An Aspiring Foodie: March 2011

March’s challenge for Daring Baker’s was a yeasted meringue coffee cake, hosted by Jamie and Ria. Another treat I have never made before, and it turned out enjoyable. Also fairly easy, compared to some drawn-out challenges.

I decided to half the recipe and make only one loaf of coffee cake. The dough was easy to pull together, adding the hot milk and butter mixture to the dry ingredients. Once all was combined, I opted to let the KitchenAid's dough hook knead the bread, and that worked out just fine.

Once the dough was kneaded, I placed it in an oiled bowl and covered to let rise. It worked out where I left the dough for two hours, and was at least doubled in size when I was ready for work with it again.

I decided to use Jamie’s traditional filling of the meringue with cinnamon and chocolate chips. I whipped up the meringue, and since I halved the dough recipe, I only used two egg whites, instead of three, and reduced the other ingredients accordingly.

When the meringue was ready, I rolled the dough out and spread the meringue over. The amount of meringue worked out perfectly with the half recipe. I used generous amount of cinnamon, much more than was called for, and appreciated the cinnamon flavor once the cake was baked. I sprinkled chocolate chips on top, but after tasting, I could have done without the chocolate.

The cake was then rolled up like a jelly roll, transferred to a baking sheet, and shaped into a ring. I used scissors to cut into the cake, cutting fairly deep. The cake then had to sit for an hour.