Questioning the Universe

Sandy

It’s Day 32 of Stay-at-Home and I’m questioning the universe. Mysteries surround me and I ponder on the meaning of life and wonder on the why why why …

Why is there no coffee in coffeecake?

I visit the oracle of the internet (sorry Larry Ellison, but that’d be Google) and it tells me

Coffee cake—also referred to as gugelhupf or kaffekuchen—evolved from other sweet dishes from Vienna. In the 17th century, Northern/Central Europeans are thought to have come up with the idea of eating sweet cakes while drinking coffee.

– ‘Coffee Cake’ on Wikipedia

But questions answered only beget more questions.

When does a cake stop being a cake and become a coffee cake? Is coffee cake a more evolved cake or is it a devolution of cake? Was there ever cake before coffee? 

Whatever the answers, here’s a recipe for a surprisingly  good coffee cake, derived from King Arthur Flour’s Favorite Sour Cream Yogurt Coffee Cake

CoffeeCake3

113g Butter
198g Sugar
2 Eggs
240g Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
227g Yogurt

Streusel
99g Sugar
2tsp Cinnamon
2 tsp Vanilla
Lots of chopped Walnuts

Prepare a 8 inch bundt pan or 9″x9″ pan and pre-heat oven to 350F
Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla.
Mix together dry ingredients. Fold flour mixture with creamed butter, alternating flour and yogurt until well mixed.
Spoon half of the batter into a prepared pan, sprinkle with half of the streusel and cover with remaining batter. Sprinkle remaining streusel on top.
Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes.

From Abyss of Nothing-to-Write-About in Toronto, Canada.
April 2020

21 Comments

  1. Pingback: Walnut Streusel Cake – A Home by the Sea

  2. Well its general as well as local. I have underlying health issues and my 89 year old mother is staying with me. Other than that its just another pandemic. 🧨

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  3. The first time I made this discovery I was flummoxed, and frankly quite disappointed. Having said this, I enjoyed that slice of coffee cake tremendously and disgruntled though I was, accepted the state of affairs.

    Thank you for this recipe.

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    1. Some say that coffeecake is an American concept and is defined as cake without frosting.

      The definition is different for the British. Coffee cake there is defined as having coffee flavors in either the cake or the filling or the frosting.

      If you expectations were set by the British but served by the Americans, then your flummox-ary is totally justified.

      Your welcome, on the recipe.

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  5. Good question, Sandy and I am dure the answer lies in having something to eat that contrasts with bitterness of the coffee. I like the sound of this recipe and I think I’ll make it this morning I love cakes with cinnamon and streusel topping.

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        1. … and now I have generalized anxiety that I havent provided enough information on the recipe.
          Like … butter should be room temperature soft, so that it creams easily .. and yogurt should be full fat (3,5%), not flavored, without gelatin, and at room temperature… and you can add additional flavoring to the batter, like vanilla or lemon rind.
          I’m sure it doesn’t matter. You probably know this already?!

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      1. I don’t know about your area but here a lot of smaller parks are open. I braved the supermarket this morning so I needed to unwind afterwards among the flowers.

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        1. What’s the story with supermarkets Mike? Seems as if it’s an ordeal there.
          Here, we’ve been having issues with line-ups and wait-times to get into the store. They’re metering # of people in the store so that everyone can keep social distances. But in general, there’s not a problem with food supply. Not yet anyways. Knock on wood. Twice.
          Is it different where you are?

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          1. Well basically you go into a place full of people from all over the county and you have a good chance of getting sick and possibly dying. Other than that its like Disneyland. 😵

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          2. I see. General anxiety and fear of dying. We have that here too.
            Sometimes, I do feel like I should start carrying a baseball bat wrapped with barbed-wire. Luckily, I’ve yet to regret not having it.

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