Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The Cake Slice : Cinnamon - Pecan Coffee Cake


I'm late .. I'm late ... I'm late !!! I know it's incredible but I was convinced the 20th was tomorrow !!
Here is the first recipe from the new book for The Cake Slice group and it was a very nice cinnamony treat.
My pan was slightly bigger than requested and maybe for this reason I didn't have enough batter so I quickly mixed half batch more.
I loved this coffe-cake but trying to reduce the calories I reduced the amount of sugar and butter a bit.



Recipe

Cinnamon Pecan Coffee Cake
From Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations by Nancie McDermott
Makes one 9x13 sheet cake

Cake:
3 cups flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup milk
1 cup butter, softened (I used 3/4 cup)
1 cup sugar (I used 3/4 cup)
2 eggs
I made half batter more

Cinnamon Raisin Pecan Filling:
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
3 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups raisins
1 1/2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
3/4 cup butter, melted ( I used 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. (Mine is 9 1/2 x 14 )

To make the filling, combine the brown sugar, flour and cinnamon in a bowl and stir with a fork to mix well. Combine the raisins and pecans in another bowl and toss to mix. Set cinnamon mixture, nut mixture and melted butter aside.

For the cake, combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Add the vanilla to the milk. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and beat 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of bowl as necessary, until mixture is smooth and light.

Using a large spoon or spatula, pour 1/3 of the flour mixture into the butter mixture and stir just till the flour is absorbed. Add 1/3 of the milk mixture and stir till combined. Repeat till all flour and milk has been incorporated. Mix batter till just smooth.

Spread half of the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle half the cinnamon mixture over top of the batter followed by half the melted butter. Scatter half the raisins and pecans over top. Spread the remaining batter over the filling and smooth to edges of pan. Top with remaining filling, covering the cake completely.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes until the cake is golden brown, fragrant and begins to pull away from the edges of the pan. Remove to wire rack and allow to cool in pan for 5 to 10 minutes before serving in squares directly from the pan. Can be served hot, warm or room temperature.