Coffee Cake Extravaganza

If last week’s coffee cake was an Experiment In Terror, this week’s was an Extreme Experiment In Terror. After spending hours last week paging through baking books, recipes, and food blogs, I made several adjustments to the recipe – mainly to the middle and top layers.

In an effort to eliminate the undesirable molten sugar feature in the middle of the cake (while simultaneously trying to preserve the “hey something nifty in the center” feature), I put two layers of streusel-type mixtures in this cake. The middle layer is a bit of a misnomer, as streusel generally contains flour and mine is only sugar, spice, and butter. I adapted it from a Dorrie Greenspan recipe for Cinnamon Chocolate Squares, where she uses sugar, cinnamon, and bits of chopped chocolate. No chocolate in this cake, though, as I wanted to preserve the breakfasty quality.

The top layer of streusel I adapted from another Dorrie Greenspan recipe, though I can’t remember which at the moment. Perhaps the Allspice Crumb Muffins in Baking: From My Home To Yours. It definitely did not turn out the way I expected because it still didn’t have any “crumble” to it at all. Instead, it formed a surprisingly welcome golden crust. Despite my expectations for a crumbly top, I have adopted the Elliot-to-E.T. stance on the crust, and adamantly declare, “I’m keeping him.”

My only small qualm about this version of the recipe is that there were a couple small warm melty sugar pockets near the top layer of the cake, just beneath the crust. However, I expect those could be eliminated by devoting a little more thought into how I apply the butter-nut-spice crumbs on the top. If such pockets would bother you, make sure not to put too many buttery clumps too close together prior to baking.

So here it is, my “final” version. I reserve the right to modify it in the future, but take note that I am writing this by hand into my beloved spiral notebook of recipes – and it doesn’t get more final than that.

Coffee Cake v 2.0

Ingredients:

For the cake:
1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon allspice
1 cup sour cream (reduced-fat is fine)

For the middle “streusel” (even though it contains no flour):
1 ½ TBS sugar
2 tsps cinnamon
1 pinch (~ 1/8 tsp.) ground nutmeg
3 TBS cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits

For the top crust:
5 TBS unsalted butter, room temp
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 pinch (~1/8 tsp.) salt
½ cup sliced almonds, chopped further into very small pieces

Note: I have put separate sets of directions for the middle layer, the cake, and the crust. It would be advisable to perform each set of directions in the order I lay out here. I am also re-listing the ingredients that correspond with each group of directions, for the sake of clarity.

Directions:

For the middle layer:

1 ½ TBS sugar
2 tsps cinnamon
1 pinch (~ 1/8 tsp.) ground nutmeg
3 TBS cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits

1. Combine the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl using your fingers.
2. Add the cold bits of butter to the spice mixture and thoroughly coat each piece with the sugar and spice. Set aside in the refrigerator.

For the cake:

1 cup sugar
½ cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon allspice
1 cup sour cream

1. Butter an 8 x 8 x 3-inch baking pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl.
3. Add eggs and extracts; beat well.
4. In a separate bowl, whisk dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, allspice) to combine.
5. Mix ½ of the dry ingredients into the butter mixture.
6. Mix sour cream into the butter/dry ingredient mixture.
7. Mix remaining dry ingredients into the larger bowl.
8. Using a rubber spatula, scrape approximately half of the dough (or slightly more than that, if you need more to cover the bottom of the pan) into the buttered pan. Use a butter knife to spread the dough evenly along the bottom in a thin layer.
9. Remove your middle layer ingredient bowl from the refrigerator and sprinkle the spice-coated butter pieces evenly on the dough – there will be plenty of white spots, as there is not enough butter to cover the entire surface area.
10. Sprinkle the remaining sugar-spice mixture evenly over the dough.
11. Add the second half of the dough to the pan, using a butter knife to spread it evenly. Be careful not to move too much of the spiced butter around beneath it, or you will unbalance your proportions.

For the top crust:

5 TBS unsalted butter, room temp
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 pinch (~1/8 tsp.) salt
½ cup sliced almonds, chopped further into very small pieces

1. In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, brown sugar, and salt using your fingers to distribute each ingredient evenly.
2. Add the chopped almonds and again use your fingers to make an even mixture.
3. Add bits of cold butter and toss to coat, then use your fingers to work the butter into the dry ingredients until you’ve got irregularly shaped crumbs.

Finishing and baking:

1. Sprinkle the top crust crumbs and spices evenly over the top of the dough.
2. Place the pan in the oven and bake for approximately 50 to 60 minutes, making your initial check at 50. Remove from oven when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
3. Place pan on a wire rack to cool before serving.

And then you eat it!