added cinnamon to it and on its own I really dislike it, but in this cake it gets a chance to shine.

Applesauce Cake


Ingredients:
240 g (2 c) ap flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground cloves
125 g (1/2 c) butter, at room temperature
200 g (1 c) brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
365 g (1 1/2 c) applesauce
1/2 c chopped, toasted and cooled walnuts (optional)

Frosting:
142 g (5 oz) cream cheese, softened
42 g (3 Tbsp) butter, room temperature
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
200g (1 c) icing sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven with the rack in the middle to 350 F.  Butter an 8 or 9 inch square pan and set aside.

The Cake:
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices in a medium bowl.  Beat the brown sugar, butter and vanilla extract with an electric mixer until the mixture is pale and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well in between.  On low add the dry ingredients until just combined, then add walnuts (if using.)

Spread the cake batter evenly into the pan and bake for 35-45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes then invert onto rack.  Once face side up again, cool completely.

Frosting:
Beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla in a medium sized bowl until fluffy.  Slowly and carefully mix in the icing sugar and cinnamon.  Beat until incorporated.  Spread the frosting over the cake.  The cake can sit in the fridge, well wrapped, for a few days without adverse effects.  Just take out the cake and bring to room temperature before serving.

Tres Leches Cake

I first meant to make this cake nine months ago, when it made it on the list.  Unfortunately for me it kept getting beaten out by things like peanut butter rice crispies, cranberry apple crumble pie and double chocolate muffins.  Well no longer!  This cake, according to Shane "is definitely on the make again list."

Tres leches cake, for all us Canadians is three milk cake.  It's a light sponge cake saturated with three kinds of milk; sweetened condensed, evaporated and whole milk. And to top it off, frosted with whipped cream.  When we first dug in no one said anything, but instead devoured their slices, then everyone took seconds.  It's light enough to keep eating and "it has a glass of milk built right in!"  The cake is still cake-y, not soggy as you might suppose.  It's sweet and simple, with just a little vanilla.  It bursts in your mouth and the cream just slides down.  It sounds so lame, but tastes so good.  I think I'll try this in the summer with a pile of fresh berries on top.

Don't wait as long as we did, it's cheap and you've probably got most of the ingredients right now.  

Tres Leches Cake

Makes a really big cake, make sure you have enough people to eat it!

1 cup flour (120g) ap flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

5 whole eggs

1 cup (200g) white sugar, divided

1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/4 cup cream

2 cups whipping cream

3 Tbsp (37g) sugar

Preheat the oven to 350 F.  Spray a 9x13 pan with baking spray until well coated.

Combine flour, baking powder and salt together in a large bowl.  Separate eggs.

Beat egg yolks with 3/4 c (150g) of sugar on high speed until eggs are pale yellow.  Stir in milk and vanilla.  Pour egg yolk mixture over flour and gently combine.

Whip egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.  While the mixer is on pour in remaining 1/4 cup (50g) sugar and beat until egg whites are stiff but not dry.  

Fold egg white mixture into flour batter, very gently until just combined.  Pour into prepared pan and spread out evenly.  

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until an inserted toothpick comes out clean, the top is golden and pulled away from the sides of the pan.  Turn cake out onto rimmed platter (if you have one big enough) to cool.  (Or just leave in the pan away from the heat)

While cake is cooling, mix together evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and cream in a small pitcher.  Once cake is cooled pierce all over with a fork.  Slowly drizzle all but one cup of the milk mixture over the cake.  Try to spread evenly around the edges as well.  

Allow cake to absorb the milk for 30 minutes.  Whip heavy cream and 3 Tbsp sugar together until thick and spreadable.

Cut into squares and serve.  Keep refrigerated.

Stupid cakes.

I don't know what my problem is.  I can't make cakes.  Big fancy ones, or small easy ones, they won't turn out for me.  Sometimes (often times) the frosting doesn't set right or the filling is runny, maybe the layers won't sit straight or don't rise altogether.  It's a very frustrating situation for me and nearly every time I say I won't ever bake a cake again.  But I always do, I love cake.  So I've come to a point that if the cake is just for us and not for a celebration we make it work.  And if it is a celebration cake...make cupcakes, they always work.

So when your cake comes out like this...

Thin your icing out and make it work.  It still tastes amazing!