I love cookbooks. Actually I am addicted to cookbooks. Not the new glossy ones that seem to be pumped out of publishing houses on a daily basis. I love old cookbooks, used cookbooks, ones that have inscriptions and notes or recipes tucked into its pages. You can tell by the stains on the pages which recipes were loved and made over and over again.
One such book I came across in a used book store was Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts. It was priced at $0.99. Can’t beat that. This book made the list of Essential Baking Books by the James Beard Foundation. Other than the cover, there are no pictures in this book. But what this book has that new, glossy, full of pictures current baking books lack are great recipes. By great recipes I mean ones that are written in lay man’s terms. Her recipes are very readable and chock full of information. You can hear her voice in your head as you follow the recipes. (Not that I know what her voice sounds like.) The only draw back to this wonderful book is that most of the recipes lack introductions. The names of the recipes are intriguing and you wonder how she came up with them.
The first recipe I made from the book was Budapest Coffee Cake. In her author’s note, Maida Heatter says “Budapest Coffee Cake and East 62nd Street Lemon Cake have their own fan clubs.” I didn’t have any lemons in the house so Budapest Coffee Cake won by default. I read through the recipe. A pretty straight forward sour cream coffee cake with a walnut streusel filling. But why name it after Budapest?
I remember reading an article by Calvin Trillin called “Don’t Mention It.” It’s a profile of Kenny Shopsin, an eccentric restaurant owner in New York. Calvin Trillin ate frequently at Shopsin’s but he never wrote about him on the fear that he would be banished forever. One day Trillin was called by a reporter doing a piece on Shopsin’s for The New York Observer. He was asked about the Egyptian Burrito which was listed on the breakfast menu. The reporter wanted to know what was in it. Trillin replied “..’An Egyptian Burrito is a burrito and inside is sort of what Kenny thinks Egyptians might eat.” Makes you wonder whether Maida Heatter thought the same thing.
Well whatever it’s name, the cake is delicious. It’s also beautiful with very little effort. You do nothing other than layer the batter and the streusel, the classic bundt pan does the rest. This recipe makes a very large cake. It tastes best warm. It keeps nicely on the counter (covered of course) for several days. That is if there are any leftovers.
BUDAPEST COFFEE CAKE
(from Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts)
NUT FILLING
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 Tablespoon powdered, unsweetened cocoa
- 2-3 Tablespoons currants or raisins, coarsely chopped
- 3 1/2 ounces (1 cup) walnuts, finely chopped
In a small bowl stir brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa to mix thoroughly. Stir in the currants or raisins and then the walnuts, and set aside.
CAKE BATTER
- 3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 ounces (3/4) cup butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sour cream
Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 10-inch (12- to 14-cup capacity) Bundt pan. (Pam baking spray with flour works really well.) (This is best baked in a Bundt pan, but a tube pan of similar size may be substituted.) Even if the pan is Teflon, it should be buttered for this recipe.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In large bowl of electric mixer cream the butter. Add vanilla and sugar and beat for a minute or two. Add eggs individually, beating until thoroughly incorporated after each. Scrape bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary to keep mixture smooth, and beat briefly at high speed for a minute or so until mixture is very smooth.
On lowest speed alternately add dry ingredients in three additions and sour cream in two additions, continuing to scrape the bowl as necessary with the rubber spatula and beating only until smooth after each addition.
Spread a thin layer of the batter in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle very generously with about one-third of the nut filling. Continue making layers, four of the batter and three of the filling. The top layer should be batter. It will take a bit of patience to spread the batter thin. It will be easier if the batter is placed on by many small spoonfuls and then spread with the back of the spoon, instead of just being dripped on in two or three large amounts.
Bake for about an hour or until cake tester comes out dry and the top feels firm and springy. If the cake is baked in a tube pan rather than a Bundt pan it might take longer to bake. Be sure it is done. Remove from oven. Leave cake in pan for 5 minutes, no longer. The cake should be hot when glaze is applied.
Meanwhile, prepare glaze.
GLAZE
- 2 cups confectioners sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 – 3 Tablespoons hot milk
In a small bowl, with a rubber spatula, mix sugar with vanilla and about 2 tablespoons of the hot milk. Very gradually add more milk, just a bit at a time, using only enough to make a semi-fluid mixture about as thick as thick cream sauce.
Cover cake with a rack and invert over a large piece of wax paper or aluminum foil. Remove pan, leaving cake upside down. Immediately pour on the glaze–just pour it on quickly, don’t spread it or work over it–and let it run down the sides unevenly.
when the glaze has set, use a small cookie sheet as a spatula to transfer cake to cake plate. Serve the cake while still slightly warm or after it has cooled completely–even the next day.
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