Archive for the ‘Coffee Cake’ Category
Martha Stewart has a lot of great recipes in the many books that she has put out and there are a few that I go back to time and again. One of them is for a New York Crumb Cake, a coffee cake that is loaded with deliciously spiced streusel topping. I am a big fan of coffee cakes in general (who doesn’t like streusel?) and, after trying several other coffee cake recipes she’s done, I have to say that Martha definitely knows what she is doing in the coffee cake department.
A big picture of little streusel-topped cakes popped out at me when I was paging through my copy of Martha Stewart Cupcakes. They’re listed in the book under the name Streusel Cupcakes. I didn’t need any urging to try the recipe out. It was good, but reminded me more of coffee cake than of cupcakes. So, after trying a few different batches, I made some very slight changes and rechristened these Coffee Cake Muffins. These are single-serving coffee cakes that are perfect for big brunches or other gatherings of streusel-loving coffee cake fans.
The cakes are fantastic little coffee cakes. They have a moist, muffin-like texture and tons of streusel. The streusel is made with brown sugar and has quite a bit of flour in it, when compared with other streusel topping recipes. This gives it a lot of structure, so it forms nice, big crumbs on top of the cake. It bakes up to be slightly crunchy, providing a nice contrast to the rest of the cake in texture, as well as in color. A little bit of vanilla glaze on top adds some extra sweetness and gives them a nice finished look
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An oatmeal raisin cookie sounds like a simple thing – and it can be, judging by the number of totally mediocre oatmeal raisin cookies that are out there – but when you get a good one, it can be heavenly. It will have just the right amount of cinnamon to set off the buttery notes in the nutty, oatmeal-packed dough, and highlight plump, sweet raisins. They are all great flavors, and there is no reason why they should only come together in cookie form. This is what inspired this Oatmeal Raisin Coffee Cake.
This cake is delicious, and perhaps doubly so for fans of oatmeal raisin cookies! It is sweet and buttery, with great flavor from brown sugar, oatmeal, cinnamon and raisins. Unlike a cookie, this cake isn’t chewy. It is moist and tender, with just enough richness to make it just as suitable for dessert as it is for breakfast or tea.
The cake is a simple buttermilk cake with oatmeal added to the batter. I prefer quick cooking oats (not instant) because of their not-too-big size and finer texture, and you can make them by pulsing regular rolled oats in the food processor a few times if you don’t have them. The filling and topping for this coffee cake are made with the same mixture, but raisins and chopped pecans are added to the filling of the cake. The topping will melt a bit into the cake itself as it bakes, but this just distributes all its brown sugar, cinnamon and butter goodness over the entire cake. +Continue Reading
Calling something a coffee cake is, more often than not, just an excuse to eat cake for breakfast. I don’t need an excuse to eat cake for breakfast, but I am a huge fan of coffee cake nevertheless. This coffee cake does have a little bit of redeeming nutritional value so, just in case you ever feel guilty reaching for that second slice with your morning coffee, you can bake this up and not think twice about it. The coffee cake is made with whole grain flour and is packed with antioxidant-rich cherries. Of course, it is also buttery, tender and topped off with a crispy cinnamon streusel, too.
This coffee cake is very easy to make because the streusel and the batter start off with the same base. You simply set some of the mixture of flour, butter and sugar aside after mixing them together for the streusel and add it back before baking. The cake is very soft, tender and moist. It does have a subtle whole wheat flavor to it, but it doesn’t have any of the heaviness that you might associate with whole wheat baked goods. Since the butter is blended in with the flour, it really gives the cake a lovely light, even texture. White whole wheat flour is the best choice for this recipe because it has a slightly milder flavor than regular whole wheat and makes for a slightly sweeter streusel. If you don’t have it, I would opt for a 50/50 mix of whole wheat flour and all purpose.
You can use fresh cherries, jarred cherries or frozen cherries for this recipe. With frozen cherries, you can either defrost and drain then before adding, or simply add a minute or two to the baking time to account for the face that they will make the batter a littler colder than fresh cherries will. I like sweet black cherries and Morello cherries, but even very tart cherries are a good option for this recipe if you like things a little less sweet. As it is, this is not a particularly sweet coffee cake – just sweet enough to keep you wanting more.
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Sweet potato pie is probably the most obvious choice of baked good when it comes to sweet potatoes, but these veggies are surprisingly versatile and it’s worth branching out from the standard to try other recipes, like Sweet Potato Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies or this Sweet Potato Coffee Cake with Dried Cranberries. This is one of my new fall favorites, and a great addition to a holiday brunch menu. I’d use canned sweet potato puree (plain, unsweetened) if I were going to bake a batch just before a big holiday meal and homemade cooked sweet potato puree (unseasoned) as a way to use up leftovers after the feast.
The coffee cake is easy to put together, with a moist cake base and a crisp streusel topping. The sweet potato contributes a lovely orange color and a round, naturally sweet flavor to the cake, but it’s biggest impact is on the texture. Compared to a plain coffee cake, this version is more moist and a bit denser. Much like the denseness in a pound cake, the finished cake actually tastes very rich, not heavy, because it is very tender. The dried cranberries add in some additional sweetness to the cake and add a little bit of texture, too.
Since I wanted the flavor of the sweet potato to really shine, I only added spices to the streusel topping. This adds just a hint of spice to the coffee cake and doesn’t overpower the natural taste of the sweet potato. By this, I really mean that it keeps it from tasting like just another cinnamon-spiced coffee cake! The cake will keep well for a couple of days when stored in an airtight container, so feel free to make this a day or two ahead so you have something to munch on – or serve to company – as you keep the kitchen turning out tasty treats over the holidays.
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I like kiwifruit, but they’re not always at the top of my produce list when I go out shopping. They’re more of an afterthought, something I buy when they look good or if I want something colorful to add to a fruit salad. This is a shame because the berries have a delicious and unique flavor to them. They’re sweet-tart and hard to describe, but if pressed I’d say that they have a hint of mild citrus, ripe berries and sometimes an almost melon note to them. They have a hint of crunch from their seeds, but are soft overall and can easily be scooped with a spoon. And, of course, they have a fantastic green color to them
All these elements help to make kiwi a good choice for the fruit salad I mentioned: color, texture and unique flavor that plays well with other fruits. They also make kiwi a good choice for other fruity dishes, like this simple buttermilk cake. I used both kiwis and raspberries in the cake, so there is a lot of berry flavor in the finished cake and it stands out nicely against the vanilla-buttermilk background. Since there is a good amount of fruit in this cake, I leave it unfrosted and serve it as a coffee cake. It’s also nice with a dusting of powdered sugar.
The cake is sweet and tender. It is moist on its own, but gets a lot of extra moisture from the berries mixed into the batter. Be sure to peel the kiwifruit well before chopping them up, as the tough, hairy skin is not ideal in a cake. Be sure that they are ripe and slightly soft under firm pressure for the best flavor. For the raspberries, you can use fresh or frozen, whatever is more easily available.
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