Sour Cream Coffee Cake with Cinnamon-Pecan Filling

October is National Cookie Month.  Tate's Bake Shop is offering a few food bloggers an opportunity to taste their award winning Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Cookies.

Owner Kathleen King made her reputation--and a thriving bakery business-- on her famous chocolate chip cookies.  Her bakery is located in the Hamptons-- a place I hope to visit someday.

Last December , I was one of the fortunate bloggers who was able to taste Tate's Chocolate Chip cookies-- and Tate's Bake Shop offered a giveaway to one of my lucky readers .  My family and I really loved these cookies, that are thin and crisp and buttery.  They disappeared really fast. I also received a signed copy of the Tate's Bake Shop Cookbook, and I  made the recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They were delicious, but not quite as crispy as the authentic cookies that Tates Bake Shop can ship to you! 

Denielle contacted me, again, and asked if I'd like to sample their Whole Wheat Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies.   I love cookies, but I asked her if there were any other options.  She cheerfully offered to put together a breakfast package for me, and said that she'd also let me choose a lucky recipient to receive the same.  A week later...

...I received a box with their Sour Cream Coffee Cake and a bag of their Granola.  The very next morning, I opened up the package, and started fresh hot coffee brewing.

The coffee cake was carefully wrapped. Look at all of those pecans!

We each cut a generous slice, and my husband particularly loved all of the pecan-cinnamon. Heaven!

The granola was wholesome, and generously mixed with golden raisins, hazelnuts, almond, and honey...

Here. Take a look!

My favorite way to eat granola is with vanilla yogurt.  It's really delicious!

The coffee cake was gone, by the next day.  I picked up my copy of the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook, and looked through the many recipes I had bookmarked. Aha!  On Page 128, I found the recipe for Sour Cream Coffee Cake.  I loved that 2 cups of sour cream is used.  I love the moistness and tang of sour cream in cakes.  My mind was made up, that this would be our Saturday morning breakfast treat.

The recipe lists 2 cups of chopped pecans.  I decided to cut it back to 1 cup of pecans.  Your choice.

I used 1/2 cup of brown sugar (rather than white), the chopped pecans and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon.

Mix it up, and set aside.

For the batter, I creamed one stick of room temperature butter (the recipe listed 2 sticks of butter, but I reduced it) with 1 1/2 cups sugar, until it was light and fluffy.  I then added 2 eggs, 2 cups of sour cream, and one tablespoon of pure vanilla.  The dry ingredients were 2 cups of all-purpose flour, 1 Tablespoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon salt. 

I dumped all of the dry ingredients at once, and pulsed my stand mixer a few times...then I folded the batter just until it was mixed.  (I think this method was used, so that the dough isn't overworked. )

I love using Baker's Joy spray.  My cakes no longer stick, and I've had my share of bundt cake disasters. The batter is very thick, and I put half into the prepared pan and spread it evenly.  Then, I layered half of the pecan-cinnamon mixture evenly.  I added the remaining batter and finished it off with the remaining pecan-cinnamon mixture.  Then it hit me... I should have used a spring form pan, so that the cinnamon topping would remain on top!  Too late, now...

Bake at 350 for 1 hour and ten minutes, is what the recipe says. HOWEVER, I could smell the heady aroma of cinnamon wafting from my kitchen, and throughout the house.  I checked the cake at 50 minutes, and a toothpick left just a few crumbs attached. Done!

I waited about five minutes, and placed a wire cooling rack on top of the cake-- then flipped it. The cake slipped right out. I placed another wire cooking rack on top and flipped the cake again.

There. The topping is where it belongs.  The moment has arrived, as I sliced into the warm cake...

The texture looks very promising.

VERDICT:  The cake had a very tender texture, indeed.  It was moist, and the sour cream gave just the right amount of tang.  Reducing the amount of butter, from two sticks, to one worked out fine, in my opinion. We loved the cinnamon-pecan filling, and I don't regret cutting back on the amount of pecans. I love pecans, but I wanted the cinnamon to be equal.  I think using brown sugar was another bonus.  Everyone went back for seconds. This is a great recipe, and I'll definitely make it again.

Thank you, Tate's Bake Shop for your generous gift.  You, too, can have the opportunity to receive the same breakfast treats that I did, plus a signed copy of the Tate's Bake Shop cookbook!  

 

There's even a forward, in the book, from Ina Garten. I'm a huge Ina Garten fan, so that's quite an endorsement!

• All you need to do is leave a comment on this post, and tell me what your favorite breakfast treat is. 
• If you would like a second entry, please join my Facebook Fan Page, and leave a comment that you have (if you are already a member, then leave a comment, too.)
• Increase your odds a third time, by tweeting this giveaway (I'm @foodiewife), and leave a comment telling me that you did so.

The giveaway entries are now closed.   I will randomly choose a winner, so please be sure that you have your email address on your blog profile, or be sure to leave it in the comment.   Good luck!

As a bonus, Tate's Bake Shop will give my readers a 15% discount, if you'd like to gift someone with their selection of fresh baked goods-- or if you'd like to try their famous chocolate chip cookies or treats, for yourself. The discount code is "COOKIE" and it's good for the whole month of October. 

A printable recipe card for this coffee cake is at the end of this post.

Best Peanut Brittle

 

Before I share how I made this delicious peanut brittle, I have to share something wonderful that has recently happened in my life.  It's complicated, but the very short story is that 15 months ago I lost my full-time job at a high school.  Fortunately, my school district transferred me to a different school site, and I didn't suffer at all.  For one, I was still employed--though my hours got cut.  My new co-workers welcomed me, with warm and loving arms, and I have made new lifetime friends.  The one drawback was (besides my hours being reduced), that I had to work a split shift.  That meant that I'd work four hours in the morning, then I had three hours to kill (25 miles away from my home), and then I worked till 8pm.  Essentially, I was gone from 7am until 9pm.   I made it work, but-- as of last week, I am back at the high school, because someone retired. I'm back in my same position, working a day shift, full-time and I am still grinning.  Call me crazy, but I love the energy of working with high school kids. It's a crazy busy job, and yet it's so rewarding!  Hopefully, I can find more time to blog more often, because I have a backlog of recipes to share with you!

PS: To my dear friend, Rhonda (who is also retiring from my school site)--this recipe is in honor of you. Muwahhh!  Thank you for reading my blog, so faithfully.

My husband loves peanuts. Seriously. He buys them in the shell, and cracks them several times a week sometimes while I'm trying to read and I have to try and tune it out.  The funny thing is that I'm not particularly wild about peanut butter.  Whole peanuts, however, are another story. When Craig and I were visiting Murphy's (California), last May, I decided to visit a candy store that I heard was not to be missed.   I decided to try their peanut brittle that people raved was "the best".  I paid close to $10.00 for a tiny bag-- a bit pricey, I thought. It was good, I'll admit.  Craig and I demolished the bag in no time.

When we returned home, I decided to do a little research on how to make my own peanut brittle.  I found a few online recipes,  including a microwave version.  I decided to forgo "nuking" my brittle, and I settled for a stove top version.  I used salted, canned peanuts, because we happened to have them in our pantry.  The ingredients consisted of peanuts, water, light corn syrup, baking soda, pure vanilla and salt, and butter (not pictured, because I forgot).

In a heavy 2 quart saucepan, over medium heat, bring to a boil sugar, corn syrup, salt, and water. Stir until sugar is dissolved. NOTE: Using a candy thermometer, I waited until the hot liquid reached 250F, before adding the peanuts.  Reviews suggested this, so that I didn't risk burning the peanuts.   Stir in peanuts.

 Set candy thermometer in place, and continue cooking. 

 ...we're going for a final temperature of 300 degrees F (150 degrees C), or until a small amount of mixture dropped into very cold water separates into hard and brittle threads.

Once the candy reaches that hard ball stage, remove from heat; immediately stir in butter, vanilla and baking soda; pour at once onto  a very heavily greased sheet (covered with foil) or on a Silpat mat.

You really have to move fast, so be sure you have your sheet ready to go.  I simply tilted my baking sheet, with the silicone mat, to evenly spread the peanut brittle.

This is really hot, so be very careful!

See? Spreading with a spatula isn't the greatest idea.  I'm glad that I used a silicone spatula, for easier clean up.

 

 Once the brittle is cooled (and that happens pretty fast), break the candy into pieces.

VERDICT:  If you look closely, you can see how airy these brittle turned out.  I tweaked a couple of things from the original recipe that I adapted from here. The original recipes called for one cup of peanuts, but  I used two cups--and I'm glad that I did! I also added vanilla, and that was perfect, too.  Honestly, this brittle was as good (if not better) than the one I bought at that candy store.  I was surprised at how easy it is to make, and I can see making these as Christmas gifts.  CLEANUP: I found that, once my pot had cooled, that simply soaking it with water dissolved the leftover candy and the pot was as good as new.  The silpat mat also made cleanup a breeze. If you don't have one, I definitely suggest foil wrapping a baking sheet, and grease it very well!

I can see macadamia nuts as a great variation. I've seen pine nut brittle, too.  I'd better double the recipe, though.  This brittle didn't make it past one day, with the three of us.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.


Oh, tomorrow morning we're off on a road trip, for a few days,  to our timeshare in the Napa-Sonoma area for Fall Break. See what I mean? Working for a school district has it's perks-- and trust me, I'm very thankful.

Pumpkin Pots de Creme with Candied Pecans

I'm bracing myself.  Pumpkin recipes are hitting Blogosphere, and I couldn't be happier.  Pumpkin is about the only squash (or is it a fruit?) that I truly love.   For those of you who hate pumpkin pie, just send me your share. I'm in.

Pots de creme (PO-de-[insert phlem here] and say from deep in your throat "c-h-hrem") is a simple dessert.  I think of it as a baked custard. Actually, Pots de Creme is a lot like a creme brulee. Both are baked in a bain marie (water bath).  The only real difference is that a brulee has caramelized sugar, from a blow torch.

I hoard canned pumpkin.  I'm probably the reason that there is a "supposed" pumpkin shortage.   I eat pumpkin year-round. Here's one cup.  Isn't uncooked pumpkin a pretty color? Remember this, as I'll point this out later on.

Pumpkin spice is convenient, but I made my own blend of nutmeg, allspice and cinnamon. Coarse salt brings out the sweetness in desserts. Sounds strange, but it's true.  Molasses is also necessary for this recipe.

To the pumpkin puree, add 3 egg yolks (did you now you can freeze egg whites to use later?) and some brown sugar...

Add heavy creme.  This is not the time to add skim milk, folks. This is dessert.  Just eat a smaller portion.

The recipe said to oil  four individual ramekins. I'm not sure why, but I did as instructed.
NOTE: I've read that it's safe to use tea cups (which makes a pretty presentation) as the pot de creme is baked in water, at a temperature.  I'm not that daring, as my tea cups are heirlooms.   Set the ramekins on a clean kitchen towel, in a roasting pan and the oven should be preheated to 325F.

Divide the filling, evenly....  I used six ramekins, rather than the suggest four.

But don't space out, like I did, and forget to strain the filling before dividing it.  D'oh!

Very carefully, add hot water to the pan until it reaches to about halfway up.  I didn't use the right kind of pitcher, and splashed water into one ramekin.  Double D'oh!

Cover the pan loosely with aluminum foil and bake until the custards are set but still jiggle when you shake them, 30-35 minutes.
 

 Transfer the roasting pan to a cooling rack and remove the foil, leaving the ramekins in the water until the custard reaches room temperature. Removed the cooled ramekins from the water bath and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours. NOTE: I found that the ramekins were cool enough to touch in about 30 minutes, and they went straight into the refrigerator.

While waiting for the Pots de Creme to cool, I decided to make the Candied Pecan recipe as a garnish. Leave the oven at 325F.  The ingredients include sugar, coarse salt, pepper, cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne.

 Add some honey...

...a little corn syrup

 Whisk it well...

I keep an arsenal of pecans in my freezer, so I measured about 1-1/2 cups. 

Coat the pecans, well, with the honey mixture.

If you have a silicone Silpat baking sheet, this is the perfect time to use it. Otherwise, use a lot of non-stock spray on a baking sheet. Bake at 325F for about 5 minutes.

Using a fork, stir the pecans to coat them with melted spice mixture. Continue baking until the nuts are golden and the coating bubbles, about 10 minutes. Transfer the pecans to the foil. Working quickly, separate the nuts with the fork. Cool. Can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

I was a little disappointed that so much of the cinnamon had floated to the top. I'm not sure why, but the pecans do look pretty.  The pecans aren't necessary.  Whipped cream works really well with this dessert. So, remember how I said to make a mental note on how pretty uncooked pumpkin looks.  Don't look away....

I wasn't going to post this photo.  Fine Cooking won't be asking me for permission to reprint it, that's for sure. I'm just keepin' it real, and so here it is.  Remember the ramekin that I accidentally spilled water in?  This is it. Craterville, after scooping out the pool of hot water from the middle.  As for the color... well... it's not attractive.  I admit it. It reminds me of... well, I raised a baby. That's all I'm sayin'.   As for oiling the ramekins, I'm not sure if that's necessary. It's spooned out easily, and clean up was a snap.

VERDICT:  The texture was very creamy, indeed.  Pots de Creme are very quick and easy to make.  If you don't own a torch to make creme brulee, then this dessert is for you.   This is naked pumpkin pie, and I'm fine with that-- as I'm not the biggest fan of pie crust. Not too sweet, and the spice was balanced nicely.  As for the pecans, my son liked them.  I don't think they're necessary, but if you want to take the extra step, they make a pretty presentation.  That sorts of makes up for the not-so-appealing color. I still prefer my Pumpkin Brulee recipe, but this one come close.

I believe in giving recipe credit where it's due.  Thanks to "Baking Obsession" for the recipe, and beautiful photos.  A printable recipe card is at the end of this post.