Cake for breakfast

I've been craving coffee cake.  Or, more accurately, crumb cake.  But I keep getting overruled by Brianna and Gillian.  Brianna wanted bagels.  I made them two weekends running (and there are sure to be more in my future).  And with Gillian, it's all about muffins (and Brianna is usually happy to go along).  Don't get me wrong--I like both of those.  But I seem to be having trouble with new muffin recipes (some partial and total disasters that haven't made it all the way to the blog yet), and I'm getting a bit tired of the making the same two tried-and-true recipes over and over.  What I really wanted was coffee cake.  Cinnamony.  Buttery.  Crumby.  Cake for breakfast. =)

I have to plan my weekend baking carefully.  I want to be sure to fit in the things that I need to make (like my weekly TWD recipes) along with the things that we need to get through the week (bread) and the things I just want (cookies... brownies... coffee cake!)  And this past weekend I got lucky.  First, I had Saturday off, so I actually had two days to get all my baking done.  And second, I figured out a way to kill two birds with one stone...

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie selection comes from Liliana over at My Cookbook Addiction.  (I have that problem, too...  Hi, my name is Di.  I have more cookbooks than I have room for and I keep buying more...)  Her recipe choice was French Yogurt Cake with Marmalade Glaze.  This versatile cake can be baked as a loaf or as a round cake that can be glazed or layered with marmalade or jam.  I'm sure many bakers were delighted that this recipe could be made in a single bowl.  =)  I made a few changes, added some streusel on top, and had my coffee cake!!

I went for the round version.  Since I planned to add the streusel, I knew I wouldn't want to flip the cake over to get it out of the pan.  So I used my 9-inch springform pan.  I wrapped the bottom part in non-stick foil, put the pan together, and then sprayed the inside with baking spray (Pam for Baking).  While the oven preheated, I made the streusel (recipe below).  I mixed up the cake batter pretty much as the recipe directed.  I did leave out the ground almonds, using 1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) of all-purpose flour instead.  I used whole milk plain yogurt and canola oil.  For flavoring, I omitted the lemon zest and instead added about 1/4 teaspoon of freshly grated nutmeg with the dry ingredients.  I spread the batter in the pan and scattered the crumbs on top.  I baked the cake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.  That was a bit longer than the 35-40 minutes listed for the round layer variation in the book, but I figured it would take longer with the topping.  Once the center of the cake tested as done, I removed the pan from the oven and let the cake rest in the pan on a rack for ten minutes.  Then I removed the outer ring of the pan and let the cake cool a bit more (but not too long--we were hungry!) and sifted some powdered sugar on top.

The verdict?  Oh, I will be making this one again.  Everyone around here really enjoyed it.  The texture of the cake was great--not too dense, not too light.  It keeps well, staying moist because of the oil, no doubt.  The streusel contrasted nicely with the soft crumb of the cake.  Definitely a winner!

If you want to try either the original cake or my variation, start by heading over to Liliana's blog to get the cake recipe.  And be sure to check out the TWD blogroll to see what everyone else did this week!  

Edited to add:  Okay, maybe I should read ahead once in a while...  I just realized that next week's TWD recipe is a crumb cake. *laugh*  That's okay; I can eat crumb cake two weeks in a row.

Streusel Topping for Coffeecake

(adapted from King Arthur's Cinnamon-Streusel Coffeecake)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon table salt

3/4 cup (3 1/8 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, softened

In a medium bowl, mix together the sugars, salt, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg.  Add the butter and use your fingers to rub it into the dry ingredients until you have crumbs of different sizes (you can squeeze the mixture into larger crumbs if you like).