Sunday, October 16, 2016

Coffee Cake For The Boy.




The Boy loves a good coffee cake.
Who doesn't?
So's I set out to make one.
I had recently discovered a 2010 Southern Living
compilation of Our Best Desserts at the recycling center
and found a quick and easy brown sugar and pecan coffee cake. 



The recipe called for 1 cup of sour cream
and I didn't have any sour cream.
Imagine that!
But I had some homemade crème fraîche,
(Who doesn't?)
so I'm substituting.

This cake is comprised of a flour/brown sugar/butter base,
a yummy filling,
and a pecan/sugar/cinnamon topping.

Brown Sugar and Pecan Coffee Cake

Heat oven to 350°

Base:
2 cups flour
2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed

Mix together flour and brown sugar.
Cut butter into flour mixture with a pastry blender.
Press 2 3/4 cups crumb mixture onto the bottom
of a lightly butter 9- x 13-inch pan.

Filling:
1 cup sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp baking soda

Here's where I had to get creative since I had no sour cream.
I substituted 1/2 cup crème fraîche,
1/4 cup mayonnaise, and 1/4 cup buttermilk.

(For the crème fraîche,
I poured 1 cup of heavy cream in a container
and mixed with 1 TB buttermilk and 1 TB lime or lemon juice.
Cover with paper towel and leave at room temp overnight.
The next day, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
Try some crème fraîche in your scrambled eggs
 to kick 'em up a notch)

Stir together crème fraîche mixture or 1 cup sour cream
with the egg and and baking soda.
Add to remaining crumb mixture,
stirring just until dry ingredients are mixed.
 Pour mixture evenly over crumb crust in pan.

Topping:
1 cup chopped pecans
3 TB sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix pecans, sugar, and cinnamon.
Sprinkle mixture over top filling.

Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes,
until a tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean.
covering with foil if necessary.
Let cool.

Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

For the base:
  combine flour and brown sugar.

Cut in diced butter ...

... until you have a nice crumbly mixture.

Press base evenly into baking dish,
cover with plastic,
and us a mini-rolling pin to even out.

For the filling:
Combine sour cream or crème fraîche mixture
with egg and baking soda.
Add to remaining crumb mixture.

Pour filling onto base.


Spread evenly.

For the topping:
Mix chopped pecans with sugar and cinnamon.
I used a rolling pin to crumble the nuts
inside a plastic storage bag.

Sprinkle nut mixture evenly over top.
Bake at 350° for about 30 minutes.
Let cool on rack.

When I served this,
I nuked a small slice of the coffee cake
and added some vanilla ice cream.

Heavenly!





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