Thursday, December 22, 2011

Another coffeecake...

BUTTERY CREAM CHEESE COFFEECAKE
This recipe is from Food. com, but I'm sharing it because it is SOOO good! I find coffeecakes to be very involved and time consuming, but our family loves to eat it above other baked goods, so I don't mind making it for us. Enjoy!

Not much narrative to add tonight; X Factor is on! :O) I creamed the butter and sugar with a spoon. Obviously, go ahead with a mixer. I'm so muffin-minded that I do everything by hand!


Coffeecake batter is always so thick! I did follow directions and put more than half (2/3?) of the batter at the bottom. Greased the 9x13 with just butter.

Brief peek at the filling ingredients... 2 packs cream cheese, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla. Beat with mixer (recipe doesn't specify).

Spread whole bowl of filling over the batter in the pan. Taste some! It'll get your taste buds going for the end result! Spread remaining batter over filling (will look like not enough).

Mix the topping- flour, butter, sugar. My butter wasn't soft enough, so it didn't produce the right end result. but after baking, it looks fine.

Sprinkle (pour) topping over batter.  
I sprinkled nutmeg and cardamom over the top STRICTLY for picture purposes. :) All of my photos are white and yellow. I'm sure the flavors will accentuate the vanilla cream cheese flavor! 










RECIPE

Ingredients
    CAKE
1 cup butter (no substitutes)
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt

   FILLING
2 (8 oz) pkgs cream cheese (softened)
1 egg yolk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla

  TOPPING
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
14 cup (half stick) butter (semi softened)

Directions
Preheat oven 350F(oven rack set to second lowest position)
Grease 13.9 inch pan
CAKE: Cream butter with sugar (3-4 minutes). Add eggs and sour cream; beat well (another 3 minutes). In seperate bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture; beat well until combined (batter will be thick). Spread more than half the batter in prepared pan.
FILLING: In another bowl, cream together all filling ingredients, then carefully spread over cake batter.
Spoon remaining cake batter over top of cheese mixture (it won't cover the cake batter completely).
TOPPING: Mix all ingredients and sprinkle over cake.
Bake for 50-55 minutes or until middle feels set (not jiggly).


Sunday, December 18, 2011

A bit of a tangent from the muffins... COFFEECAKE ANYONE?

CRANBERRY STREUSEL COFFEECAKE

This is my favorite breakfast 'bread' to make for my family. Because we prefer the sweet joined by tart, this recipe creates the perfect combination for our peculiar tastebuds! I'll admit, it's a bit involved, but if you're in the mood to really bake (not just throw some flour into a bowl and mix with wet ingredients), you will enjoy making this delicious coffeecake. So, grab your measuring cups and bowls, and let's get baking!

First, place in a small saucepan 1-1/2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries, 1/4 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Cook over medium heat. Stir constantly until berries start to pop, then remove from heat and set aside. 

 See here, my four-year-old helping me pound the walnuts into chunks for the streusel (which is next on our task list). You don't have to pound your walnuts into the right size. I usually use a chopper or knife, but she really wanted to help, and this was the safe alternative.
Combine in a small bowl 1/2 cup of walnut pieces, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, and 2 tablespoons softened butter. Mix together with a fork until it's crumbly and set aside.

Stir together 1-1/2 cups flour, 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Cream 6 tablespoons butter (softened), 3/4 cup sugar, and 2 teaspoons grated orange rind. Then, add two eggs (ONE at a time), beating well after each. Stir in flour mixture alternately with 3/4 cup milk, beginning and ending with flour.

Spread half of the batter over the bottom of a greased and floured square pan. Sprinkle half the streusel,
then spoon half the cranberry filling. So beautiful!!!!
Cover with remaining batter; top batter with remaining filling

 & sprinkle with remaining streusel.
 Bake 50-60 minutes in preheated oven (350F) or until knife comes out clean. Clean on wire rack. Serve warm or room temperature!
 This is my 2nd time to make the cake. It comes out lighter if you use LIGHT brown sugar. I only have dark brown sugar, which I use for my muffins, but it still tastes great!