Brunch Is Served

The folks at the local Williams-Sonoma have asked me to do some cooking classes this winter and, in preparation, I’ve been testing some recipes. I plan to do at least one and maybe two classes on seasonal brunches.

My history with brunch is another collection of memories tied to the Christmas holiday. In my family the tradition was to get up on Christmas morning and gather around the tree with a mug of something warm. My siblings would have hot chocolate while my parents and I had coffee. (Oddly, my pediatrician started me drinking coffee when I was about nine. It was supposed to reduce the frequency of my asthma attacks.) At any rate, we would then take turns opening gifts. We did this by turns so that each gift could be properly appreciated on its own and the giver properly thanked.

Opening gifts took awhile and we were all hungry by the time we finished. My parents would have planned a large and late breakfast often involving things we wouldn’t ordinarily have eaten for breakfast such as tomato soup, open-faced cheese sandwiches, or, one of their favorites, cream chipped beef on toast. And so I formed a love for large late breakfasts (if not for cream chipped beef on toast) that continues to this day.

Sometimes one or the other of my parents would fix a coffee cake and as kids there was something wonderfully sinful and special about having cake for breakfast. So as I planned a winter brunch menu I thought an apple coffee cake would be a good place to bring fruit into the meal. After a bit of research I managed to slap several recipes together and come up with this. Best of all, it enabled me to get rid of the half carton of ricotta cheese I had in the fridge.

Apple/Ricotta Coffee Cake

Cake
1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 c butter — at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 ea eggs
1 c ricotta cheese
Streusel/Filling
2 ea cooking apples — peeled, cored, and diced
2/3 c brown sugar, packed
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsps butter — cut into small pieces
2 tbsps shortening — cut into small pieces
1/2 c pecan pieces

Heat oven to 350F. Grease a 9″ springform pan with butter and dust with flour.

Streusel/Filling
Peel and dice apples (about 1/2″ dice) and toss with lemon juice. Set aside.

Place remaining streusel ingredients (except pecans) in a food processor. Add butter and shortening. Pulse about 10 times then process for 5 to 10 seconds until there are no visible lumps of fat.

Cake
Mix together 1 3/4 cups flour, baking powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl.

Using an electric hand mixer or the paddle attachment on a stand mixer beat 1/2 cup butter for about 30 seconds, then beat in granulated sugar and vanilla. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and ricotta cheese to batter. Mix on low speed after each addition until combined. Note: this batter will be rather thick and stiff.

Spread 1/2 of the batter into the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the filling mixture and then the diced apples. Spoon remaining batter over apples. It will not spread smoothly so be gentle and use dollops of batter. Sprinkle with remaining topping and nuts.

Bake 45-50 minutes more or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool at least 1 hour on a wire rack.

The cake turned out delightfully moist and delicious with very nice textural contrasts between cake, apple, and strusel. It was still quite fresh a couple of days later.

Technorati: Food | dessert | cake | apples

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