Cookbooks and Coffee Cake

My dear friend, Sarah, has fed my insatiable appetite for cookbooks by loaning me two amazing tomes. The first, The Zuni Café Cookbook, looks amazing though I haven’t taken the steps to try the recipes. I have a list that I’ll have to attack one weekend when I’m able to devote the time to such an endeavor as the recipes are somewhat time intensive. The other book is by Mary and Vincent Price, A Treasury of Great Recipes. Yes, the legendary actor known for his portrayals of all beings dark and mysterious. I was entranced by the culinary variety in this book. Who knew that he and his wife were such gastronomes? Detailing their travels through Europe and the US during the late 1950’s and 60’s, they offer recipes from restaurants around the world as well as recreations of their favorite dishes. Each recipe is accompanied by a memory; each chapter by story. Menus document the origins of many recipes. I spent three days reading the book as if it were a best-selling novel, marking the pages I had to return to. I began to wonder if I had enough Post-Its!

So, Sunday morning, I set out to make one of the many mouth-watering entries that captured my attention. I decided on Coffee Cake.
The recipe is deceptively simple and produces enough coffee cake to satisfy the hunger of an early morning breakfast crowd. One batch will make four 8” cakes (so, at a 2” square per person, that’s 64 pieces!!). There are four varieties with the one recipe: Streusel, Cinnamon, Apple, and Cranberry. I didn’t have cranberries and my daughter was begging for something blueberry, so I took some liberties and changed the one version. I’ll post the original along with my substitutions.


The cakes turn out moist and fairly dense. Somewhat of a cross between a sponge and a pound cake, the texture is substantial enough to be filling but light enough to encourage a second helping. The flavorful variations provide the variety needed for a beautiful display of delights.

Although this is not my usual format, I’m going to write the recipe as it is found in the book.


Breakfast Breads
Makes four 8” square breads

Flour
Baking powder
Salt
Sugar
Shortening or butter
Milk
Eggs

1. In mixing bowl combine: 8 cups sifted all-purpose flour, 4 tablespoons double-acting baking powder, 1 tablespoon salt, and 2 cups sugar.

2. Beat: 3 cups milk and 4 eggs.

3. Stir liquid into flour mixture to make a lumpy batter.

4. Stir in: 2 cups melted shortening or butter.

5. Divide batter into 4 greased 8” square baking pans and bake in a preheated 375*F oven for 25-30 minutes, or until breads test done. Remove from pans to cool on racks. When cool, wrap and freeze. Reheat in moderate 350* oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.



Cinnamon Nut Bread: Sprinkle the batter in one of the pans with: ½ cup brown sugar mixed with ½ cup chopped nut meats and 1 teaspoon cinnamon.

Streusel Bread: Sprinkle the batter in one of the pans with: ½ cup brown sugar mixed with 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 2 tablespoons flour, 2 tablespoons butter, and ½ cup chopped nut meats.

Cranberry Bread: Bring to a boil: 2 cups whole cranberries, 2/3 cups sugar, 1 pinch of salt, 2 tablespoons grated orange rind, and 2 tablespoons orange juice. Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn mixture into bottom of greased 8” square cake pan. Pour one-quarter of the breakfast bread batter over the cranberries and bake. Turn out, cranberry side up, to cool.

Note: This is where I substituted blueberries for the cranberries. I replaced the orange with lemon and followed everything else to the letter. It was DIVINE.

Apple Bread: Generously butter a 9” square cake pan. Sprinkle bottom with: ½ cup sugar and ¼ teaspoon nutmeg. Cover with: 2 cups sliced apples. Pour one-quarter of the breakfast bread batter over the apples and bake. Turn out, apple side up, to cool.

Corn Bread

We love cold weather. In our house, it's the perfect excuse for all those yummy comfort foods that are only edible once the thermometer drops into double digits again. After way too many months of scorching heat, we are only too willing to put on long pants, long sleeve shirts, and fire up the oven & stove.  Over the weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend a day baking with my friend Sylwia. We had a great time making pies and cookies, which I'm sure she will post on her blog (see the link to Unsifted). 

Not wanting to dull the momentum, I made an impromptu batch of chili and cornbread for dinner on Sunday. This is my go-to recipe for cornbread since it is easy and quick.  I love the folks at King Arthur Flour Co for their fantastic 200th Anniversary Cookbook as this is one of many recipes I use often.  I've used my cookbook so much that I had to have it re-covered to keep it from falling apart.

Cornbread
3/4 c cornmeal
1 C All purpose flour
1/3 C Sugar
1 TBSP Baking Powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 C milk
1 egg, well beaten
2 TBSP butter or margarine, melted

Preheat oven to 425*
Mix together the cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add the milk, egg and butter and stir just to blend.
Pour the batter into a greased, 8" square baking pan. Bake about 20 minutes. Remove from pan quickly to preserve the crispy crust.

Apple Cranberry Pumpkin Bread with Almond Topping

"Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater"...we all know the rhyme, and this time of year it is ever so true. I love pumpkin and I've been on a quest to make all kinds of comfort foods with it. Two weeks in a row I've made pumpkin bread and this week is clearly the taste winner. The bread is delightfully moist with big chunks of cranberry and apples. The almond crumble topping adds a tender crunch that offsets the cakelike texture of the bread.

I adapted a recipe from The Art and Soul of Baking and am very pleased.  This is a fabulous book for anyone interested in baking. The recipes are direct and most are not too complicated. So far, I've not been disappointed with the resutls. Of course, I can't seem to leave a recipe alone... I made 1 1/2 times the amount (mostly because I didn't want to waste any pumpkin) and fiddled with add-ins and spices.  I got 2 generous loaves out of the recipe...What's here will make one generous loaf.

Apple Cranberry Pumpkin Bread with Almond Crumble

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, room temp
1/3 cup water
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
1/2 cup neutral flavor vegetable oil (such as canola)
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 gala apple, peeled and cubed
1 generous handful of dried cranberries


Almond Crumble Topping
1 stick unsalted butter (4 oz)
1/4 c granulated sugar
1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp pure almond extract
1/8 tsp salt
1 c all purpose flour
1/3 cup almond meal (ground almonds)

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly coat a loaf pan with melted butter or high-heat canola oil spray and line it with a piece of parchment paper that extends 1" beyond the edge of both sides of the pan.

Make the topping: Place the butter and the sugar in the bowl of the mixer and beat on medium speed until very light in color, almost white, about 5 minutes. You may also use a hand mixer and a medium bowl, though you may need to beat the mixture a little longer to achieve the same results. Scrape down the bowl with a spatula. Add the vanilla and almond extracts and the salt and bled well. Scrape down the bowl. Add the flour and the alond meal all at once and turn the speed to low. Blend for 15 to 20 seconds until the mixture forms small clumps about the size of small peas. Chill the topping in a bowl, covered, while making the bread.

Bread:  In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, ginger, and salt until thoroughly blended. Add fruit and toss to coat.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and water. Add the sugar and blend well. Add the pumpkin puree, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract and blend well.

Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until blended and smooth. Use a spatula to scrape the batter into prepared loaf pan and level the top.

Drop the almond crumble topping on top of the pumpkin batter, evenly distributing the topping all over. Sprinkle the top with any additional ground almonds (up to a few tablespoons) and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

Bake for 55 to 65 minutes, until the bread is firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. To serve, cut into 1/2" thick slices by sawing gently with a serrated knife. Any leftovers should be wrapped in plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.