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Summer Sunshine Coffee Cake

Breakfast, Dessert, ,

I have the perfect summer weekend breakfast treat for you today! Made from homemade biscuits and full of bright citrus flavors, it also makes a great afternoon pick-me-up, or even a light dessert. And it’s easy to make and comes together fairly quickly, making it great for last-minute or unplanned guests.

I got the inspiration from Paula Deen’s Orange Coffee Cake, but I wanted to make it a little more homemade. Instead of canned biscuits, I decided to make homemade angel biscuits, which are essentially a yeasted buttermilk biscuit. They are a little flaky and a little bread-y, and I think they are perfect in this application.

I also wanted to update the flavor slightly. I’m personally not a huge fan of orange flavor, but I thought mixing it with grapefruit would be a nice twist. I really like the combination in this cake. The two flavors complement each other well, without either being overwhelmed by the other. And the citrus really brightens up a cake that could otherwise feel heavy and rich. I finished if off with a cream cheese glaze, flavored lightly with grapefruit juice, since I thought that would be a little more subtle than orange, but you could use either one.

You could definitely change up the flavor with whatever citrus you love, or have on hand. I personally love limes, and think that would make a great cake. Blood oranges would make a fantastic winter cake. And can you ever go wrong with Meyer lemons? Use just a single fruit, or mix a few together to find your perfect cake.

I really hope you give this recipe a try. If you’re intimidated by yeast dough this is a perfect place to start, since there isn’t a ton of kneading. And if you really don’t want to use yeast or wait the short rise time, you can use your favorite biscuit recipe and follow the rest of the directions with that dough. However you make it, I know you’ll love it!

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 Summer Sunshine Coffee Cake
Servings
people
Ingredients
Biscuits
Filling and Topping
Icing
Servings
people
Ingredients
Biscuits
Filling and Topping
Icing
Instructions
  1. Combine yeast, warm water, and 2 teaspoons sugar in a small bowl and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Grate cold butter into flour mixture (see recipe notes for tips), and toss gently to combine well and coat all pieces with flour.
  3. Stir in yeast mixture, sour cream, and milk and mix well. Dump onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently until mixture is smooth and all flour is fully incorporated.
  4. Place into a greased bowl, cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, approximately 30-45 minutes.
  5. While dough is rising, combine 1/2 cup sugar with orange and grapefruit zests and mix well. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter and set aside.
  6. Once dough has risen, lightly punch down and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to 1/2-inch thickness. Sprinkle with half of sugar and zest, then fold dough in half.
  7. Roll again lightly to 3/4-inch thickness. Cut out biscuits with 3-inch round cutter, pressing straight down without twisting. Try to get as many out of the first roll as possible. Ideally you should get 7 to 8 biscuits with the first roll. Lightly press together any scraps and cut additional biscuits. You should have 9 in total.
  8. Place one whole biscuit, one from the second batch of cutting, into the center of a greased 9-inch pie plate or cake pan. Cut remaining 8 biscuits in half with a sharp knife, creating half circles. Place the 16 pieces around the center biscuit, slightly overlapping and with all cut sides facing the same way, like flower petals.
  9. Brush the top of the biscuits with the melted butter, and sprinkle with the remaining sugar and zest mixture.
  10. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown.
  11. While coffee cake is cooling, make icing. Whisk together the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add enough juice to make a thick icing that is just thin enough to be drizzled. Drizzle over cooled cake.
Recipe Notes
  • When grating butter into flour mixture, use full stick (8 tablespoons). Unwrap most of the way, and while holding the wrapped end, grate in 7 tablespoons. Save remaining tablespoon for topping.
  • Use any combination, or single flavor, of citrus zest and juice.
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Black and White Banana Cupcakes

Cakes and cupcakes, , ,

I have the perfect Fourth of July recipe for you today! It’s a delicious banana cupcake dipped in chocolate and vanilla fudge frostings. It’s a great dessert to bring to a cookout for several reasons. First, the recipe makes 24 cupcakes, so there’s plenty to go around. Second, the frostings set up firm so they’re easy to transport and they won’t melt easily in the heat if you’ve got them sitting outside. And finally, well, they’re just plain delicious!

These cupcakes are one of my favorites. Well, let me clarify. The cupcakes are delicious. The frostings are out of this world, and probably the reason I like the cupcakes so much. I am a chocolate person through and through. I never choose vanilla if chocolate is an option. Except with this frosting. This vanilla frosting is almost like a vanilla fudge. It is so good, it will almost make you forget there is chocolate available too. Almost. So, I could never choose between a vanilla frosted and chocolate frosted one. Until now. I figured if New York could frost their cookies with both vanilla and chocolate, well, I could do it to my cupcakes. Yep, it’s a good idea.

Let’s start by talking about the cupcakes. Really, these aren’t much different than banana bread. They’re a little bit lighter in texture, which is perfect for a summer cupcake. The banana flavor is there but not overwhelming, and the bananas help to keep the cupcakes moist. Nuts are completely optional, but I do enjoy walnuts or pecans in these. I think hazelnuts or macadamias would also be great. Or, if you prefer to throw in some mini chocolate chips, I won’t stop you. They’re your cupcakes – do what sounds good to you!

Now, the frostings. Yes, plural. But I promise they aren’t difficult. Both are rich and fudgy, and they both go so well with the banana cupcake. To frost them, if you only want one flavor on the cupcake, you can just dip the tops into the warm frosting. To get the half and half look, I found it easier to use a spoon or spatula to spread partially cooled frosting on half a cupcake and then repeat on the other half with the other flavor. If you want sprinkles (and who doesn’t want sprinkles?), you need to be fast with them. This frosting sets fairly quickly, so I wouldn’t frost more than one or two cupcakes before topping with sprinkles. It’s a great task for any little helpers you have!

Each frosting recipe makes enough to fully frost 12 cupcakes, so one recipe of each flavor will cover 24, either 12 of each or half and half on 24. Of course, if you don’t need to transport these or want to change them up, you can absolutely use a standard buttercream. Chocolate, vanilla…..peanut butter, anyone? And you could replace the sprinkles with chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, or chopped candies. 

These cupcakes are sure to become a favorite. Bake up a batch for your next picnic or bake sale. And if you have leftovers, well, they’re basically banana bread…so I say eat them for breakfast!


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Black and White Banana Cupcakes

A light banana cupcake with chocolate and vanilla fudge frostings.

Course Dessert

Servings
cupcakes


Ingredients
Cupcakes

Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Frosting

Course Dessert

Servings
cupcakes


Ingredients
Cupcakes

Chocolate Frosting

Vanilla Frosting


Instructions
Cupcakes
  1. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well,

  2. Stir in mashed bananas.

  3. Combine dry ingredients, except nuts. in a separate bowl.

  4. Add half of dry ingredients to banana mixture, mix, and add sour milk. Mix well and add remainder of dry ingredients.

  5. Stir in nuts if using.

  6. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners and fill about 2/3 full.

  7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until golden brown and the centers spring back when touched.

  8. Remove cupcakes to wire racks to cool.

Chocolate Frosting
  1. Combine chocolate, butter, and milk in the top of a double boiler and heat until melted.

  2. Turn off heat, but leave the double boiler together. Stir in powdered sugar. Frosting should be thick but pourable.

Vanilla Frosting
  1. Combine butter, milk, and salt in the top of a double boiler and heat until melted.

  2. Turn off heat but leave double boiler together. Stir in vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Frosting should be thick but pourable.

Assembly
  1. While frosting is still pourable, dip the tops of the cupcakes and allow to set on wire racks.

  2. To create half and half cupcakes, let frosting cool slightly and spread cupcakes half with vanilla and half with chocolate frosting.

  3. Frosting sets quickly, so add sprinkles after every one or two cupcakes are frosted.

  4. If frosting begins to cool and set in the bowl, you can reheat gently in the double boiler.


Recipe Notes

Make these your own:

  • Choose your favorite nut to add.
  • Leave out the nuts entirely.
  • Substitute mini chocolate chips instead of nuts.
  • Not in love with chocolate? Double the batch of vanilla frosting and use only that.
  • Family of chocoholics? Double the chocolate frosting and use only that.
  • Instead of sprinkles, use nuts, mini chips, or chopped candies.
  • You can use any flavor of buttercream on these as well - chocolate, vanilla, and peanut butter would be great!


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Mud Pie for Grandpa

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I am a long-time collector of recipes. Cookbooks, magazines, recipe cards – I love them all. For years I copied or clipped recipes from all of the above, and I keep them in a set of binders. More recipes than I’ll ever get around to making. As I was looking through those binders looking for inspiration, I came across an old recipe for Mud Pie. It came out of a children’s cookbook, Alpha Bakery by Gold Medal Flour.

Sometime in roughly the mid-90’s, I made this recipe for a family dinner. I don’t remember the exact occasion, but my grandparents, and maybe others, had come to dinner. Anyway, I made the mud pie and we all thought it was delicious. Several months or maybe even a year later, my grandfather asked about the dessert. He wanted me to make it again. He described it as a brownie or cake with whipped cream on it. Well, neither my mom nor I, or anyone else, could remember such a recipe. (I know – that really makes you want to try a recipe we couldn’t remember a relatively short time later.) He continued to talk about it on occasion, and how much he liked it. But we just could not figure out what that recipe was.

My grandpa passed away in 2006, and I still hadn’t figured out what dessert he was remembering. Fast forward several years, when my parents were moving into their current house and I was helping them to pack up. I was looking through all of my mom’s cookbooks while packing them when I came across the Alpha Bakery cookbook. I flipped through it to see if there were any recipes worth saving, and as soon as I saw the Mud Pie recipe I knew that was recipe Grandpa kept asking about. I copied it then and put it into my binder, to be forgotten again until this past weekend. Since his 95th birthday would have been later this week, I knew it was time to make it again.

The base is a rich brownie with chopped nuts. I used slivered almonds because I had some on hand. But you can of course use the nuts of your choice, or leave them out. Replace them with chocolate chips (any flavor) if you’d like. You top the brownie with hot fudge sauce. I used a homemade sauce, but you can definitely use a jarred sauce – fudge sauce, not chocolate syrup. I also think this would be delicious with a caramel sauce instead. Then top it all with whipped cream. I used a stabilized whipped cream, since I knew we wouldn’t eat it all at once. You could use regular whipped cream if you have enough people to serve that there won’t be leftovers. Or Cool Whip works too. But if you are making your own whipped cream, consider playing around with the flavors. Personally, I think a little almond extract in it would be perfect. But strawberry or cherry extract and a little red or pink food coloring would be delicious. Or peppermint extract and green food color for a grasshopper type of pie. The possibilities are endless.

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

Print Recipe
 Mud Pie
A dense, fudgy brownie topped with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream. Lightly adapted from Gold Medal Flour's Alpha Bakery
Course Dessert
Servings
Ingredients
Brownie Base
Whipped Cream
Course Dessert
Servings
Ingredients
Brownie Base
Whipped Cream
Instructions
Brownie Base
  1. Heat oven to 325 degrees F and grease an 8-inch cake pan or pie plate.
  2. Mix butter, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl.
  3. Stir in flour, cocoa powder, and nuts.
  4. Pour into prepared pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean. Time will depend partly on the size of your pan.
  5. As soon as the brownie comes out of the oven, poke it all over with a skewer or fork. Spread the fudge sauce over the brownie and let cool completely.
Whipped Cream
  1. For stabilized whipped cream, combine gelatin and water in a small saucepan and let sit until thick.
  2. Melt gelatin over low heat, stirring constantly. Once melted, remove from heat and cool slightly.
  3. While gelatin cools, whip cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Add vanilla. (At this point, for regular whipped cream, whip a little longer until stiff peaks and use immediately.)
  4. Beating slowly, gradually add the cooled gelatin mixture to the whipped cream. It will start to look a little curdled, but beat at low to medium speed just until combine and peaks are stiff.
  5. Spread or pipe onto cooled brownie base.
  6. Serve with shaved chocolate or additional hot fudge sauce.
  7. Store in refrigerator.
Recipe Notes
  • Use any nuts you like, or substitute with any flavor of chocolate chips.
  • Jarred or homemade hot fudge sauce works great. Experiment with flavors. Try caramel sauce, or chocolate-mint fudge sauce instead.
  • Use Cool Whip in place of whipped cream.
  • Or flavor your whipped cream with any extract you like. Enhance with food color if desired. Think mint, strawberry, etc.
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Mocha Irish Cream Cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day

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It snowed this morning!! We have had almost no snow this year, and actually hit 80 degrees last week, and I was missing winter. But I woke up this morning to big wet snowflakes! That has absolutely nothing to do with these cupcakes, but I was so excited I just had to share. 🙂  

Anyway, on to the cupcakes! Do you guys do anything special for St. Patrick’s Day? Do you attend a parade, or bake anything special? I’ve never really celebrated it much, but a few weeks ago I was in Michaels, mostly just browsing, but with my Cherry Chocolate Chip Rolls in mind. I was supposed to be looking for something Valentine’s Day related while I was walking down the baking aisle, and then I spotted these St. Patrick’s Day sprinkles.

 

I decided I had to have them, but then I had to figure out what to do with them. Cupcakes sounded like a good idea, but what kind? So I started searching Pinterest for St. Patrick’s Day ideas. It seems like Irish cream is pretty popular right now. And since Irish cream has a lot of the same flavors as mocha, I decided to incorporate in into a favorite mocha cake of mine. And make them cupcakes, because cupcakes are just more fun.

I thought it might be easier (and cheaper!) to use an Irish cream coffee creamer. Since I don’t drink coffee, I had never tried the creamer before. Before I started trying to add it to my cake recipe, I tried it straight. Oh my goodness, you guys, it is SWEET. So I knew immediately I would have to reduce the sugar in the recipe. Thankfully, it turned out perfectly on my first attempt, but I sure am glad I tried the creamer first!

To top the cupcakes, I figure I might as well go all the way and make an Irish Cream buttercream. It was a good idea. The cupcakes aren’t overly sweet, so a nice big swirl of buttercream compliments them nicely. And it gives the sprinkles a pretty place to land. 🙂

If you aren’t a fan of Irish cream, or coffee in general, you can make some adjustments to this recipe pretty easily. Try any flavor of creamer that sounds good to you. And if you are using a non-mocha flavoring you can leave the instant coffee out of both the cake and frosting. Amaretto would be fantastic (I LOVE chocolate and almond together!). You can amp up the flavor by adding a little bit of almond extract. Or what about the salted caramel mocha? I might add some salted caramel into the buttercream for that one. A peppermint or peppermint mocha version would be fantastic at Christmas! For now, I’m going to stick with the Irish cream, but I definitely have other ideas brewing! 😉


Print Recipe
 Mocha Irish Cream Cupcakes
Adapted from the Mocha Coffee Cake at Health.com. http://www.health.com/health/recipe/0,,50400000112136,00.html
Course Dessert
Servings
cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Frosting
Course Dessert
Servings
cupcakes
Ingredients
Cupcakes
Frosting
Instructions
Cupcakes
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 24 cupcake cups with liners and spray lightly with non-stick spray.
  2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, and cocoa powder in a bowl and set aside.
  3. Dissolve instant coffee granules in the coffee creamer and set aside.
  4. Cream butter and sugar until very well combined, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each.
  6. Add the flour mixture in three batches, alternating with first the sour cream and then the creamer. Mix just until combined after each addition.
  7. Divide batter evenly between the cupcake tins, filling each about 3/4 full.
  8. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
  9. Cool completely before frosting. Keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
Frosting
  1. Combine creamer and instant coffee. Set aside.
  2. Beat butter, shortening, and salt with an electric mixer on medium speed until well combined.
  3. Add half of the powdered sugar and beat until creamy. Add half of the creamer mixture and mix again.
  4. Add the remaining powdered sugar, followed by the remaining creamer mixture. Beat until combined.
  5. Turn mixture on high and beat for 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Add additional powdered sugar 1/4 cup at a time or creamer 1 tablespoon at a time to adjust consistency if necessary.
  6. Pipe or spread onto cooled cupcakes.
Recipe Notes

Buttercream makes enough to generously frost 24 cupcakes. If you prefer a smaller layer of frosting, cut recipe in half.

Substitute any flavor creamer for the Irish cream, eliminating the instant coffee granules if preferred. Enhance with extracts if desired. Almond in Amaretto, peppermint in peppermint mocha, etc.

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