Old Fashioned German Coffee Cake Food

OLD-FASHIONED GERMAN COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• For cake, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in water. Let stand 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine shortening, sugar and egg. Gradually mix in 2 cups flour, milk and yeast mixture. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide in half and press each half into a greased 11x7-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Combine all topping ingredients except peaches. Sprinkle over dough. Top with peach slices. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

APPLE COFFEE CAKE WITH CRUMBLE TOPPING AND BROWN SUGAR GLAZE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish with 2 teaspoons of the butter.
• In a large bowl, cream together the remaining stick of butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time, beating after the addition of each. In a separate bowl or on a piece of parchment, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add to the wet ingredients, alternating with the sour cream and vanilla. Fold in the apples. Pour into the prepared baking dish, spreading out to the edges.
• To make the topping, in a bowl, combine the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and butter, and mix until it resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle the topping over the cake and bake until golden brown and set, 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes.
• To make the glaze, in a bowl, combine the sugar, vanilla, and water and mix until smooth. Drizzle the cake with the glaze and let harden slightly. Serve warm.

OLD-FASHIONED CHOCOLATE CAKE

Steps:

• Take everything out of the refrigerator so that all ingredients can come room temperature.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Put all the cake ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder and soda, cocoa, butter, eggs, vanilla, and sour cream into a food processor and process until you have a smooth, thick batter. If you want to go the long way around, just mix the flour, sugar and leavening agents in a large bowl and beat in the soft butter until you have a combined and creamy mixture. Now whisk together the cocoa, sour cream, vanilla, and eggs and beat this into your bowl of mixture.
• Divide this batter, using a rubber spatula to help you scrape and spread, into the prepared tins and bake until a cake tester comes out clean, which should be about 35 minutes, but it is wise to start checking at 25 minutes. Also, it might make sense to switch the 2 cakes around in the oven halfway through cooking time. Remove the cakes, in their tins, to a wire rack and let cool for 10 minutes before turning out of their tins. Don't worry about any cracks as they will easily be covered by the frosting later.
• To make this icing, melt the chocolate and butter in a good-sized bowl either in the microwave or suspended over a pan of simmering water. Go slowly either way: you don't want any burning or seizing.
• While the chocolate and butter is cooling a little, sieve the confectioners' sugar into another bowl. Or, easier still, put the icing sugar into the food processor and blitz to remove lumps.
• Add the corn syrup to the cooled chocolate mixture, followed by the sour cream and vanilla and then when all this is combined whisk in the sieved confectioners' sugar. Or just pour this mixture down the funnel of the food processor onto the powdered sugar, with the motor running.
• You may need to add a little boiling water, say a teaspoon or so, or indeed some more confectioners' sugar, depending on whether you need the frosting to be thiner or thicker. It should be liquid enough to coat easily, but thick enough not to drip off.
• Choose your cake stand or plate and cut 4 strips of baking parchment to form a square and sit 1 of the cakes, uppermost (i.e. slightly domed) side down.
• Spoon about 1/3 of the frosting onto the center of the cake-half and spread with a knife or spatula until you cover the top of it evenly. Sit the other cake on top, normal way up, pressing gently to sandwich the 2 together.
• Spoon another 1/3 of the frosting onto the top of the cake and spread it in a swirly, textured way (though you can go for a smooth finish if you prefer, and have the patience). Spread the sides of the cake with icing and leave a few minutes until set, then carefully pull away the paper strips.
• I love to dot the top of this with sugar pansies, and you must admit, they do look enchanting, but there really is no need to make a shopping expedition out of it. Anything, or indeed nothing, will do.

OLD-FASHIONED GERMAN COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• Dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in water; let stand 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine shortening, sugar and egg. Gradually mix in 2 cups flour, milk and yeast mixture. Add enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn out onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch dough down. Divide in half; press each half into a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking pan. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. For topping, combine flour, sugars, shortening, vanilla and salt; sprinkle over dough. Arrange peaches on top. Bake at 375 degrees F for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

OLD-FASHIONED PORK CAKE

Steps:

• Grease and flour 2 bundt pans. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• Put pork and raisins in a large mixing bowl (6qt.+) and pour hot coffee over them; Set aside allowing some time to cool.
• Sift together all measured dry ingredients; Mix in walnuts.
• Stir pork mixture carefully in case the coffee is still hot. Slowly begin to add sifted dry ingredients with walnuts and combine together thoroughly.
• Mix in applesauce and citron.
• Pour into greased and floured bundt pans. Bake for 1-1/2 to two hours or until done.

OLD-FASHIONED CRUMB CAKE

Steps:

• Make dough:
• Stir together yeast, 1/4 cup warm milk, and 1 tablespoon sugar in bowl of mixer until yeast is dissolved, then let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over with new yeast.)
• Stir together lemon juice and remaining 3/4 cup milk and let stand until curdled, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Add 3 3/4 cups flour to yeast mixture along with salt, eggs, vanilla, and remaining 1/2 cup sugar and mix at low speed until just combined. Add curdled milk and beat at medium speed until a dough forms. Add butter, 1 piece at a time, beating, then continue to beat until dough is silky and elastic, 5 to 8 minutes. (Dough will be very sticky.) Sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons flour and cover bowl with a clean kitchen towel (not terry cloth). Let dough rise in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
• Make topping:
• Pulse together topping ingredients in a food processor until many large clumps form. Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, until ready to use.
• Form and bake cake:
• Butter a 13- by 9-inch baking dish or pan.
• Stir dough several times with a rubber scraper to release air, then spread evenly in baking dish.
• Sprinkle dough with half of topping, then cover dish with kitchen towel and let dough rise again in a draft-free place at warm room temperature until almost doubled in bulk, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
• Put oven rack in middle of oven and preheat oven to 350°F.
• Sprinkle remaining topping over top of cake and bake until topping is golden, 55 to 60 minutes. Cool cake in pan on a rack until barely warm, then cut into squares.

APPLE KUCHEN (OLD-FASHIONED APPLE CAKE)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375.
• Lightly grease and flour a cake pan: 7"x11" (you can substitute an 8" or 9" square cake pan if needed).
• Pare and core the apples and slice them thinly (about 1/4" to 1/2" thick). Mix the cinnamon and sugar and set aside.
• For the cake batter:.
• Cream the 3/4 cup of sugar, the shortening, and egg together until fluffy. Gradually add the milk.
• Sift the flour, baking powder, and baking soda together and stir into the first mixture.
• Spread the batter in the prepared cake pan.
• Arrange the apples on top of the batter in rows, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over the apples.
• Bake @ 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.

OLD-FASHIONED COFFEE CAKE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, cream butter and 1 cup sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon nutmeg; add to creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Pour into a greased 9-in. square baking pan (batter will be thick). , Combine the remaining sugar and nutmeg; sprinkle over batter. Bake at 350° for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.