Meringue Filled Coffee Cake

The weather here in Scotland is so dreary today that I'm not motivated to go to far from the flat. So, I thought, why not give another Daring Baker's challenge a go. After browsing through old challenges, I settled on one from March 2011: Meringue Coffee Cake. Basically I choose this recipe because I had all of the ingredients on hand and didn't have to go out to the grocery store haha And, this cake looks pretty. I like pretty baked goods.

Let's get started.

What you'll need: 

For the Coffee Cake Dough

1/2 cup all purpose flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/8 tsp dried active yeast

2 Tbsp water (doesn't matter what temperature; I used cool water)

5 Tbsp whole milk

1/4 salted butter 

1 egg

For the Filling

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans, walnuts; I used hazelnuts)

1 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped chocolate (I used semi-sweet)

For the Meringue

1 1/2 egg whites 

1/8 tsp salt

1/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup sugar

Egg Wash

1 beaten egg

In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt, and yeast, and stir with a wooden spoon. 

In a small saucepan, combine the milk, water, and butter over medium heat until warm and the butter is melted.

Now, using an electric mixer, gradually add the warm wet mixture to the dry mixture. Beat on low speed until well blended. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat the mixture for another 2 minutes. 

Add the eggs and 1/2 cup of the flour. Beat the mixture on medium speed for 2 more minutes.

Now, use a wooden spoon to stir in the remaining flour (3/4 cup). I kept adding flour gradually. It should form a dough that holds together and is no longer sticky. Put the dough onto a floured surface and knead with your hands for 8-10 minutes. Add additional flour as needed. Eventually your dough should be soft and smooth. 

Lightly grease a bowl with oil (I used olive oil). Place the ball of dough into the bowl and coat all sides with oil. Cover the bowl with saran-wrap and place a tea towel over the bowl. The original recipe said to let the dough rise for 45-60 minutes until the dough has doubled in size; however, it actually took my dough ~1 1/2 hours to double in size. 

While the dough is rising, you can prepare the filling. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon and sugar. Measure out the nuts and chopped chocolate, and place in a separate bowl. Alternatively, you can mix everything together in one bowl, but I decided to put the sugar mixture and nuts/chocolate on separately. 

Once the dough has doubled in size, you can make the meringue. In a small mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and salt on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high speed and beat until the mixture is foamy and opaque. Add in the vanilla then gradually add in the sugar while continuing to beat the mixture. The meringue is done when stiff, glossy peaks have formed. 

Now, the fun part: assembling the coffee cake. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper 

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10 inch rectangle. Spread the meringue over the rectangle of dough so that it extends evenly across the dough (keep 1/2 inch from the edges clear of the meringue). Sprinkle the filling over the meringue. I alternated between the sugar mixture and the nut/chocolate mixture.

Once you have spread the meringue and filling onto the dough, roll up the dough into a log. Start from one of the long sides. Pinch the seam to closed to seal. Place the log of dough on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. The seam should be facing down. Seal the two ends of the log together so that it forms a ring. I found that it worked good when I tucked one end into the other and then lightly pinch the dough together so that it was sealed. 

Use a knife or kitchen scissors to make cuts along the outside edge of the dough ring. These cuts should occur at ~1 inch intervals.

Cover the coffee cake with saran-wrap and allow it to rise again for 45-60 minutes. 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Beat the egg with a splash of cream (if you have it on hand), and brush onto the coffee cake. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the coffee cake is risen and golden brown. Cool the coffee cake on a wire rack. If you like, you can dust the coffee cake with icing sugar and/or cocoa powder.

Enjoy warm —I had two warm slices and they were delicious :)

Armenian Nazook

It seems as though I have a lot of time on my hands this month, so I thought I would try another Daring Baker's challenge: Armenian Nazook. It's a layered pastry dough with a sweet filling.

Apparently, there are a number of variations you can do for the filling of these nazooks. I decided to go with the traditional vanilla-scented ones, but I added some ground hazelnuts. You can also use ground walnuts, almonds, pecans, etc. I guess you can also try chocolate if you'd like. Although I saw a blog of someone who tried chocolate and to be honest, the nazooks looked kind of messy —however, they could have been absolutely delicious! Give it a try if you want.

Okay, so here we go. I halved the original recipe, so that it makes about 20 nazook pieces. 

What you'll need: 

Pastry Dough

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, sifted

1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 softened butter

Filling

3/4 cup all purpose flour, sifted

3/4 cup sugar

6 Tbsp softened butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup hazelnuts

 Egg Wash

1 egg yolk

First of all, you need to make the pastry dough. To do this, place the sifted flour into a large bowl and add the yeast. Mix together with a wooden spoon. Add in the sour cream and softened butter and mix together with a wooden spoon. 

Either your hands or a standing mixer fitted with a dough hook, knead the dough until it forms a soft ball. I used my hands and needed the dough for about 7-10 minutes. If you're using a dough hook, then knead for twice as long. If the dough is sticky, add a bit more flour. Once you're finished kneading the dough, it should not stick to your hands or the bowl. 

Roll the pastry dough into a ball and place in a clean bowl. Cover with saran-wrap and place in the refrigerator for 3-5 hours or overnight. Because I wanted to have mine done for an after supper treat, I only refrigerated the dough for 5 hours.

While your dough is spending its last few minutes in the fridge, you need to make the filling. Mix the flour, sugar and softened butter in a bowl. You can do this by using a pastry cutter (which I don't have) or your fingers. Add in the vanilla extract and any hazelnuts, and mix together until the filling mixture looks like a clumpy, damp sand. Set aside. 

Now, you need to make the individual nazooks. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Take the pastry dough out of the refrigerator and cut the ball in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one half of the dough into a large rectangle or oval. The dough should be quite thin, but not so thin that you can see through it.

Spread half of the filling across the rolled-out dough. Try to spread the filling out so that you get as close to the short edges as possible, but keep some of the pastry dough uncovered on the long edges (~1 inch).

Starting from one of the long edges, slowly roll the dough up. Try to keep the filling so that it's evenly distributed. Once you're finished rolling, you should have a long, thin loaf. 

Pat down the loaf with your palm and fingers so that it flattens out —but just a little bit. Beat the egg yolk with a fork and apply the egg wash to the loaf using a brush. 

Cut the loaf into 10 nazook pieces. Put the pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (the pieces should be oriented so that the filling faces out on both sides). Repeat with the second half of dough. While the first half of the nazook pieces were baking, I placed the other half in the fridge, so the dough stayed firm.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the tops are golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and enjoy with a cup of tea!

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Okay. These are hands-down the BEST chocolate chip cookies I have EVER made and I've tried a lot of different recipes.

I got this recipe from Apple a Day and adapted it slightly (basically just replaced the baking soda with baking powder; used salted butter; and used half milk and half white chocolate chips). Anyways, what makes these chocolate chip cookies the best is one special ingredient: cornstarch, which makes the cookies fluffy, rather than flat. If you're not a fan of fluffy cookies, then this recipe isn't for you. Everyone else, try it... NOW :)

What you'll need:

3/4 cup salted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup white chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl, cream together butter, brown sugar, and sugar until the mixture is fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, and mix together.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, cornstarch, and baking powder together. Add this dry mixture to the wet mixture. Mix together.

Stir in the milk and white chocolate chips. Alternatively, you can use 1 cup of any type of chocolate: bittersweet, milk, and/or white. I'm a huge fan of white chocolate, so I opted for half milk and half white.

Form balls about 1 inch in diameter and place onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, until the cookies are barely golden brown around the edges. Although the cookies may not look like they're done, trust me, they are. You don't want to over bake these cookies or they will end up hard and crunchy —you want soft and chewy. Let the cookies cool on a wire rack and enjoy with a cold glass of milk.

I make fairly large cookie dough balls, so this recipe makes about 20 cookies.