Holiday Coffee Cake and Muffin Round Up

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...While it may be wretched excess, I think a holiday breakfast or brunch is incomplete without a coffee cake or muffins on the table. Butter, after all, needs a vehicle on which it can be spread. I watch what I eat for most of the year, and go so far as to lose 5 pounds just before the holidays begin. Then my reserve crumbles and I start to eat foods I wouldn't normally allow to cross my lips. When January rolls around I have, of course, regained the 5 pounds I lost back in October. Now, the cynics out there will note that I've lost and gained the same 5 pounds for 50 years running, and because everyone knows cynics have a mean streak, they'll also gleefully do the math for anyone who will pay attention to them. Ignore them. The optimists, however, will see Mrs. Feeziwig and say only that she "knew how to keep Christmas well." Really well. The recipes in today's round-up are for the optimists among you. They have all been tested and eaten with complete abandon and wouldn't be here if they weren't delicious. I hope you find something here that tempts you. Here are the recipes for some of my favorite coffee cakes and muffins.






Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake










Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake











Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake











Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake










French Breakfast Puffs











Coffee Walnut Snack Cake











Raspberry Streusel Muffins












Apple Cake with Caramel Glaze











Morning Glory Muffins










Budapest Coffee Cake














Marionberry Muffins

My Christmas Bread Round-Up

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I am inordinately fond of bread. As telling as this holiday list may be, the number of sweet breads I've chosen not to include is even more enlightening. Worse still, I've been testing new breads and will be adding a few more to the list before the Christmas holiday is here. It's not hard to tell that I've been seduced by those spores that cause flour and water to rise to poetic heights. The first time I read those classic words from The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, my response was "Amen, brother." I was even willing to forgo the jug if it meant I could have butter with my bread. Actually, most of today's featured breads don't need butter, but its availability keeps panic from setting in. To make my Christmas list, a bread had to be delicious, but I also tried to pick ones that had a story to tell or memories that could be shared. I'll let you be the judge of how well I did. Here are my favorite Christmas breads. I hope you'll try them.







Cinnamon Meringue Coffee Ring












Dresdener Stollen












Walnut Coffee Cake












Cougnou (Bread of Jesus)












Panettone












Julekake ( Norwegian Christmas Bread)











Swedish Coffee Ring with Apricots and Almonds












St. Lucia Buns











Cranberry Bread Pudding with Orange Hard Sauce











Schnecken (Snails)

Plum Buckle

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Tucked into that corner of the world occupied by crisps, cobblers and grunts, is yet another treasure called a buckle. The buckle is a rich butter cake that's topped with fruit. It gets its name because the surface of the cake appears to buckle as the cake batter rises around the topping. I think the best and most delicious version of this cake is made with plums. It tastes like a Viennese kuchen but it is much easier to prepare. While I serve this cake for breakfast or for brunch, it also makes a wonderful dessert. It is quite simple to do, though you should be aware there is one irritating problem associated with the cake. It's done when it chooses to be done and the time it requires to bake is variable. Some days the cake bakes in less than an hour, other days it takes more time. I suspect the amount of moisture in the fruit explains the discrepancy but you'll be fine, as long as you keep the cake in the oven until you are sure its center is set. This is a cake that is best served warm and eaten on the day it is made. It stales quickly. This is a treasure that I hope you will try. Here's the recipe.

Plum Buckle...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite inspired by Sunset Magazine

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 1 small lemon
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/3 cup milk
4 cups sliced unpeeled firm-ripe plums (about 4 large)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground mace

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8 x 8 x 2-inch pyrex pan. Set aside.
2) Combine butter and 1 cup sugar in bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat at high speed until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in lemon peel.
3) Combine flour, baking powder,salt and nutmeg in another bowl. Whisk to combine. Stir half the flour mixture into butter mixture , then add milk followed with remainder of flour mixture. Stir just until incorporated. Scrape batter into prepared pan. Overlap plum slices on top of batter. Combine reserved 2 tablespoons sugar with cinnamon and mace. Sprinkle over plums.
4) Bake in a 325 degree oven until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes (it may take longer than this) . Serve warm or at room temperature. Yield: 9 servings.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Plum and Hazelnut Crumble Slice - The English Kitchen
Cinnamon Streusel Plum Cake - My Kitchen in the Rockies
Plum Galette/Plum Crostada - My Kitchen Snippets
Plum and Cherry Compote - Nami Nami
Plum Tart - Being Suzy Homemaker
Plum Cardamom Ice Cream - Cristine Cooks

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite... We had breakfast for dinner tonight. Chalk it up to a great day trip that probably should have been an overnighter. We had promised the boys a trip to Cape Foulweather, so named for its high winds and the ferocity of its storms, and the cape did not disappoint. We stayed longer than we should and a late and heavy lunch left no one with any real appetite for dinner. Once home, I pulled this cinnamon swirl from the freezer and Bob made pancakes and bacon for those not wanting eggs. I suspect all of you have had this loaf in one form or another. I guarantee your grandmother made it and your mother probably used Bisquick to make a coffee cake that was similar to it. It fell into disfavor for years, but reappeared in a 2002 Cooking Light forum and hit the other food boards shortly thereafter. I have not been able to find the original source of the recipe. This is a delightful cake that is quick to assemble and is wonderful for morning meetings or a family brunch. The recipe, as it appeared on the food boards, would cause most folks to combine ingredients at the wrong time, so I've rearranged the ingredient list to prevent that from happening. Mine is a simple fix. Here's how it's made.

Cinnamon Swirl Loaf...as made in the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Cinnamon Swirl
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Batter
1-3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1-1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup sour cream
Assembly
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 x 5 x 3-inch loaf pan. Set aside.
2) To make cinnamon swirl: Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl. Set aside.
3) To make batter: Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt into a small bowl. Set aside. Cream butter until light in bowl of an electric mixer on high speed. Gradually add sugar and continue beating until mixture is very light and fluffy. With mixer set to medium speed, add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. With mixer set on low speed, alternately beat in dry ingredients and sour cream, beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Beat only until combined.
4) To assemble: Spoon half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle with half of cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and cinnamon sugar. Drizzle butter over top. To form swirl, cut through batter with a knife several times.
5) To bake: Bake until a skewer inserted in center comes out clean, about 1 hour. Let pan cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Loosen sides from pan and carefully invert onto a rack and gently flip to turn right-side up again. Cool completely before serving. Yield: 1 loaf.

You might also enjoy these recipes:
Pom Koec: Belgian Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Budapest Coffee Cake - One Perfect Bite
Apple Nut Coffee Cake - Sweet Kat's Kitchen
Blueberry Cheese Danish Cake - The Sweets Life
Sour Cream Cinnamon Nut Coffee Cake - Buttercream Barbie
Plum Kuchen - Smitten Kitchen
le Weekend Coffee Cake Muffins - She's In the Kitchen
Allspice Muffins - What's Cooking Chicago

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - Blue Monday

We've finally reached Connecticut and are again with the men in blue. I'm sure you've heard it was a less than perfect year for Christmas travelers. I can attest to an unintended night in Phoenix and an unplanned, though lovely, extension of our Austin visit. Folks more intelligent than I, know better than to book flights that go anywhere near O'Hare airport at this time of year. We've had a run of good luck these past few years and it was bound to end sooner or later. It did. Some blame Hermes, others Christopher. I prefer to take a deep breath, swear a little and then surrender to the limitations of the day. Fortunately, it has all ended well. It's been a wonderful holiday so far and I have another week to go. Oops! More snow is forecast for tomorrow.







From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I saw the prototype for this coffee cake on Annie's Eats while searching for new sweet breads for the holiday. I wanted to give a Pacific Northwest twist to her wonderful Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake, so I began to dissemble it. I chose to use a moist potato dough for the cake base, swapped blackberries for raspberries and, of course, felt compelled to use hazelnuts in the streusel topping. I also doubled the ingredients so I could have a spare cake in the freezer. This is not a difficult recipe if you break it into its component parts. It will take time, but you'll also have a luscious coffee cake to serve your family and friends. A refrigerator dough is used to form the base of the coffee cake, so you'll want to start this the day before you plan to serve it. Here's the recipe.

Blackberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
Dough
1-1/4 cups warm water
2 (4-1/2 teaspoons) packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1/2 cup instant, reconstituted warm mashed potatoes, prepared without butter and salt
2 large eggs + 2 egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 cup butter, softened
6-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
Berry Topping
4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 2 tablespoon orange juice
Cream Cheese Filling
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
Streusel Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup toasted chopped hazelnuts
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
Egg Wash
1 large egg
1 tsp. heavy cream or whole milk
Glaze
2/3 cup confectioners' sugar
4 teaspoons milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract

Directions:
1) To make the dough: Pour warm water into a medium size bowl. Sprinkle yeast over water; add sugar and salt; stir to combine. Let sit until mixture begins to bubble, about 5 minutes.
Add eggs, soft butter, warm mashed potatoes and 3 cups flour. Beat with a portable mixer until just smooth. Using a wooden spoon, beat in 2 additional cups of flour until just mixed into dough. Add remaining 1-1/2 cups flour, using hands to mix dough until it's smooth and leaves sides of bowl. Brush top with oil or melted butter. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise in refrigerator until doubled in bulk, about 2 hours. Punch down. Cover and return to refrigerator for one to three days, punching down once each day. Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before proceeding to shape.
2) To make berry filling: Combine berries, sugar, lemon juice, salt, cinnamon, cornstarch and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Continue boiling, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick and shiny, 1½ to 2 minutes. Scrape into a small bowl, cover and chill thoroughly before using.
3) To make cream cheese filling: Beat cream cheese, sugar, flour and salt in bowl of a mixer at high speed until smooth, 2-4 minutes. Add lemon zest, egg and almond extract. Reduce speed to medium and continue beating, scraping down sides of the bowl at least once, until incorporated, about 1 minute. Scrape mixture into a small bowl and chill thoroughly before using.
4) To make streusel topping: Mix brown and granulated sugars, flour, hazelnuts, cinnamon and salt in a small bowl. Add butter pieces and toss to coat. Rub butter chunks and dry mixture together between your fingertips until mixture is crumbly. Chill thoroughly before using.
5) When ready to shape coffee cakes: Remove dough from refrigerator 2 hours before shaping. Then turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 2 pieces. Shape each piece into a log about 8 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter. Roll each log evenly into a 40-inch rope about 1 inch in diameter. Flatten each rope into a strip that is 1-1/2 inches wide. Use both hands to twist each strip of dough into a coil. Loosely coil each rope in a spiral pattern, leaving a ¼-inch space between coils. Tuck ends under and pinch to seal. Place each coil on a separate baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Cover shaped cakes with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature until nearly doubled in volume, about 45-60 minutes.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush each cake with egg wash. Spoon half of cheese filling over the center of the top of each cake, leaving a border clear around edge. Layer half of blackberry filling over cheese filling on each cake. Sprinkle streusel topping over each cake. Bake until deep golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted in center of the cake reads 190 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for at least 20 minutes.
7) To make glaze: Whisk together confectioners' sugar, milk and almond extract in a bowl. Drizzle over top of finished cakes and let set before serving. Yield: 2 cakes; 16-2o servings.

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

This recipe is linked to:
Wild Yeast - Yeast Spotting

Walnut Coffee Cake - Blue Monday

Trafalger Square








As you read this, we'll be on our way to Texas for the first leg of our Christmas adventures. We'll be in Austin through the 26th and then head to Connecticut to meet our newest heir and greet the New Year. While my correspondence may suffer, there will be a new recipe and a, hopefully, pithy observation each day I'm gone, so please don't be strangers. I'll do my best to respond to your comments, but should reality trump intent, know I'll be back and in fine fettle for the New Year.

The walnut coffee cake featured today is the very nicest surprise of my Christmas baking adventures. I stumbled on the recipe and clipped it to use as a filler, never expecting it to become a holiday superstar. It is a wonderful yeast bread that is decidedly simple to make. It requires patience rather than kneading. The dough is mixed and then put to bed for the night in the refrigerator. It is filled, rolled and baked the following day. While there are several steps required to make this, none of them are difficult and no special equipment is required. The loaves can be frozen, but if you choose to take that route don't frost them until they've been thawed and are ready to serve. The loaves are very sticky, so don't let them sit for more than 15 minutes in their pans. When you turn them out, cover your cooling rack with plastic wrap or parchment paper to keep them from sticking to the ribs of the rack. Once cool, they'll be fine and the paper can be removed from the bottom of the loaves. This cake comes very close to being my all-time favorite coffee cake. It would be in first place if it weren't for the fact I know that there is another one out there that is just waiting to be discovered. On a scale of one to five, this cake is easily a five. Please try it.

Over-Night Walnut Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Epicurean.com

Ingredients:
Dough
4 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
4-1/2 teaspoons (2 pkg.) active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup warm water
2 eggs
1 cup cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons melted butter
Filling:
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-1/2 cups finely chopped walnuts
Frosting:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon hot water

Directions:
1) In large mixing bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar and salt. Cut in butter until it resembles corn meal.
2) In small bowl, combine yeast with 1 tablespoon sugar and warm water; stir to dissolve.
3) In another bowl, combine eggs, milk and vanilla; stir until well combined. Stir in yeast mixture, then add to flour mixture with a wooden spoon mixing until well combined and a rough dough forms. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; refrigerate overnight.
4) When ready to proceed, cream butter. Gradually beat in gradually beat in powdered sugar and vanilla. Spread 2 tablespoons of mixture in bottom and up sides of two 9 x 5 loaf pans. Reserve remainder for filling. Sprinkle 1/4 cup chopped nuts in bottom of each pan.
6) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
7) Divide dough in half. On lightly floured board, roll each half to a 10 x 18 inch rectangle. Spread each half with remaining filling, then sprinkle each with 1/2 cup chopped nuts. Cut each half cross wise into 3 equal strips, 6 x 10 inches long. Starting at long edge of each strip, roll up jelly-roll style to form 10-inch long rolls; twist slightly. Braid 3 rolls together; place in pans, tucking ends under.
8) Bake for 50 - 55 minutes. Remove from pans; frost when cool.
9) To make frosting, place powdered sugar, butter, corn syrup and water in a small bowl and combine until smooth. Add additional water as need to make a heavy but pourable icing. Yield: 2 loaves/cakes.

This post is being linked to:
Smiling Sally - Blue Monday

Wild Yeast - Yeast Spotting

Budapest Coffee Cake - Foodie Friday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Following a critique that appeared here several weeks ago, I was asked to share the recipe for my favorite non-yeast coffee cake. Three recipes came to mind and anyone of them would be a worthy candidate for the designation "best". Today's contender comes from Maida Heatter's "Book of Great Desserts". Food writer's, especially those with public personas, tend to be swallowed by the ebb and flow of tides that carry fans to fads on other shores. Each generation produces its own crop of star chefs and food writers who capture the imagination of the public. That's as it should be. However, we who love the kitchen and the creation of food, have a tendency to dismiss as passe anything not currently on the New York Times best seller list. That's a big mistake. It is possible to move forward and still carry the best of the past with us. This is an outstanding coffee cake. It was the most popular recipe in the "Book of Great Desserts", but I've found only two other places where the recipe is actually used and reviewed. What a shame. This coffee cake is not hard to make and it uses ingredients that are readily available. I hope you'll try it. It would make a wonderful addition to any holiday breakfast or brunch table. The glaze, by the way, isn't really necessary and can be eliminated if you'd prefer a less sweet cake. Here's the recipe for a personal favorite of mine.

Budapest Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite, courtesy of Maida Heatter

Ingredients:
Filling
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cocoa
3 tablespoons currants or finely chopped raisins
1 cup toasted walnuts
Batter
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sour cream, room temperature
Glaze
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons hot milk

Directions:
1) Adjust an oven rack to lower third of oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a 10-inch Bundt pan. Set aside.
2) To make the filling: Combine brown sugar, cinnamon and cocoa in a small bowl. Mix throughly. Stir in nuts and currants or raisins. Set aside.
3) To make batter: Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Cream butter in bowl of an electric stand mixer, using paddle attachment. Add vanilla and sugar and beat on medium speed for a minute or two. Add eggs, one at a time, beating each until just incorporated. Scrape sides of bowl, as necessary, to keep mixture smooth. Beat at high speed until mixture is light and creamy, about 1 minute. Turn mixer to low speed. Add dry ingredients in three additions and sour cream in two additions, beating only until smooth after each addition.
4) Spread a thin layer of batter in bottom of prepared pan. This will be easier to do if you use a small spoon to drop batter into pan and then smooth it together. Top with 1/3 of nut mixture. Repeat until you have 4 layers of batter and three layers of nut filling. The top layer will be batter. Bake 50 to 60 minutes, or until cake tester inserted in center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for 5 minutes.
5) To make glaze: Combine powdered sugar, vanilla and milk in a small bowl. Mix well. Mixture should have consistency of a thick cream sauce.
6) Spread wax paper underneath a cooling rack. Invert cake on cooling rack. Remove pan. Pour glaze over cake, letting it run down sides, while still hot. Whan glaze ir set, transfer cake to a serving plate. Cake may be served warm or at room temperature. Yield: 12 Servings.

This recipe is being linked to:
Designs By Gollum - Foodie Friday

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake - Pink Saturday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I've wanted to try this recipe for years. I've seen it in many places but the version I used today came from Allrecipes. The cake intrigued me because it uses jam rather than berries. I tend to horde my stash of berries and use them only for special desserts. The cake is easy to make and can be on the table in a little over an hour. It consists of a layer of pastry that's covered with a cheese filling and spread with raspberry jam before being sprinkled with a struessel topping. It's a nice cake and I will keep the recipe. I have other coffee cakes that I prefer, but I like to have something new in reserve for the folks who eat regularly at my table. I substituted mascarpone for the cream cheese and used my own freezer jam rather than a commercial product. I'll use cream cheese the next time I make this and I plan to increase the amount of jam from 1/2 to 3/4 of a cup. I think I'll also try blackberry or peach jam in place of the raspberry. This is not a particularly sweet cake, nor will it win any beauty contests. It's makes a nice light dessert and would work well as part of a brunch buffet. If I had to sum up the cake in a single word the word I'd select would be "nice." Not great, just nice. Here's the recipe for a nice cake.

Raspberry Cream Cheese Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite courtesy of Allrecipes

Ingredients:
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup cold butter
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
FILLING:
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup raspberry jam
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Confectioners' sugar (optional)

Directions:
1) In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and sugar. Cut in butter until mixture is crumbly. Remove 1 cup and set aside. To remaining crumbs, add baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add sour cream, egg and almond extract; mix well. Spread in the bottom and 2 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. springform pan.
2) To make filling, beat cream cheese, sugar and egg in a small bowl until blended. Pour over batter; spoon raspberry jam on top. Sprinkle with almonds and reserved crumbs.
3) Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes. Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; remove sides from pan. Dust top with confectioners' sugar if desired. Yield: 8 servings.

This post is being linked to Pink Saturday, sponsored by Beverly at How Sweet the Sound.

Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Pom Koec is a Belgian coffee cake that is similar to, but a bit drier than the honey cake that is traditionally served for Rosh Hashanah. The recipe I use comes from the Belgian Recipe Page and should be credited to Margaret Buytaert who brought it with her from Kieldrecht, Belgium. There are no tricks here. A child can make this cake. I changed the spicing a bit, replacing the cloves with ginger and adding a 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and the zest of an orange to the batter. I also found the cake required more time to cook than is stated in the recipe. That may be a vagary of my oven, but I'd suggest you use 40 to 45 minutes as the estimated baking time. My changes to the recipe appear in red. The cake improves with aging, so it's best to bake it a day before you plan to serve it. I'd like to wish all who will be observing Rosh Hashanah this weekend "L'shana tova tikatevu." May your new year be sweet and spent in the company of family and friends.

Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup honey
1 cup hot coffee
1 large egg
1/3 cup corn oil

Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Grease a 9 x 4 -inch loaf pan. Cut a piece of wax paper or parchment to fit bottom of pan. Lightly grease paper. Set aside.
3) Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, orange zest and salt) in a bowl to combine.
4) In a separate bowl, quickly mix honey, coffee, egg and oil.
5) Quickly fold in dry ingredients - mixing just enough to combine without toughening cake batter.
6) Fold into pan and bake for 30 minutes (my cake took 45 minutes to bake). Use a tooth pick to see if center is done.
7) Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert pan and turn cake onto a serving plate. Remove paper. Serve warm with butter, thinly sliced. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...Pom Koec is a Belgian coffee cake that is similar to, but a bit drier than the honey cake that is traditionally served for Rosh Hashanah. The recipe I use comes from the Belgian Recipe Page and should be credited to Margaret Buytaert who brought it with her from Kieldrecht, Belgium. There are no tricks here. A child can make this cake. I changed the spicing a bit, replacing the cloves with ginger and adding a 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and the zest of an orange to the batter. I also found the cake required more time to cook than is stated in the recipe. That may be a vagary of my oven, but I'd suggest you use 40 to 45 minutes as the estimated baking time. My changes to the recipe appear in red. The cake improves with aging, so it's best to bake it a day before you plan to serve it. I'd like to wish all who will be observing Rosh Hashanah this weekend "L'shana tova tikatevu." May your new year be sweet and spent in the company of family and friends.

Pom Koec - Belgian Coffee Cake...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup honey
1 cup hot coffee
1 large egg
1/3 cup corn oil

Directions:
1) Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Grease a 9 x 4 -inch loaf pan. Cut a piece of wax paper or parchment to fit bottom of pan. Lightly grease paper. Set aside.
3) Mix dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, orange zest and salt) in a bowl to combine.
4) In a separate bowl, quickly mix honey, coffee, egg and oil.
5) Quickly fold in dry ingredients - mixing just enough to combine without toughening cake batter.
6) Fold into pan and bake for 30 minutes (my cake took 45 minutes to bake). Use a tooth pick to see if center is done.
7) Cool on wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert pan and turn cake onto a serving plate. Remove paper. Serve warm with butter, thinly sliced. Yield: 10 to 12 servings.

Morning Glory Petal Bread - Blue Morning Glories for Blue Monday

From the kitchen of One Perfect Bite...I found this sport of a Heavenly Blue Morning Glory in the far green house of an obscure nursery that Bob and I found when we moved to Oregon. The twice retired giant who runs the place won't sell it to me. It was his mother's favorite flower, so each year he captures seeds to propagate and produce vines worthy of her memory. This edgy man now shuffles with stooped shoulders as he goes about his tasks. He's a decorated combat veteran who returned home to raise a family and mind the family business. Age took his wife and mother. Combat took his son. His gardens still remain. I've been privileged to see them. The trellis in the garden behind the house is smothered by artfully twisted, climbing vines overlain with the heavenly blue flowers I so want to be mine. Protected by a willow planted the year his boy was born and engulfed in the fragrance of the rose hedge his wife tended, we have our coffee and repeat the game we've played for years. I ask for seeds I know I won't receive, but learn more each year about this gentle man and his passion for this quiet spot and the land that he has turned. Some folks buy headstones, he propagates flowers and tends the earth. I suspect his family would love the monument he's created for them.




One of life's simple pleasures is morning coffee in the garden. It's made sweeter still with a crusty baguette or sweet pastry. Morning Glory Petal Bread is perfect for breakfast in the garden. It's a wonderful flower shaped confection whose petals are sugar dipped biscuits that are pulled apart for eating. It's assembled rather than made and it's one of my secret weapons for company breakfast or brunch. The recipe first appeared as Orange Marmalade Coffee Cake in the 1999 Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook. I urge you to play with this recipe until you're comfortable with amount of fat and sugar you are using. I've altered the original recipe to use a soft spread that tastes like butter. I also reduced the amount of marmalade used in its preparation. As to sugar, I've used a combination of golden brown and granulated sugar but have not cut back on the original measurement. My changes to the base recipe appear in red. I urge you to try this when you need a special dish for breakfast or brunch. It takes 5 minutes to assemble and its absolutely delicious.

Morning Glory Petal Bread...from the kitchen of One Perfect Bite

Ingredients:
1/2 to 2/3 cup sweet orange marmalade
2 tablespoons (or more to taste) chopped walnuts
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup golden brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 (approximately 12 ounce) cans of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1/2 cup melted soft spread (i.e. I Can't Believe It's Not Butter)

Directions:
1) Preheat Oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 12-inch Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
2) Spread marmalade in bottom of Bundt pan. Sprinkle with walnuts.
3) Melt soft spread and place in a small bowl. Combine sugars and cinnamon in a small bowl. Separate biscuits, dip each into soft spread, dredge in cinnamon-sugar and place, standing up, evenly around the edges of Bundt pan. Drizzle any remaining soft spread over biscuits and sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon-sugar mixture.
4) Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, or until top is a deep golden brown. Cool on a pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Invert onto a platter and serve immediately. Yield: 8 servings.

I'm send this to Smiling Sally for her Blue Monday event.

It will also go to Color Outside the Lines for Share A Garden Sunday.

Swedish Coffee Ring with Apricots and Almonds

BBB is a monthly baking adventure sponsored by a group of twelve women who call themselves the Bread Baking Babes. This month's host is Cookie Baker Lynn. She selected a recipe for a Christmas wreath that looks absolutely beautiful and it has an almond filling that guarantees it will be delicious. Despite a wonderful recipe, Lynn gave the babes and their buddies (that would be me) free reign to vary the dough and filling, but she did ask that the bread be shaped as a wreath. She didn't say a word about the name! Now in my book a wreath and a ring are the same thing, and Christmas had passed, so I altered the name a wee bit. The recipe Lynn choose had a marvelous sweet dough so I decided to use that, but after some thought I chose to use an apricot filling for my version of the coffee bread. It worked out nicely. The filling is less sweet than many, but additional sugar can be added to taste. The dough is wonderfully easy to work with and it withstood even my clumsy attempts at artistry. I didn't embarrass myself but if you want to see some beautiful creations take a look at the wreaths these women produced. I'm also sending this entry to Susan at Wild Yeast who hosts a weekly event called Yeast Spotting.


Swedish Coffee Ring with Apricots and Almonds

Ingredients:
1 pound dried apricots
2 cups water
1 scant tablespoon active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
1 cup sugar, divided use + additional sugar to taste
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg + 1 egg yolk, divided use
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon salt
3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon orange liqueur
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 toasted almond slivers
Glaze (optional)

Directions:
1) Place apricots and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil; remove from heat. Cover. Let stand for 2 hours.
2) Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup warm water. Place in bowl of an electric stand mixer; add milk, 1/4 cup sugar, butter, 1 egg, cardamom, salt and 2 cups of the flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to make dough easy to handle.
3) Turn dough onto lightly floured surface: knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Place in greased bowl; turn greased side up. Cover and let rise in warm place until double, about 1 to 1-1/2 hours.
4) Bring apricots and water back to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until apricots are soft, about 20 minutes. Transfer apricots and any remaining liquid to the bowl of a food processor. Puree. Add orange liqueur, lemon juice and reserved 3/4 cup sugar. Pulse to combine. Add additional sugar to taste. Set aside.
5) Punch down dough. Roll into rectangle, 15 x 9-inches, on a lightly floured surface. Spread with apricot filling to within 1/4-inch of the edges. Roll tightly, lengthwise. Pinch edge of dough into roll to seal well. Stretch roll to make even. With sealed edge down, shape into ring on lightly greased cookie sheet. Pinch ends together.
6) With scissors or kitchen shears, make cuts 2/3 of way through the ring at 1-inch intervals. Turn each section on it's side (90 degree turn). Cover loosely with plastic wrap sprayed with cooking spray. Let rise until double, about 40 to 50 minutes.
7) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat reserved egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water. Liberally brush over ring. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake until golden brown, about 25 to 30 minutes.
8) To make optional glaze: Combine 1 cup confectioners' sugar with 1 tablespoon water and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

Adapted from Betty Crocker's International Cookbook

Cinnamon Meringue Coffee Ring

While looking for holiday recipes, I stumbled on this neglected favorite in a battered shoebox that holds my really old recipes. Each year I swear I'm going to transcribe and index them, but that just never seems to happen. As a result, a task that should take minutes can turn into hours of reverie as special recipes are found and the people associated with them emerge from memory. Lilah, George and Claire were a constant presence in my childhood. Lilah, whom I've written about before, was the mother of my best friend Claire. George, her husband, a professor at the University of Chicago, introduced Claire and me to the treasures of the Oriental Institute and the Field Museum, and, because neither of us were much into dolls, we became weekend explorers of the more exotic museum circuit. Back then museums charged no admission and a round trip ticket on the Illinois Central cost a quarter. If you were clever, you could ride from the south side of the city to the Loop and back again while stopping off to visit all the museums along the way. On a very good day, you might even catch a demonstration on the Midway at the University of Chicago. Claire and I really traveled. It was a different time and place and we were city kids, so no one worried about our museum treks from Mesopotamia to the coal mines of Appalachia. The holidays brought special exhibits to the Museum of Science and Industry and we learned that if you planned precisely you'd be able to see all the Christmas programs the museum offered. The blonde Claire, Cinderella to my Snow White, loved the re-creation of Christmas in Scandinavia and would embarrass me to death by singing "Santa Lucia" with abandon - at the top of her lungs, I might add - on the ride home from the museum. Claire loved this coffee cake and Lilah always made it for her on St. Lucia Day. It is very understated, but the unique meringue filling - a poor man's almond paste - makes it sweeter than a Viennese pastry. I hope you'll give it a try. It's not hard to do and if, as you make it, you hear the clear bell-like strands of "Santa Lucia" or see a blonde, haloed specter floating through the air, not to worry. It's probably Claire practicing for the Lucia Day procession. God Jul, Claire. No Lucia will ever hold a candle to you. Skol!

Cinnamon Meringue Coffee Ring

Ingredients:
1 scant tablespoon active dry yeast
3-1/4 to 3-1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour
2/3 cup + 2 tablespoons milk, divided use
6 tablespoons + 2 tablespoons butter, divided use
1/3 + 1/2 cup granulated sugar, divided use
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, divided use
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup + 1/4 cup chopped toasted almonds, divided use
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1) Combine yeast and 1-1/2 cups flour in bowl of an electric stand mixer. Set aside.
2) Combine 2/3 cup milk, 6 tablespoons butter, 1/3 cup sugar and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat until butter is melted. Add to flour mixture with 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk. Beat on low speed until combined. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes longer. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a moderately stiff dough. Knead on a floured surface until smooth, about 5 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise until double. Punch down, turn onto a floured surface and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll dough into an 18 x 10-inch rectangle.
3) Beat reserved egg white until stiff. Fold in reserved 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon. Spread mixture over dough. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup almonds. Starting from long side, roll dough tightly in jelly roll fashion. Place seam side down on a greased baking sheet; bring ends together and seal. Let rise until doubled in size.
4) Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Bake for 25 minutes, covering with foil if bread browns too quickly. Set aside to cool slightly.
5) Meanwhile, heat reserved 2 tablespoons butter over low heat until browned. Cool. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, reserved 2 tablespoons milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla; mix well. Drizzle cake with icing. Sprinkle with reserved 1/4 cup almonds. Yield: 6 to 8 servings.