Apple Coffee Cake

By Cat, Aug 2008 (Photo, right, from Wikimedia Commons)

• Includes: 1. Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Pre-Soaked Whole Grain Version; 2. Sour Cream Coffee Cake Original Method (no-presoak); 3. Glaze
• See also: 1. Nut Fillings; 2. Cakes & Tortes Menu

Coffee cakes are amongst my favorites to make, mainly because they are not expected to be elegant. And they often contain healthful fillings including nuts, fruits, and creamy cheeses. However, they are also usually quite sweet, something I need to avoid, so I make mine using mostly stevia as the sweetener (but I provide the sugar equivalent, for those who want the real deal).

Bundt Cale Pan

Coffee or tea cakes are common in many traditions: British Isles tea cakes, German Kuchen (for example my Butter Kuchen recipe), French “Danish” pastries, Danish Kringle or Wienerbrød, and many more traditions.

This recipe, like many contains a filling or middle layer from several choices, and is baked in a tube pan (such as for Angelfood Cakes) or Bundt pan, then decorated with a vanilla glaze. (photo of Bundt pan, left, from Wikimedia Commons).

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

I’ve adapted two versions of this cake from the Betty Crocker Cookbook. My preference is to make this with part whole grain flour, part unbleached white flour and using a pre-soak to maximize the nutritional value of the whole grain. But I also provide my adaptation of the original Betty Crocker recipe, mainly for reference. While the original uses all-purpose flour, I have changed this to unbleached flour to avoid the toxic bleaching agent. I’ve not yet tested either version. Either version makes a fairly large cake, made in a Bundt or tube pan, topped with optional sugar glaze.

I provide four different filling recipes in separate post. These include:

• Apple-Nut Filling;
• Brown Sugar & Nut Filling;
• Almond Filling I (made with chopped almonds)
• Almond Filling II (made with almond paste)

Sour Cream Coffee Cake: Soaked Whole Grain Version

Since the original recipe includes sour cream, this is an easy conversion. However, you may prefer to use yogurt or buttermilk, which is softer and easier to mix with the flour for the presoak. A small amount of sour cream is reserved for the ‘next day’ portion of the recipe; you should use real dairy sour cream for this.

I like to use spelt but you could use any whole grain flour. However, this is written for spelt which requires less added moisture than wheat and other grains, so if you use a different grain, use more moisture for the soak (water, milk or sour milk)

I’ve not yet tested this specific recipe, but I’ve tested the method many times.

Equipment:

• small & medium bowls
• large bowl (or stand-mixer bowl)
• stand mixer or hand-held mixer
• 10×4 tube pan or 12-cup Bundt pan

Ingredients

• Filling of your choice (see Nut Fillings for Sour Cream Coffee Cake)
• Glaze (optional, see below)

Pre-Soak

• 2 ¼ cups whole spelt flour or 2 cups plus 3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup butter
• 1 cup real sour cream
• a bit of warm filtered water as needed to achieve soft, batter-like consistency

1. Sift flour into medium bowl. Cut in butter.
2. Stir in sour cream. If dough is hard to work, you need more moisture (you can use warm water); add 1 Tbsp at a time until the right consistency is reached.
3. Press sheet of waxed paper over the entire top surface of the batter. Cover with a towel and let sit on the counter overnight, 12 – 24 hours.

Next day

• about ¾ cup unbleached white flour
• 1 ½ tsp baking powder
• 1 ½ tsp baking soda
• ¾ tsp unrefined sea salt
• 1 ½ cups Rapadura sugar (or ½ tsp stevia plus 2 Tbsp Rapadura sugar)
• 3 eggs
• 2 Tbsp honey or maple syrup (if using stevia)
• ½ cup real sour cream
• fruit and/or nut filling (recipes follow)
• glaze (optional); recipes follow

1. Preheat oven to 325°F; grease pan.
2. Prepare one of the fillings (see below), and reserve.
3. Sift flour with baking powder & soda, salt and stevia (if using) into small bowl; set aside.
4. In large bowl (or stand mixer bowl), beat butter, vanilla, eggs, and sugar (or honey/maple syrup, if you’re using stevia) on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes.
5. Beat in flour mixture alternately with sour cream, on low speed. If batter is a little thin, add more flour 1 Tbsp at a time; or if a little too thick, add filtered water or milk, 1 tsp at a time, until a thick but still stir-able batter is reached.
6. Spread ⅓ of batter (about 2 cups) in greased pan; sprinkle with ½ of the filling. Repeat, then spread remaining ⅓ batter over top.
7. Bake in preheated oven until done (to the toothpick test), about 1 hour.
8. Cool in pan on rack 20 minutes. Remove cake from pan; drizzle with Glaze or sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake, Original Version (no pre-soak)

You can make this with all white flour, as the original Betty Crocker (1) version, or part white, part whole grain flour, but use at least 1 cup of white flour. And you can use all sugar or part stevia and part honey or maple syrup. I’ve abbreviated this version as a reference; I would only make the pre-soak version.

1. Preheat oven to 325°F; grease pan.
2. Prepare one of the fillings (see below), and reserve.
3. Sift 3 cups flour, 1 ½ tsp each baking powder & soda, ¾ tsp unrefined sea salt
   and ½ – ¾ tsp stevia (if using) into medium bowl; set aside.
4. In large bowl (or stand mixer bowl), beat ¾ cup butter, 1 ½ tsp vanilla, 3 eggs, and 1 ½ cups Rapadura sugar (or 2 Tbsp honey/maple syrup, if you’re using stevia) on medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, 2 minutes.
5. Beat in flour mixture alternately with 1 ½ cups sour cream (in ½ cup increments), on low speed.
6. Continue as for Pre-soak recipe, beginning with step 6 where you layer batter and filling in the prepared pan.

Glaze

This recipe is adapted from the Betty Crocker Cookbook (1). While it requires powdered sugar (stevia will not work), I prefer Rapdura powdered sugar if you can find it, or you can Make your own Unrefined Powdered Sugar). Why this preference?  It’s made from dehydrated juice of sugar cane, so still has all the molasses, vitamins and minerals intact.

However I’m avoiding sugar so I would make my coffee cake without the glaze.

Recipe:

• ½ cup Rapadura powdered sugar (or Make your own Unrefined Powdered Sugar)
• ¼ tsp real vanilla extract
• 1 – 2 tsp milk

1. Mix all ingredients in small bowl until smooth.

Assembly or Serving ideas

• Accompany with fresh-brewed coffee or tea.
• Serve with Whipped Cream if you don’t glaze the cake.

References

1. Betty Crocker’s Cookbook, Eighth Printing 1989 (see Beloved Cookbooks)
2. Wonderful, Wonderful Danish Cooking, by Ingeborg Jensen (see Beloved Cookbooks)