Simplicity At It's Best

I did not intend to blog about this coffee cake. I was wanting to make Belgian waffles from my Williams-Sonoma Breakfast cookbook and noticed this recipe. The original version included dried cranberries and chocolate chips. In typical fashion, I wanted to use fresh cranberries and leave out the chocolate while Mr. H only wanted chocolate and no cranberries. We both compromised and left it plain, and I'm so glad we did. This coffee cake was perfectly delicious without any additions.

We may have left the coffee cake plain, but it was anything but. It's simple in that it doesn't call for any special ingredients to gussy it up- no nuts, no oats in the streusel, no brown sugar, not even vanilla extract (though I added that anyway, because old habits die hard). It does include sour cream, but other than that, it's just butter, sugar, flour, eggs and leaveners. One unique thing about this recipe is that it has you combine the sour cream with the baking soda prior to adding it to the batter, which makes it really light and airy. I've never seen or heard of that technique before, but it worked brilliantly.

The end result was a cake, so light and spongy, but buttery and rich at the same time. There's nothing dense or heavy about this breakfast cake and it'll keep you wanting more. I took a bite when it was still piping hot from the oven and couldn't stop picking at it. Before I knew it, I had eaten a quarter of the cake myself- it was just that good! Don't feel compelled to add anything to it, just try it as it is and enjoy it, in all it's simple glory. As I mentioned above, I didn't intend to blog about this recipe so there aren't any photos of the baking process, but it was just too good not to share. If you try it, I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake adapted from Breakfast

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For The Streusel:

• 1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

For The Cake:

• 1 1/4 cups sour cream
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 teaspoons baking powder

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.

For the Streusel Topping: In a chilled bowl, combine the butter, sugar and flour. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut the butter into dry ingredients until the mixture is the consistency of fine, moist crumbs. Work the mixture with your hands until it will hold together when compressed, then squeeze it between your hands into several firm pieces. Cover and refrigerate until the cake is ready to go into the oven. (I did this the night before and had it ready to go the following morning).

For the Cake: Place the sour cream in a bowl and sift the baking soda and salt into it. Stir to blend evenly and set aside. As the sour cream mixture sits, it will get airy and fluffy.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium speed or a wooden spoon, beat together the butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until fluffy, about 3-5 minutes. Sift the flour and baking powder over the top and mix in, then beat in the sour cream mixture. Scoop the batter into the prepared dish and smooth the surface. Scatter the streusel mixture evenly over the top, breaking it up into large crouton-sized pieces (some of the streusel mixture may be small crumbs).

Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center on the cake comes out clean but not completely dry, 40-45 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, cut into squares.

And for those of you who are hooked on Hayden, here are a couple pics of my bright-eyed little man. For Christmas, he wore this penguin sweater, but we didn't get any pictures of him wearing it. So last week before I took the Christmas tree down, I got him dressed up and snapped a few pictures. I put him on the ottoman and slid it in front of the tree. That's his handprint in the background. I couldn't find a "baby's 1st Christmas" ornament that I liked so we just made one with stuff I had around the house- a glass ornament, glue and glitter.

This one is my absolute favorites and will find it's way into a frame, I'm sure. I might be a little biased but I think he's just so beautiful and perfect. Y'all, I'm in love!

Have a great rest of the week!

Favorite Recipes of 2011

I'm a little late getting to this list, but here are my favorite recipes of 2011. I tried to limit them to just 12 but had a hard time, so you get 14. Bonus! 2011 was a delicious year. I hope you enjoy.

14. Ultimate Shortbread Cookies

13. New York Times Chocolate Chip Cookies

12. Cinderella Cake

11. Oatmeal Cream Pies

10. Chocolate Sybil Cake

9. Vanilla Bean Bundt Cake

8. Parmesan Roasted Tomatoes

7. Buttermilk Pancakes

6. Chocolate Cranberry Oat Bars

5. Meyer Lemon-Lime Bars

4. Almond Jam Bars

3. Chocolate Brown Sugar Cake with Mocha Cream Cheese Frosting

2. Pecan Butter Balls

1. My Sweet Boy, Hayden!!! Sorry, no recipe for this one :-)

Winners!

The winner of Cake Ladies cookbook is:

#61- Nicole from nuts4knitting said "My knitting buddy, Susan, fits the description of a cake lady, which is a new term for me, perfectly. If there is an occasion, a birthday, retirement, or a day which ends in "d a y", she bakes a cake. For Christmas, she cranked out sixteen chocolate cakes. She is the only person I know who can go to the dollar store, chat with the cashier as she is paying and come out with a new cake recipe. She baked it for us at knitting, an apple cake, which was amazing, She should sell her cakes, to help her make ends meet, but she says that would take out all the love she puts in her cakes. This book would be for her!"

____________________________________________

And the winners of the Grimmway Farms coupons are:

#5- Heather of Kitchen Concoctions

#11- Carole Douglas

Cake Ladies Book Review and Giveaway (CLOSED)

I have another baking book up for review today! This time it's Cake Ladies by Jodi Rhoden. This book appealed to me immediately because I consider myself to be somewhat of a cake lady. "What is a cake lady?", you may be asking yourself. Everyone may have a different definition, but to me a cake lady is a woman who bakes cakes to make people happy. Sometimes they bake to make ends meet, sometimes it's a creative outlet, and sometimes it's to feel a part of a community. All the ladies in this book come from different backgrounds and have their own story, but they all believe in the healing powers of cake. They all love cake. I love cake. Do you?

Are there really healing powers in cake? In a way, I believe there is. A homebaked cake sitting on the counter makes an ordinary day better, they put smiles on faces. There's a reason they're always present at birthdays, weddings and showers. It's like a gift wrapped up in sweet buttercream and piped rosettes. Okay, enough about cake and more about the ladies who make them. This book shares the stories of 17 women- from bakery owners in Georgia to a midwife in North Carolina who bakes for the new babies she delivers to sisters in New Orleans baking vegan and sugar-free cupcakes for the community.

I read this book while soaking in a hot tub. I got so wrapped up in it that I had to rewarm the water an hour and a half later. The cakes that are shared in this book are all the prized recipes from these ladies. I chose to bake the peanut butter banana cupcakes, because I adore that combination. I really enjoy a PB and banana with honey sandwich and these cupcakes were very similar in flavor. The cupcake itself was dense and moist and the peanut butter cream cheese frosting was so light and fluffy. I also plan to make the chocolate cake on the cover- a request from Mr. H and a white layer cake slathered in lemon curd. That one is for me. Yum!

The only downside I saw in this book is that the author, Jodi Rhoden, who is a cake lady in her own right didn't share a recipe of her own. That would have been the perfect addition to this book. Otherwise it was a great read, informative and all the recipes are accompanied with full size color photos.

Peanut Butter & Banana Cupcakes from Cake Ladies

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For the Cupcakes:

• 2 eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 Tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk

For the Icing:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 cup cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 1 cup dried banana chips (for garnish)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees . Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners and set aside.

For the Cupcakes: Beat the eggs and sugars together in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy, stopping the mixer twice during mixing to scrape down the paddle, bottom and sides of the bowl. Add the oil in a slow, steady stream while beating on medium low speed. Add the vanilla and beat. Add the bananas and peanut butter, mix, scrape down the bowl and beat.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together into a separate bowl and set aside.

With the blender on low speed, alternately add the dry ingredients and the milk to the creamed mixture in three parts, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Blend just until the ingredients are fully incorporated.

Add batter into each cupcake liner until two-thirds full. depending on the size of your cupcake pans, this recipe should make about 2 dozen cupcakes.

Bake cupcakes for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For the Icing: Cream the butter, peanut butter and the cream cheese together in a bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on low speed. Beat until the mixture is smooth and cream and no lumps remain. Add and combine the vanilla. Add the powdered sugar, 1 cup at a time, blending on low speed until fully incorporated. Scrape down the paddle, sides, and the bottom of the bowl using a rubber spatula. Beat the mixture on medium speed until light and fluffy.

Icing the Cupcakes: When the cupcakes are completely cool, spread or pipe about 2 heaping tablespoons on the peanut butter icing on each cupcake, then garnish each one with a banana chip.

Cupcakes will keep several days covered in the refrigerator.

Want to win your very own copy of Cake Ladies?

Leave a comment on this post telling about a cake lady that you may know of, or simply tell me about your love of cake. It's that simple. One winner will be chose and the publishers will send a book out to that person. Giveaway valid in the USA only. Please leave contact info when leaving a comment.

The giveaway is closed, the winner is announced HERE.