Really good coffee cake
I am one of those people who grew up thinking that little baked snacks in colorful plastic wrappers was the best thing since smokable cocaine.
Back in the day I could go to the corner store/bookie joint and get a honey bun and a Coca Cola for a buck, and I would wheedle and cajole those precious dollar bills out of my Dad's wallet like the Artful Dodger himself. Anything to get that honey bun fix.
And it wasn't just honey buns. It was Ring Dings and bewitching pink SnoBalls and Ho Ho's and the elusive Drake's Coffee Cakes. The Coffee Cakes were the hardest to come by and I never knew why. However sitting here thinking about it, it was probably because adults would buy them for coffee break.
Even though when I was young I promised myself that when I was a grown up I would eat Hostess cakes everyday and drink Coca Cola by the gallon, I really haven't kept that promise. Truth be told I've kind of grown out of the taste for them, except for only occasionally.
But then for some reason lately I have been craving the taste of a Drake's Coffee Cake, only I want a homemade kind.
I surfed around for a good coffee cake recipe and this is what I cobbled together.
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Preheat oven to 400. Grease a bundt pan and set aside.
Make the filling by stirring together:
-- 1 cup brown sugar
-- 2.5 T ground cinnamon
And set that aside.
For the cake:
1.5 stick butter
1.5 cup sugar
3 eggs
2.5 cup flour (I used white whole wheat. You can use white if you want.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp ginger
***sift the above 6 items together***
1.5 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
***Stir the vanilla into the yogurt***
Start by beating together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. I've noticed that in my mixer the light and fluffy stage in the third stage - the first stage being the crumbly stage, and the second being the butter blob stage. Get through those two and you will get to light and fluffy. I promise.
Then add the eggs one at a time. Beat well between each addition..
Now add in about a third of the sifted flour mixture and beat it in just to combine.
Then add in about half the yogurt and beat it in just to combine.
Add in another third of the flour and stir just until combined.
Mix in the rest of the yogurt and mix just until combined.
Stir in the last of the flour and mix until just combined, then beat on high for about 10 seconds.
(The point of all the just mixing in to combine is to stress the point that you don't want to over beat this mixture or the texture will get tough)
Put a layer of batter into the bottom of the greased bundt pan and then run the spatula around in the batter to make a shallow trench. Into this trench pour a steady stream of the brown sugar-cinnamon filling.
Put in another layer of batter and repeat the trench & filling step.
Add in the third layer of batter, smooth out the top, and into the oven it goes. It helps to put it on a baking tray.
Bake for the first 10 minutes at 400 then turn down to 350 for about 40 minutes. It will be a deep golden brown on top when it is finished and a toothpick inserted will come out clean, or with maybe a few crumbs clinging to it.
And that is that.
*** Ok so now for some notes. ***
First of all the point is to make it easy. If you don't have enough eggs, oh well, use one less. If you haven't got yogurt, use milk. Or sour cream. Or flavored yogurt. Or keffir. If you haven't got brown sugar for the filling, use white. Don't stress if you haven't got nutmeg, or ginger - if all you've got is cinnamon, use a half teaspoon of that.
The point is to make up with what you have on hand. I hate not being able to make something because I haven't got the exact right ingredients and I bet you feel the same way. There is nothing worse than not going in the kitchen and cooking up a storm because things aren't exactly right. Cooking is not high fashion, suited for only size 2's and people who match their panties with their brassieres. Cooking is for everyone. Even for those who've forgotten to pluck their eyebrows and now have a unibrow. Where am I going with this....?
Oh anyway, I used all white whole wheat flour which was delicious. I suspect that it would be too heavy if you used only regular whole wheat flour, but you might be the kind of person to really like that sort of thing. Otherwise you want to use about a cup of whole wheat and the rest plain all purpose.
This recipe turns out an incredibly moist and cinnamony coffee cake that is amazing the longer it sits around.
PLEASE NOTE: I am not a professional recipe writer. And while I've tried my level best to make sure I've written this down exactly as I just made it, I am also really exhausted right now. Please let me know if you seen any glaring mistakes. Thank you.
Back in the day I could go to the corner store/bookie joint and get a honey bun and a Coca Cola for a buck, and I would wheedle and cajole those precious dollar bills out of my Dad's wallet like the Artful Dodger himself. Anything to get that honey bun fix.
And it wasn't just honey buns. It was Ring Dings and bewitching pink SnoBalls and Ho Ho's and the elusive Drake's Coffee Cakes. The Coffee Cakes were the hardest to come by and I never knew why. However sitting here thinking about it, it was probably because adults would buy them for coffee break.
Even though when I was young I promised myself that when I was a grown up I would eat Hostess cakes everyday and drink Coca Cola by the gallon, I really haven't kept that promise. Truth be told I've kind of grown out of the taste for them, except for only occasionally.
But then for some reason lately I have been craving the taste of a Drake's Coffee Cake, only I want a homemade kind.
I surfed around for a good coffee cake recipe and this is what I cobbled together.
Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Preheat oven to 400. Grease a bundt pan and set aside.
Make the filling by stirring together:
-- 1 cup brown sugar
-- 2.5 T ground cinnamon
And set that aside.
For the cake:
1.5 stick butter
1.5 cup sugar
3 eggs
2.5 cup flour (I used white whole wheat. You can use white if you want.)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
.5 tsp salt
.5 tsp nutmeg
.5 tsp ginger
***sift the above 6 items together***
1.5 cup non-fat plain yogurt
1 tsp vanilla
***Stir the vanilla into the yogurt***
Start by beating together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy. I've noticed that in my mixer the light and fluffy stage in the third stage - the first stage being the crumbly stage, and the second being the butter blob stage. Get through those two and you will get to light and fluffy. I promise.
Then add the eggs one at a time. Beat well between each addition..
Now add in about a third of the sifted flour mixture and beat it in just to combine.
Then add in about half the yogurt and beat it in just to combine.
Add in another third of the flour and stir just until combined.
Mix in the rest of the yogurt and mix just until combined.
Stir in the last of the flour and mix until just combined, then beat on high for about 10 seconds.
(The point of all the just mixing in to combine is to stress the point that you don't want to over beat this mixture or the texture will get tough)
Put a layer of batter into the bottom of the greased bundt pan and then run the spatula around in the batter to make a shallow trench. Into this trench pour a steady stream of the brown sugar-cinnamon filling.
Put in another layer of batter and repeat the trench & filling step.
Add in the third layer of batter, smooth out the top, and into the oven it goes. It helps to put it on a baking tray.
Bake for the first 10 minutes at 400 then turn down to 350 for about 40 minutes. It will be a deep golden brown on top when it is finished and a toothpick inserted will come out clean, or with maybe a few crumbs clinging to it.
And that is that.
*** Ok so now for some notes. ***
First of all the point is to make it easy. If you don't have enough eggs, oh well, use one less. If you haven't got yogurt, use milk. Or sour cream. Or flavored yogurt. Or keffir. If you haven't got brown sugar for the filling, use white. Don't stress if you haven't got nutmeg, or ginger - if all you've got is cinnamon, use a half teaspoon of that.
The point is to make up with what you have on hand. I hate not being able to make something because I haven't got the exact right ingredients and I bet you feel the same way. There is nothing worse than not going in the kitchen and cooking up a storm because things aren't exactly right. Cooking is not high fashion, suited for only size 2's and people who match their panties with their brassieres. Cooking is for everyone. Even for those who've forgotten to pluck their eyebrows and now have a unibrow. Where am I going with this....?
Oh anyway, I used all white whole wheat flour which was delicious. I suspect that it would be too heavy if you used only regular whole wheat flour, but you might be the kind of person to really like that sort of thing. Otherwise you want to use about a cup of whole wheat and the rest plain all purpose.
This recipe turns out an incredibly moist and cinnamony coffee cake that is amazing the longer it sits around.
PLEASE NOTE: I am not a professional recipe writer. And while I've tried my level best to make sure I've written this down exactly as I just made it, I am also really exhausted right now. Please let me know if you seen any glaring mistakes. Thank you.
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