Butter Streusel Coffee Cake
We have spent the most wonderful couple of days up in the mountains. We have been hiking, relaxing by the fire, watching movies and eating lots and lots. Growing up, my mother would always serve Sara Lee’s Butter Streusel Coffee Cake as a side for breakfast when we had a house party up here. She would warm it up a little bit, and it was so so delicious. We never got it at home until- only in the mountains, and it seemed like such a special treat. When I lived in New York for a long time, they did not carry the Sara Lee Butter Streusel Coffee Cake in the grocery stores for some reason- a real tragedy. While I do think the Sara Lee version is pretty fantastic and obviously very easy, here is a great recipe from www.thekitchn.com for a Butter Streusel Coffee Cake that is really great. (Photo courtesy of www.kitchn.com)
Butter Streusel Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
For the cake
1/3 cup warm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 package active dry yeast (2 teaspoons)
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) good-quality unsalted butter, softened (try Plugra or Kerrygold)
1 whole egg plus 2 yolks
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
For the streusel topping
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
4 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cubed
Directions:
Sprinkle sugar and yeast over the warm water and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the beater blade, combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and butter. Mix until the ingredients are completely combined (almost creamed). Add the eggs and vanilla, followed by the salt and dissolved yeast. Continue mixing until the ingredients are just-combined. (Dough should be wet and sticky, like a very thick cake batter.)
Transfer the dough to a well-greased bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let the dough rest at room temperature for 30 minutes. Transfer the bowl to the refrigerator and chill overnight.
Remove the dough from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 45 minutes to one hour. In the meantime, prepare the streusel topping (recipe below).
Preheat the oven to 350°. Thoroughly coat a tube pan with nonstick cooking spray. Press the dough (it will be very sticky) evenly into the pan. Top the dough with the streusel mixture. Bake for 40 – 45 minutes, until the streusel is golden and the cake is cooked through. Allow to cool for five minutes, then carefully remove the cake from the tube pan (slip a knife around the edges of the cake and beneath it). Serve warm, with coffee.
To reheat, wrap cake or cake slices in aluminum foil and cook in a 300° oven until warmed through.
To make the streusel topping, pulse the flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, and salt in a small food processor. Add the butter and continue to pulse until the mixture forms coarse crumbs. Keep in refrigerator until ready to use. (This can also be done with your hands or a pastry cutter; just as if you were making a pie crust.)
One of the easiest and best breakfasts is to make a German pancake. First they are delicious, second they poof which is fun to watch at any age, but especially for kids (I am talking really poofy if you are lucky), and third you can serve it with anything- fruit, syrup, powdered sugar, nutella etc. We did try to make one once when we were up in the mountains, and the altitude was a problem and the pancake did not poof which was rather disappointing. However- if you are not way up in the mountains, this is a fun tasty breakfast idea.
I am not sure what Thanksgiving is like in your family, but we usually eat our meal in the late afternoon. I like this because it gives everyone plenty of time to do what they need/want to do beforehand. Corby has a tradition of going for a Thanksgiving day bicycle ride which is usually 40-50 miles and that takes a while. I like to go for a run in the morning so I can eat anything I want later, and of course there is all the cooking that needs to be done and football that needs watching. The only problem with eating in the late afternoon is that everyone is starving and ready to eat an hour or so before we actually do. So, this year, I found a great recipe on www.closetcooking.com for a very filling and delicious breakfast that will tide everyone over until the big feast. Also, as I mentioned in a previous post, my brother and sister-in-law are in charge of dessert this year, and they are making pecan pie and banana pudding (which I am super excited about). However, no pumpkin pie, so this breakfast is even more perfect- Pumpkin Pie French Toast! I can’t wait!
Even though it was a short week, I am so glad it is Friday. We don’t have much planned for this weekend other than some school projects due next week and of course Walker’s football game bright and early on Saturday morning. I was trying to think what would be a good breakfast for him before his game (I must brag a little as his team is undefeated and has only been scored on once- they are pretty amazing), and I found this recipe for sticky buns. Yum- I haven’t had a sticky bun in a long time. My mother used to make them for us on Christmas morning, but I think these are just the ticket for a great start to a Saturday.
It is one of the all time great debates- how to make the perfect Bloody Mary. Of course, this is all dependent on people’s tastes etc, but what I think makes the perfect Bloody Mary for me is what leads up to drinking it. This past weekend we went to visit my sister in New York. She and her family just got back from their year in Vietnam at the end of August. We arrived Friday afternoon and hung out in Central Park at the play ground after the girls got out of school. Corby and I then met up with some friends at Tao for dinner. It is a delicious Pan Asian place with a 30 foot tall Buddha and koi pond- pretty spectacular. My brother and his wife arrived Friday evening and we all met up at my sister’s for late night cocktails to celebrate all being together. Saturday was the perfect early Fall day with crisp weather in the morning turning into a glorious day in the park. Corby and I had a great run in Central Park around the reservoir and then went to meet up with everyone for brunch. We ate at Sarabeth’s on Central Park South. As anyone who has ever tried to eat brunch in New York City with 7 people, you can definitely expect a wait. We were hoping it wouldn’t be longer than half an hour. My sister went in to put our names on the list as we waited on the sidewalk and came back out with an incredulous look on her face. They could seat us immediately. It was nothing less than a miracle. We were ushered to a back table by the window and sat down still stunned that we were actually sitting down. This all leads us to what I think is the makings for a perfect Bloody Mary. And while, because of the circumstances, it didn’t even really matter what was in it, it was really something special- horseradish, worcestershire, tabasco, and practically a salad on top. It was a thing of beauty- see the picture. So my theory on the perfect Bloody Mary is not the ingredients but the lead up to the drink that makes it perfect. However, here is my favorite recipe.
On Sunday, Corby and I walked up to the Starbucks to get an iced coffee and my weirdo son Walker a hot chocolate. I say weirdo affectionately and only because it was 90 degrees outside, and who wants a hot chocolate when it is 90 degrees? Corby also got a croissant. I love a croissant. They are buttery and flaky and make me want to live in France. The great thing about croissants is that they can be used for so many things. They are exceptional for breakfast with jam or butter. They make a sandwich extra special when used as the bread. And they add something extra to dinner when they are served as the dinner roll. Also, when you dip them in coffee or hot chocolate, it is sublime. Here is a great croissant recipe from allrecipes.com. Hope you enjoy as much as I do.