I had never really heard of a yeasted meringue coffee cake before. It didn't look like any coffee cake I had ever seen, but any cake with chocolate and nuts in it can't be that bad. We were given two different versions of a recipe, one was filled with pecans or walnuts, cinnamon, sugar, and chocolate. The other used cashews, sugar, garam masala, and chocolate. I kind of wish I tried the second version, it sounds good to me, but I decided to play it safe so that my wife would enjoy it more.
I made it using the first version of the recipe with no variations, and using pecans for the nuts. It went together easily. I was a little concerned with how hot the liquid was when I added it to the flour / yeast mixture - I thought it might kill the yeast - but it seemed to rise just fine.
The coffee cake was much different than any coffee cake I have had before. It is much more like a bread than a cake. It was very nice though - not very sweet at all - just a little bit. The chocolate, nuts, and cinnamon were there but they were much more subtle than in a more typical coffee cake. The actual "cake" part was like a moist, slightly sweet bread. I couldn't really tell what the meringue added - I expected to get more texture from it but I think the effect was much more subtle than I expected - I am sure it added to the sweetness though.
The recipe made two small rings (at least it was small compared to the Christmas Stollen we made). My family ate one of the rings and I sent the other to my wife's work where it got many favorable reviews.
This months challenge was presented by two bloggers this month - Jamie of Life's a Feast and Ria of Ria's Collection. If you would like to try to make this months challenge you can find the recipe in the Daring Kitchen Recipe Archive.
On a final housekeeping note I decided to try out Disqus for the blog commenting system. I think I like it but let me know if you like the old comment method better. This system will give the blog threaded comments and would let me respond directly to your comments.
You did a fantastic job on the challenge! I can see why it was devoured at home and work both :D
ReplyDeleteIt looks perfectly golden brown! Excellent work on this challenge, I can see why it got such favorable reviews!
ReplyDeleteYour coffee cake looks beautiful - great color of the crust and great rise! Yes, very different from a traditional coffee cake, but absolutely delicious! Wonderful job on the challenge.
ReplyDeleteYour coffee cake looks just perfect! Great job with the challenge.
ReplyDeleteSmashing result on this challenge it looks so cute well done.
ReplyDeleteCheers from Audax in Sydney Australia.
Wouldn't it be cool if we could have a Daring Kitchen potluck? I'd really enjoying tasting the many creative options everyone comes up with! Good job on this challenge!
ReplyDeleteThat would be fun. If there is anything I like more than cooking - it is eating.
ReplyDeleteYours sounds so good with the nuts added in and your dough rose really nicely!
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by how not sweet the dough was. With the meringue baking in I thought it would be much more sweet. After the Panna Cotta though it was nice to have a less sugary project this month.
I wish I had made the second version of the recipe too, but probably I'll let to it in a few months :-)
ReplyDeleteThe cake you made looks wonderful, and I agree with you on the barely sweet taste and how the meringue just dissapeared into the dough once baked... congrats on your challenge and hope to see your results next month too!
It looks absolutely perfect!
ReplyDelete