Thanksgiving seems to be one of the more complicated holidays. I find
that most people like turkey, but not everyone agrees on the sides and desserts.
This year, my family had a very nice and delicious menu for thanksgiving. It consisted of
: turkey
gravy
mashed sweet potatoes
regular mashed potatoes
homemade veg. stuffing
bread
green beans
cranberry sauce
red wine :)
shrimp w/ cucumber appetizer
cheese and crackers
nuts and chex mix
kielbasa
lemon tart
CINNAMON COFFEE CAKE
It seems like alot of food, but as of December 2 most of it is gone. It was quite the successful thanksgiving it was! I made this coffee cake for my aunt because she wanted to eat lighter this holiday. Plus, we celebrated her birthday (Dec 1) that day. I was in charge of making her cake. No problem. This is not your traditional New York/ NJ ,overly sweet, crumbly coffee cake. This is a more sophisticated cake. It is not overly sweet, yet it has the wonderful taste and aroma of cinnamon every coffee cake should have. It's weird, some people actually think coffee cake has coffee in it . Silly gooses.. This recipe, unlike most of mine is not from a blog. It is from an old baking book called the Cake Bible. I think people who are over 40 will know what I'm talking about (since the book is from the 80's. A great and talented chef at my college knew of it so I guess I chose the right source for my recipe. Not like I don't like blogs or anything LOL.
From: The Cake Bible! (cookbook)
Ingredients: Streusel Topping and Filling
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 tsp good quality cinnamon
1/2 cup cake flour
4 tbsp butter, softened
1/2 tsp vanilla
Batter
4 large egg yolks
2/3 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2 cups unsifted cake flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
12 tablespoons butter, softened
Steps: Have measuring cups ready, oven preheated, mixing bowls, and electric mixer handy. Mice en place!
Preheat oven to 350.
1. To make the streusel and filling, process sugars, nuts, and cinnamon until the nuts are coarsely chopped. * Reserve 3/4 for the filling.*
2. To the remainder, add the flour, butter, and vanilla, and pulse briefly to create a coarse, crumbly mixture for the topping.
TIME TO MAKE THE BATTER
1. In a mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, 1/4 of the sour cream and vanilla.
2. In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients and mix on low speed for
30 seconds. Add the butter and remaining sour cream. Mix on low speed until
the dry ingredients are moistened. Increase to high speed ( if using a stand mixer switch to medium)
and beat for 1 1/2 minutes. Scrape down the sides as you go.
3. Incorporate the egg mixture in 3 batches.
^ This is what it should look like after everything is incorporated. Nice and fluffy!
4. Reserve 1/3 of the batter and scrape down the remainder into a prepared pan.
Try to smooth the batter as much as you can so the cake bakes evenly.
5. Sprinkle the streusel filling and spread over the top of
prepared batter.
6. Add spoonfulls of the reserved batter over the top of the streusel.
7. Spread the mounds of batter over the streusel topping. This may be tedious to do,but do your best.
It's worth it, I promise.
^ See I did it!
8. Sprinkle with remaining streusel topping made earlier.
9. Bake at 350 for 55 to 65 minutes. Cover loosely with buttered foil after 45 minutes to prevent
overbrowning.
Serves 8-10
It makes a great birthday cake for anyone who isn't into
those overly frosted and sweet birthday cakes. You know what
I'm talking about.
