All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [19]
Well, freezer surprises happen even when you don’t have kids. And when you don’t have kids, you can add booze to your banana bread. I learned how to rumplump dried fruit while producing a figgypudding segment for the show with ATC’s host Michele Norris and Dorie Greenspan, our favorite baking authority. In addition to making the kitchen smell like flamin’ debauchery, rum-plumped cherries really add a kick to banana bread.
To defrost your frozen bananas, simply fill a bowl with warm water and set your chilly bunch in there. Give it about 10 minutes. You’ll be able to quickly remove the peel, and though it won’t look too pretty, it’s far better than watching good bananas turn ugly. This recipe serves 16 to 20, depending on how you slice it.
The Barefoot Contessa’s Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Culinary And Cinematic History—All In One Recipe!
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YOU’LL NEED
A 10-inch tube pan
FOR THE CAKE
1½ sticks (¾ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1½ cups sugar
3 extra-large eggs
1½ teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1¼ cups sour cream
½ cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
FOR THE STREUSEL
¼ cup light brown sugar
½ cup all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)
FOR THE GLAZE
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons real maple syrup
1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light.
3. Add the eggs one at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream.
4. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
Melissa’s Note: Don’t worry about sifting—dry whisking will work fine.
5. For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms crumbs. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.
Melissa’s Note: You can also use a wooden spoon if you don’t want to use your fingers.
6. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with ¾ cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
7. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, to a serving plate.
8. For the glaze, whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.
Coffee cakes are different from dessert cakes. They are often stratified by a layer of streusel running through the middle and another one covering the top. I’ve noticed they are generally less sweet than regular dessert cakes, too, and that makes them good companions to coffee or tea.
Streusel is a German word that means “something scattered or sprinkled”; it refers to a crumb topping made of butter, flour, and sugar, sometimes combined with spices and chopped nuts. You’ve already made one (the topping for the sweet potato pound cake), so don’t panic.
Elizabeth Tannen, a former colleague at ATC, spent the bulk of her day at the office negotiating interviews with senators, congresspeople, generals, cabinet secretaries, and the like. She is very persistent, and she lobbied hard for