Page: HTCE p. 844
Rating: ****
I might up this to *****, but the way the recipe was written left a bit of confusion for yours truly. It could have been the way I chose to mix the batter, but I don't think so. Any thoughts from the peanut gallery?
Before I describe the recipe, I should point out for coffee cake amateurs that "quick" refers to a non-yeasted coffee cake, not a super speedy recipe that's ready in 10 minutes. That being said, this didn't take long to whip up. I did most of it the night before in my food processor: topping ingredients in the small food processor bowl and the flour/butter mixture in a larger bowl. I transferred the mixtures to two smaller bowls and stuck them in the fridge. In the morning, I added the egg and milk to the batter mixture, mixing with a wooden spoon, and there's where the problem entered.
Mark says to "pour" half of the batter into a 9-inch square pan. There was no pouring here, folks. I dumped the very thick batter into an 8-inch square pan and sort of patted it (with a spoon) into the four corners of the bowl. Then I spread half of the topping mixture on it and baked it like that. I had used half whole wheat flour, but in the past, that's not changed the texture hugely. But that may have contributed. I don't think I could have spread half of the batter, added streusel, and then spread the rest of the batter without it all becoming a jumbled mess. Maybe I could swirl the missing streusel half through the batter next time?
Regardless, we enjoyed it like it was--warm and delicious! I don't know if I could have taken another half of the streusel mixture in the middle of the cake--sugar overload! Too much for breakfast, but it might be good mixed in if you were planning to serve this cake with an afternoon coffee time.
Overall, it was delicious and we'll make it again for sure!
I had the exact same problem. My solution was to add more milk to the batter and try to do the layered approach. But even doing that didn't work well because there really wasn't enough batter to layer per the recipe. Next time I'll follow your lead, make half the topping and just put it on the top, not in the middle, too. Nice idea and we have made coffee cakes like this that do work, but not this one.
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