Monday, December 3, 2012

Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake





From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I tend to shy away from overly sweet desserts, but I must admit I have a real weakness for coffee cake. I've been testing recipes this past week in an attempt to find something new to serve for breakfast or brunch during the holidays. Fortunately, I'm still in meeting mode, so I have lots of testers and I'm getting lots of feedback about my efforts. When I saw a photo of this cake on the Huffington Post, I knew I had to try it. The recipe was originally developed for Food and Wine magazine and I backtracked to their site for the recipe. At first glance, the recipe appeared overly involved, but as I stepped through it I could see that is was divided into three distinct parts, and none of them was difficult. I decided to give it a try. The finished cake is quite nice, but I found it to be a bit dry. I will be making it again because the flavors are delicious, but I plan to use less flour in the cake and I want to cut back on the amount of streusel that's used to top it. I never thought I'd say a cake has too much streusel, but I've meet my match here. The pecan and cardamom crumbs are delicious, but I think they weigh the cake down and contribute to its dryness. Less would be more. I hope I haven't discouraged you because this is a wonderful coffee cake and I hope you will give it a try. Here's how it is made.

Pecan Streusel Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Food and Wine magazine

Ingredients:
Crumb Topping
2 cups pecans
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
2-2/3 cups all-purpose flour
Cake
3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/4 cups sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Glaze
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 teaspoons whole milk
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to350 degrees F. Position a rack in center of the oven. Butter a 9-by-13-inch metal baking pan.
2) To make crumb topping: Spread pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast for 8 minutes, until browned. Let cool, then coarsely chop nuts. In a medium bowl, stir melted butter with both sugars, cardamom and salt. Add flour and stir until clumpy. Stir in chopped nuts.
3) To make cake: In a large bowl, whisk flour with sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with milk, melted butter and vanilla. Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Scrape batter into prepared baking pan, smoothing the surface. Scatter crumbs in large clumps over cake; crumb layer will be quite deep. Bake for about 55 minutes, until crumbs are golden and firm and a tester inserted in center of the cake comes out clean. If crumbs brown before the cake is done, cover the cake loosely with foil. Transfer pan to a rack to cool.
4) To make glaze: In a bowl, whisk all of glaze ingredients together. Drizzle glaze over cake; let cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature. Cake can be kept covered at room temperature for up to 3 days. Yield: 15 servings.







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18 comments :

Ginny Hartzler said...

This beats those Tastycake coffee cakes I used to eat all the time as a teenager!

Katarina said...

It looks good! Maybe some of the milk could be replaced with sour cream to get a more moist cake? Have a great day!

daniela64 said...

A wonderful cake. Have a beatiful day, Daniela.

Duncan D. Horne - the Kuantan blogger said...

Your creations always look splendid! I really wish I could test them out!
Have a great week ahead Mary.
Duncan in Kuantan

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Lynn said...

This is a gorgeous coffee cake! So wish I had a piece right now:@)

Unknown said...

I love coffee cakes, too, but I very rarely make them. I've never seen one that uses cardamom... must give this one a try!

Priya Suresh said...

Stunning coffee cake.

Angie's Recipes said...

A perfect coffee cake for the snowy weather we have over here. YUM!

Kim said...

Love coffe cake, there is everything in the!!!

Anonymous said...

thats a lovely coffee cake and its big too! I find I never make coffee cake for just the two of us so a big one is nice,lots for friends to take home and some for us too

Tricia @ saving room for dessert said...

Ohhhh yum! I hot cup of coffee with a slice of this for me please! Another lovely recipe and post.

Laura Dembowski said...

Dry cake is no fun. I hate when a recipe doesn't come out exactly as I wished. But I don't think I could ever have too much streusel.

The Red Apron said...

Mary, all this deliciousness is making me gain so much weight this holiday.
I will make this for my girlfriends when we get together.

Daniela Grimburg said...

First time visiting your blog and loving it.
The cake looks amazing!

Unknown said...

Delish, simply delish, I think you can stop here, this one looks like a winner! Of course I wouldn't mind being your taste-tester. Do you ship to NC? :)

Kathy said...

Oh so yummy looking! A wonderful cake for any day…a piece with my tea would be great!

Joanne said...

Too much streusel!? This is definitely something I need to try!

tender b. said...

Is there anyone who doesn't have a weakness for coffee cakes?

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