The International Bed and Breakfast Pages
| Cooking with Chef Doug Email: chefdoug@ibbp.com |
Welcome Cooking with Doug. This is my first column, so I thought I should introduce myself. I am a recent graduate of the California CulinaryAcademy with restaurant experience including an externship with the Lodge at Pebble Beach, CA.working at the 'Just Desserts' Bakery in San Francisco, and the 'Lion & Compass' Restaurant in Sunnyvale.
My love for cooking and eating creating unique tastes lead
me to create this column for IBBP readers. I hope to introduce
quick and easy to make foods and baked goods that my monthly creations
will be fun for you to try out in your kitchen. I also hope to
reintroduce classic recipes that may not be too familiar or have
dropped from the main stream. I'll try to provide you with any
special techniques, observations or tools that you may find
useful to create these dishes.
This month's recipe is Apple Coffee Cake. Cooler fall weather
lends itself to this wonderful Apple Coffee Cake blending the
textures of cinnamon apples and toasty pecans to create a wonderful
melt in your mouth experience.
Apple Coffee Cake
Apple Topping:
1/4 stick Unsalted Butter
4 each Granny Smith Apples, peeled and cored, 1/4 " slices
1/4 cup Granulated Sugar
1-1/4 tsp Cinnamon
pinch Nutmeg
Topping:
3/4 stick Unsalted Butter, room temperature
1/4 cup Brown Sugar
2 Tbl Granulated Sugar
3/4 cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 cup Pecans, chopped
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
pinch Nutmeg
Cake:
1 stick Unsalted Butter, room temperature
2/3 cup Granulated Sugar
2 each Eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp Vanilla
1 cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Salt
For Apple Topping:
Melt butter in saute pan. Add apples and saute for about 5 minutes,
or
until the apples loose their raw appearance. Add sugar and incorporate.
The
apples will turn glossy quickly. Add cinnamon and nutmeg. Apples
should
still have a slight crunch to it. Remove apples from pan to cool
to room
temperature.
For Topping:
In a bowl, mix the brown and granulated sugars with the butter.
When sugars
are incorporated add the vanilla. In a separate bowl, mix together
the flour
and cinnamon. Combine flour mixture into the butter/sugar mixture.
Mix
together until grainy pea size lumps form. Mix in the pecans.
This mixture
will be sprinkled over the top of the cake so if over mixed, the
topping
will become one big lump. Set aside.
For the Cake:
Butter and flour an 8" round cake pan. Preheat oven to 350
degree
farenheit. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add
eggs one at
a time making sure to incorporate each one well. In a separate
bowl,
combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add the flour mixture
to the
butter mixture. Mix just until incorporated. Put batter into the
cake pan
and spread evenly. Place the apples on top of the batter overlapping
the
slices. Sprinkle the topping over the apples. Bake 45 to 50 minutes
or
until cake tester comes out clean.
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