Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

I'm late! I'm late! Better late than never though, so I present to you the Fig Swirl Coffee Cake that I made for this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club.
Jamie was our host this month and she chose the theme Breakfast for Dinner. We were able to choose any breakfast food from Cooking Light and here is what everyone came up with.

Jerry started us off with Fig and Nut Breakfast Cookies,
Roz added a wonderful Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon, Onions, and Cheese,
Sandi brought Grits Souffle,

Jamie made Ham and Swiss Egg Sandwiches, and

Val decided on Blueberry and Maple-Pecan Granola Parfaits.

I have had my eye on this Fig-Swirl Coffeecake for quite some time and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make this beautiful creation. A yeast dough is filled with a fig/orange juice combination and then it is rolled up and cut and carefully placed in a beautiful shape. It is a delightful combination. Because it is a yeast dough, it does have to rest and rise a couple of times, so be sure to plan that time in if you want to serve this for breakfast.

Make sure you check out all the delicious recipes that were made for this Breakfast for Dinner!

Here is the recipe for Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake

Sometimes there is an item that you see and for some reason, from that moment on, You cannot get it out of your mind.

This coffee cake was one of those items.
I don't even know how I found it. I think I was interested in Meyer Lemons and what to make with them, and I found this huge coffee cake. I was going to make it and then didn't.
Well, I bought more Meyer Lemons and then I did. I made this gigantic coffee cake for absolutely no reason. No reason at all.

This coffee cake has two layers of quickly boiled Meyer Lemon slices in it. It also has the most struesel topping that I have ever seen in my entire life.
And it is good. Really, really good.
The only thing I would do differently next time is to make sure that all my Meyer Lemon slices were exactly the same thickness, by using a mandoline or food processor with the slicing blade to slice them, instead of relying on my own slicing skills. Some of the slices were a little too thick and tasted just a tad bitter.

Here is the recipe for Meyer Lemon Coffee Cake from Martha Stewart
* I used low-fat buttermilk instead of sour cream
* I add 1 1/2 Tablespoons Meyer Lemon juice to the cake batter

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake

A couple of weeks ago I was looking for an apple cake to bake. I ended up comparing two apple cakes that were very similar and also got lots of great suggestions for other recipes to try.
Maria shared this recipe from her blog, Apple Streusel Cofffee Cake. It was a cinch to throw together and my youngest could not wait to dig into it. I gave her a little taste and she said "I love this cake!"
I used two types of apples because I had about a cup of chopped granny smith apples leftover from one of the other apple cakes I had made. I layered those in with the batter and then added a cup of sliced apples on top.

This was a really quick, delicious treat. Whip it up if you need a simple breakfast or dessert!

Apple Streusel Coffee Cake from Two Peas and Their Pod

Coffee Cake:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon Baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
¼ cup butter, softened
½ cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons nonfat plain yogurt
2 cups thinly sliced, unpeeled apples

Toppings:

¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray an 8- or 9- inch round spring-form or 8-inch square pan with non-stick spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, mix well. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, blend well. Alternately add flour mixture and yogurt to margarine, beat well after each addition. Spread batter in pan and arrange apple slices over batter.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients except butter. With pastry blender or fork, cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake at 350 F for 30-35 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. If desired, remove from pan. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream! (We ate ours w/out either and it was still delicious)

The Cake Slice- Cinnamon-Pecan Coffee Cake

(If you are looking for TWD, it is after this post)
The Cake Slice is starting off another year with a new book to bake from. We are going to be baking from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott.
The first cake we baked is the Cinnamon-Pecan Coffee Cake. A very basic cake is layered with a cinnamon-brown sugar mixture, melted butter and a combination of raisins & pecans.
This recipe calls for a 9x13-inch pan to be used, but I knew that would be way to much coffee cake for us, so I halved the recipe and made it in a 8x8-inch pan with great results. I reduced the baking time by about 10 minutes.

This coffee cake took minutes to put together. The cake batter was easy and the fillings were easy too. I thought it was an interesting technique to spread the cinnamon-sugar over the batter and then pour melted butter on top of the cinnamon-sugar. I haven't ever made a streusel-y type topping or filling that way. The pecans and raisins are sprinkled on top of the melted butter.

I had leftover melted butter. I thought the recipe called for a little bit too much, so I didn't use all of it.
As soon as this came out of the oven, I promptly cut it into pieces and distributed it to plates to give away. I tasted one bite and it tasted exactly like a cinnamon roll to me. That was a little wierd because it didn't have the same texture as a cinnamon roll, but the taste was the same.

To see what the other Cake Slice Bakers thought of this coffee cake, check out the Blogroll and come back next month to see another Southern Cake!

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake

(Recipe from Southern Cakes by Nancie McDermott)

Makes a 13 x 9 inch sheet cake

For the Cake

3 cups all purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup milk

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

For the Cinnamon Raisin Filling

1½ cups light brown sugar

3 tbsp all purpose flour

3 tbsp cinnamon

1½ cups raisins

1½ cups coarsely chopped pecans

¾ cup (1½ sticks) butter, melted

Method

Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 13 by 9 inch pan.

To make the filling, combine the light brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl and stir with a fork to mix everything well. Combine the raisins and pecans in another bowl and toss to mix them. Place the cinnamon mixture, nut mixture and melted butter by the baking pan to use later.

To make the cake batter, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Stir the vanilla into the milk. In a large bowl combine the butter and sugar and beat with a mixer on high speed until pale yellow and evenly mixed, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl to ensure a good mix. Add the eggs and beat for another 2 minutes, scraping down the bowl now and then, until the mixture is smooth and light.

Use a large spoon or spatula to add about a third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir only until the flour disappears. Add a third of the milk and mix in. Repeat twice more until all the flour and milk mixtures have been incorporated. Stir just enough to keep the batter smooth.

Spread half the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the cinnamon mixture over the batter followed by half the melted butter. Scatter half the raisins and nuts over the top. Spread the remaining batter carefully over the filling, using a spatula to smooth the batter all the way to the edges of the pan. Top with the leftover cinnamon, butter and nut mixture, covering the cake evenly.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes, until the cake is golden brown, fragrant and beginning to pull away from the edges of the pan. Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool in the pan for 5 to 10 minutes before serving in squares right from the pan. The cake is delicious hot, warm or at room temperature.

Blackberry-Peach Coffee Cake with Streusel Topping

I am not really sure how some things qualify as breakfast , when they have the word cake in the recipe title; I won't complain because I like making treats and this one was enjoyed by the entire family- they loved it warm and they loved it cold- I made quite a few changes, including the size (I made 2 4-inch cakes and 2 smaller than those), the changes in the recipe are included in bold; I am short on words, so enjoy a few pics- in a few days the situation will be fixed.





Blackberry-Peach Coffee Cake adapted from Southern Living Magazine


Prep: 20 min.; Bake: 1 hr., 10 min.; Cool: 1 hr., 30 min.


Streusel Topping
1/2 cup butter, softened (I used 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup vanilla flavored Greek style yogurt)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup milk (I used 1/3 cup whole milk and 1/3 cup skim)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups peeled and sliced fresh firm, ripe peaches (about 2 large peaches, 7 oz. each)
1 cup fresh blackberries
Powdered sugar
Garnishes: fresh blackberries, sliced peaches

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Prepare Streusel Topping.

2. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add granulated sugar, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; add to butter mixture alternately with milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat at low speed until blended after each addition. Stir in vanilla. Pour batter into a greased and floured 9-inch springform pan; top with sliced peaches and blackberries. Pinch off 1-inch pieces of Streusel Topping, and drop over fruit.

4. Bake at 350° for 1 hour and 10 minutes to 1 hour and 20 minutes or until center of cake is set. (A wooden pick inserted in center will not come out clean.) Cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 1/2 hours). Dust with powdered sugar. Garnish, if desired.

Note: We found that using a shiny or light-colored pan gave us the best results. If you have a dark pan, wrap the outside of the pan with heavy-duty aluminum foil to get a similar result.

Peach Coffee Cake: Omit blackberries. Increase peaches to 3 cups sliced (about 3 large peaches, 7 oz. each). Proceed with recipe as directed

Streusel Topping


Prep: 10 min.

This recipe goes with Blackberry-Peach Coffee Cake, Peach Coffee Cake

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1. Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add granulated sugar and brown sugar, beating well. Add flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg; beat just until blended.

I didn't follow the streusel directions. I mixed 1/2 cup flour with 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon. Then I cut in 4 Tbls of cold butter and sprinkled it on top of the coffee cake.

One Year Ago- Panzanella

Sarah's Pumpkin Pancakes and Pumpkin-Pecan Coffee Cake

Over the weekend my little girl turned 4. She wanted a Rainbow Pony Cake- and there it is! It turned out great and was alot of fun. She also wanted Pumpkin Pancakes for her birthday breakfast. I have seen them popping up on blogs all over the place and found a great looking recipe for them over at Sweets by Sarah. I made them with a few changes- I started making Sprinkle Pancakes a few years ago as a way to keep pancake eating a little neater. I add sprinkles to the pancakes after I put them in the pan and then they are sweet enough for kids to eat without any syrup. Not so sticky for mom to clean-up. A definite plus for me. My kids love them.
I also added some pecans to some of the pancakes. I made 2 batches and in one batch did half whole wheat flour, added a little wheat germ and flaxseed meal.
There were so so good!
While on the topic of pumpkin, I saw this yummy little coffee cake at Cooking Light and thought it would be a great way to use the rest of the pumpkin. It was delicious!
Two really great breakfasts!

Pumpkin Buttermilk Pancakes adapted from Sweets by Sarah

Makes about 12 medium pancakes

1 cup flour ( for 1 of the batches I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and added 1 Tbls wheat germ and 1 Tbls flaxseed meal)

1 T sugar

1 t baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 t cinnamon

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground nutmeg

dash of allspice

1/2 c canned pumpkin

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

2 T butter, melted

Whisk together flour (and whole wheat, flaxseed meal, wheat germ, if using), sugar, soda, salt, and spices. In another bowl, whisk together buttermilk, egg, pumpkin and melted butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and whisk together until mostly combined, a few lumps are ok. Let the batter rest for about 15 minutes. Heat a griddle to medium heat and drop about 1/4 of batter for each pancake.

Pumpkin-Pecan Coffee Cake from Cooking Light

1 teaspoon butter

1/4 cup regular oats

3 tablespoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons chopped pecans

3 tablespoons butter, softened

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 large egg

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon pumpkin-pie spice (I used 1/2 tsp cinnamon, scant 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and a dash of allspice)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350°.
Melt 1 teaspoon butter in bottom of a 9-inch round cake pan. Combine oats, 3 tablespoons brown sugar, and pecans. Sprinkle oat mixture over bottom of pan, and set aside.
Beat 3 tablespoons butter, granulated sugar, and 1/4 cup brown sugar at medium speed of a mixer until mixture is well-blended (about 4 minutes).

Add the egg, and beat well. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, pumpkin-pie spice, and baking soda.

Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture alternately with the pumpkin and buttermilk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
Spoon batter evenly over oat mixture. Bake at 350° for 40 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 5 minutes, and invert cake onto a serving plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Coming on Halloween- Bakerella's Cake Pops and 2 kinds of chili-

Rhubarb Treats- Steph's Rhubarb-Filled Yogurt Cupcakes, Rhubarb Mini Pie Turnovers, Rhubarb Galette, and Prudy's Rhubarb Struesel Coffee Cake

We have had company and as you can see, an overabundance of rhubarb. I have spent the last few days making rhubarb everything. Keep in mind that there are varieties of rhubarb that are not deep red and that is the kind I have available. Some of these pictures may not look so good, but they taste good, I promise~! First, we have the Rhubarb-Filled Yogurt Cupcakes from Steph over at A Whisk and A Spoon.Go HERE to see her beautiful photos. She won Cupcake Hero back in April with these tasty things, and boy, are they delicious. The funny part is that they use a Rhubarb filling that I grew up eating as a breakfast dish. It is the only way we ever ate rhubarb when I was small and so it was so fun to use it as a cupcake filling! Her blog is lovely, so go check it out and make these cupcakes- You will not be sorry! Here is the lovely hole I dug in the cupcake, and then filling it with the green rhubarb filling. It tastes better than it looks! I promise!

Next are the mini pie turnovers and galette. I took a shortcut on these and used refrigerated pie crusts. The filling was marvelous. I made some with 5-inch circles, which I filled with 1/4 cup filling and then 2-inch circles, which I fit a heaping Tbls filling in and then put another circle on top. We used the leftover cream filling from the peach cake last week to dip them in-- Perfection! I used the other part of this pie filling to make a galette.


Now, on to Prudy's coffeecake. It was soo good! And I am a happy camper when I can call anything this tasty breakfast. I added some oats to the struesel topping and it seriously was gone within 30 minutes. It can also be made with any other fruit, check out her original post HERE.

Prudy's Rhubarb Streusel Coffee Cake slightly adapted from Prudence Pennywise
1/2 cup salted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups chopped rhubarb, or other fruit
For Streusel:
1/3 cup heaping brown sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoon butter

1/3 cups oats

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, buttermilk and vanilla. Stir in flour and soda, stirring just until blended. Add rhubarb and pour into greased 9 by 13. Combine all streusel ingredients and sprinkle over the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until springy in the center.

Rhubarb-Filled Yogurt Cupcakes from Steph at A Whisk and A Spoon- makes 12 large cupcakes
-Start by making and chilling the rhubarb compote (process below).
-Bake and cool the yogurt cupcakes (recipe below).-If your pistachios have papery skins on them, blanche them for a minute in boiling water. Drain them, and once cool enough to handle, slip off the skins. Chop them roughly.
-Make the lemon butter icing.
-To fill the cooled cupcakes, use a small knife or round cookie cutter to cut a plug out of the center of each (going in from the top). Save the top bit of each plug. Fill each cavity with rhubarb compote. Cover with the top bit so the filling is not exposed.
-Top with the icing and sprinkle on the chopped pistachios.
Rhubarb Compote Note: This is more of a process than a recipe, and can be adjusted depending upon the amount of rhubarb you have and how sweet you would like it to be. I’d use at least 12 stalks, and any leftover compote is great on oatmeal or with yogurt.-Trim off the tops and bottoms of each stalk of rhubarb. Use a pairing knife to peel away any strings. Cut into 1-inch pieces.
-Weigh the cut rhubarb. Measure out sugar equal to 1/4 to 1/3 of the weight of the rhubarb, depending on how sweet you’d like it. If you don’t have a scale, you can eyeball or use cup measurements.
-Put rhubarb pieces and sugar into a heavy-bottomed pot. Add a small splash of water (just to keep the rhubarb from burning) and place over medium heat. Stir frequently to keep from sticking to the bottom.
-Simmer for several minutes until the rhubarb releases its juice and the sugar is dissolved. The rhubarb will soften and break down and the liquid should be reduced (although if you have an excessive amount, you can tip it out). All this will probably take about 10 minutes, unless you are working with a very large quantity.
-Transfer to a container and chill. This will keep for a week or two.
Yogurt Cupcakes- makes 12 large cupcakes- heavily modified from The 1997 Joy of Cooking
2 c sifted all-purpose flour

1 t baking powder

1/2 t baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

5 T salted butter, room temperature

1 c sugar

1 egg

2 egg whites

1 t vanilla

1 c plain yogurt (full or nonfat), cool room temperature (I used Greek Yogurt)

-Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and spray and flour twelve cavities of a muffin tin (or line with paper cups).
-Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
-Beat the butter in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Gradually add the sugar and beat until light in color and texture.
-Whisk together the egg, egg whites and vanilla. Gradually beat into the butter/sugar mixture until thoroughly combined.
-Add the dry ingredients and yogurt in three parts, alternating and beating smooth after each addition.
-Divide the batter in the tin, and cook for about 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tins for a few minutes and then transfer to a rack to cool completely.
Lemon Butter Icing- makes enough to generously frost 12cupcakes adapted from Everyday by Bill Granger
8 T unsalted butter, room temperature

10 oz powdered sugar, sifted

1 Tbls lemon zest (finely grated)

1 Tbls lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract
-Beat the butter until very soft and white. Beat in the powdered sugar, lemon zest and juice. (You can adjust consistency with either extra powdered sugar or lemon juice.)

Rhubarb Mini Pie Turnovers inspired by a recipe on The Food Channel website

4 cups chopped rhubarb

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour

pinch cardamom
1/4 tsp nutmeg

zest of 1/2 orange

juice of 1/2 orange
2 15-inch refrigerated pie crusts

1 egg, beaten

Combine rhubarb and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Let sit for 1/2 hour.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cut 4 5-inch circles and 4 2-inch circles out of your refrigerated pie crusts.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place 1 circle on parchment, fill with scant 1/4 cup rhubarb filling and fold over the dough until it meets the other side. With fingers, make sure the crust is closed, by pressing it together and fluting it. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

To make small rounds, place 1 Tbls filling on 2-inch circle and cover with another 2-inch round. Close with fingers.

Make an egg wash and brush mini turnovers with egg wash, using a pastry brush. Sprinkle with decorating sugar if desired. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, or until rhubarb is soft and crust is golden.

The leftover filling from this recipe can be used to make a galette

Cream from Peaches and Cream Chiffon Cake- Woman's Day Magazine
2 Tbsp confectioners' sugar
1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 cup heavy cream
Stir confectioners' sugar into yogurt in a medium bowl. In a small bowl, beat cream until stiff peaks form; fold into yogurt mixture and refrigerate.

Rhubarb Galette

use leftover rhubarb filling from above recipe and 1 refrigerated pie crust (unless you want to make you own dough)

Line a baking sheet with parchment

Roll out pie dough

sprinkle graham cracker crumbs on dough, leaving a 2-inch border

Spoon rhubarb filling into middle, on top of graham cracker crumbs

Fold the sides of the pie crust up, covering part of the filling

Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar

Bake in a 425 degree oven for 25 minutes, or until crust is golden

serve with ice cream or cream (above)