Issue Date: April 24, 2005
Create your own coffeecake
It's easy to make variations of this breakfast delight.
You'll love how creamy, crunchy and fruity this cake is.
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If you understand how to vary the recipe, you only need one basic coffeecake in your repertoire. My all-purpose version consists of four components: batter, cream cheese filling, fruit preserves and crumble topping. The last three can be changed (or in some cases, omitted) to create a custom cake.
Yogurt gives the batter enough heft to support the cream cheese, preserves and crumble. But in the oven, the thick batter rises into a feather-light, moist, tender cake.
The optional cream cheese layer gives it an irresistible tang and keeps it moist, while the fruit layer helps define the cake.
The crumble topping consists of large, sweet clumps that bake into crisp, toffee-flavored bits, which adhere beautifully to the cake and don't fall off when cut. To form the impressive, clay-like clumps, knead the ingredients with your hands rather than with a fork. Choose nuts, coconut or oatmeal to flavor the crumble. Or keep it simple with just flour, sugar and butter.
To preserve the crumb topping, don't invert this cake onto a wire rack to cool. Instead, make the foil sling as instructed. After a five-minute rest, lift the cake from the pan with the foil sling, then transfer it to a wire rack to keep it from steaming in the pan. If you own a 10-inch springform pan, you can skip the foil step and loosen the clasp on the pan after running a sharp knife around the perimeter. This coffeecake holds well at room temperature overnight when wrapped in foil, not plastic wrap.
Contributing Editor Pam Anderson's third and latest cookbook is "CookSmart" (Houghton Mifflin, $28).
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Cream Cheese-Filled Coffeecake With Fruit Preserves and Crumble Topping
Crumble topping:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
6 Tbs. butter, melted but not hot
Optional: 1/2 cup of your choice -- coarsely chopped nuts (walnuts, pecans, almonds), old-fashioned oatmeal or sweetened flaked coconut
Optional cream cheese filling:
8 ounces softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
Coffeecake batter:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose bleached flour
1 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
5 Tbs. butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
Optional fruit (or chocolate) filling: 1/2 cup of your choice -- raspberry or strawberry jam; peach, cherry or pineapple preserves; apple butter; orange marmalade or mini chocolate chips
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9-inch square metal baking pan with cooking spray. Fold a 17-inch length of heavy-duty foil to 8 1/2 inches wide and fit in the pan bottom and up 2 sides, so you can use the foil overhang as a handle to pull the baked cake from the pan.
Topping: Use hands to thoroughly mix ingredients in a medium bowl, pressing together to form large clumps; set aside.
Cream cheese filling: Beat cream cheese and sugar with an electric mixer until thoroughly mixed. Beat in egg and vanilla until smooth; set aside.
Cake: Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl; set aside.
Beat butter and sugar with an electric mixer set on medium-high until light and fluffy. Beat in egg until smooth. Beat in half the dry ingredients, followed by half the yogurt. Beat in the remaining dry ingredients, then the remaining yogurt. Beat until ingredients are fully incorporated.
Spread batter evenly over prepared pan. Spread cream cheese filling over batter. Dollop fruit filling (or sprinkle chocolate chips) over cream cheese filling. Finally, sprinkle evenly with crumble topping, pressing on it lightly to adhere.
Bake until batter is fully set and topping is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes. Run a thin-bladed knife around the sides, then use foil handles to pull cake from pan onto the wire rack. Cool to room temperature and serve. Can be covered with foil and stored at room temperature for one day.
Serves 16.
For more great recipes from USA WEEKEND Magazine, visit allrecipes.com.
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