November 14th - AMAZING Coffee Cake

Every chef/cook/baker has a signature recipe; a special concoction that they have perfected over time to make it so delectable and scrumptious that it needs not to be changed one bit.  While I haven't quite found my signature recipe, I think I may be well on my way with my Coffee Cake.  This particular recipe reflects the most recent modifications that I have made since the last time I made it.

AMAZING COFFEE CAKE - 

Batter:

• 1 stick butter
• 1.5c brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1.5c flour
• .66c sour cream
• 2 apples, skinned and chopped
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1tsp cinnamon
• .5tsp nutmeg
• .5tsp salt
• 1tsp vanilla extract

 Cinnamon Swirl - 

• 2-3 tbsp butter
• .66c cinnamon chips

Streusel - 

• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• .33c sugar
• .75c chopped, toasted nuts
• 2 tbsp butter
• 3tbsp flour
• .25tsp cinnamon
• .25tsp nutmeg

1. Cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth
2. Beat in the eggs, one at a time
3. Sift together the dry ingredients
4. Slowly mix the dry ingredients with the wet ones, adding the sour cream, chopped apples, and vanilla extract
5. To make the swirl, gently melt the butter and cinnamon chips together over a double boiler
6. Pour half the batter into a greased 9x9 in pan
7. Pour the swirl over the batter
8. Pour the rest of the batter in the pan and "swirl" with a knife
9. Put in 350 degree oven for 25 mins
10. In the meantime, create the streusel by combining the room-temperature butter with the dry ingredients until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs
11. After 25 minutes, sprinkle the streusel over the cake
12. Return the cake to the oven for another 25 minutes or until a tester comes out clean (keep an eye on the cake)
13. Let the cake cool COMPLETELY before serving - at least 1 hr 

RESULTS - 
This was AMAZING.  Enough said.  The team LOVED it, and they begged me to bring it to the caf so they could have it for dessert.  I have already had numerous requests to make another one.  Success!  The other chef of the team did suggest that I might want to make the cake a tiny bit lighter in texture, and I must say that that is an excellent suggestion.  In this particular cake, I changed the amount of flour from 2 cups to 1.5 cups to make it more dense, but not changing the amount of sour cream produced a very heavy, albeit moist, cake.  Next time, I think I will decrease the amount of sour cream to .33 cups; the cake may not stay moist quite as long, but it is my goal to have it consumed long before it goes dry anyways...