Sunday, December 12, 2010

Bundt Cake #5 of Bundt Cake Season 3 - Russian Coffeecake

I have to say that my second contribution to BCS3 was a bit disappointing. Of course, in the cake's defense, I might have made it a bit incorrectly. Oh, and other people really liked it. (Honestly, I think this is where the fact that I am actually not the hugest fan of cake may be coming into play. I guess I have high standards for what I think is really tasty when it comes to cakes. Some people might think I'm crazy.)

So, the part where I made some mistakes. This is how the cake is supposed to be put together: half the batter, then dollops of peach jam, then the sliced apricots, then two-thirds of the ground chocolate-ground almond-coconut mixture. Then the rest of the batter, then the remaining one-third of the chocolate-almond-coconut mixture.


How I actually put it together: Half the batter, dollops of peach jam, 2/3 of the chocolate-almond mixture, rest of the batter. Realize I forgot the apricots, curse loudly. Sprinkle apricots over the top and then carefully poke them with a rubber spatula to get them into the cake (so they're not sitting on the top). Spread the rest of the chocolate-almond mixture on the top of the batter. Realize I forgot the coconut. Curse more loudly. Sprinkle coconut over the chocolate-almond mixture, and figure that at least toasted coconut tastes good...


At some point in the future, if I decide to make this cake again, I'm sure I'll remember all the steps. To be honest, I kind of liked the apricots not being right with the peach jam, because that would have been a bit too much intense sweetness for me. This way, you had some more sweetness/peachy-apricoty flavor in the second part of the cake. On the other hand, I definitely think that having the coconut incorporated in with the ground chocolate-almond mixture would have been tastier.


In any case, as I mentioned, it was well received, so clearly it was not a huge disaster. Here's the recipe if you'd like to make it yourself.


From The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generously grease a 10" tube pan (obviously you can use a bundt pan).


Batter Ingredients:

1 cup butter (softened)

1 packed cup light brown sugar

4 large eggs

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 cup buttermilk (room temperature)

2 cups unbleached flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

3 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt


Filling ingredients:

a heaping 1/2 cup of semisweet chocolate chips

a heaping 1/2 cup of whole almonds

a heaping 1/2 cup of shredded, unsweetened coconut

a generous 1/2 cup of peach or apricot jaom

1/2 cup of sliced dried apricots


Directions:

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each. Stir in the vanilla


Sift together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, & salt.


Add the dry mixture and the buttermilk alternately to the butter mixture. Use a wooden spoon, and mix just enough to blend after each addition.


Place the chocolate chips and almonds in blender jar. Whirl together at high speed for 20-30 seconds (until pulverized but not mushy). Combine with the coconut


Spoon half the batter into the prepared pan, gently spreading it until even. Spoon little dollops of jam here and there onto batter (don't try to spread it--just leave it in little blobs), and sprinkle on the apricots and about 2/3 of the chocolate-nut mix.


Add the remaining batter, distributing it nicely. Sprinkle the top with remaining chocolate-nut mix, and back the cake for 50-60 minutes (until a probing knife come out clean). Cool completely before removing from the pan.


This cake was made on November 21st.


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