Friday, February 25, 2011

Apple Graham Coffee Cake

Baking with mixed grains and different types of flours is appealing because of the endless flavor and texture possibilities. I’ve fiddled with whole wheat flour and wheat germ in chocolate chip cookies, and I’ve taken cues from a whole grain bread recipe and applied them to making bagels. Beyond that, I need help to know which types of flour work best together and in what proportion to one another they should be used. I finally picked up Good to the Grain which is teaching me those things. In the book, twelve different flours are covered with one chapter highlighting each, but typically the recipes involve a mix of multiple grains. There’s always an explanation for why each flour was included and what it brings to the recipe. For instance, with this coffee cake, graham flour, all-purpose flour, and whole grain pastry flour are used. Graham flour is whole wheat flour that has been coarsely ground, and it has a nutty, and for lack of a better word, wheaty taste. You could use whole wheat flour in its place, but if you can find graham flour, the flavor is a little more pronounced. The all-purpose flour was used to lighten the graham flour, and the whole grain pastry flour gave the cake tenderness. I have a bin where I keep my growing collection of flours, and I have a feeling with this book around, the whole collection will get regular use.

This cake started with the apples which were cored and chopped, and as usual, I didn’t peel them. The apple chunks were added to a hot skillet with melted butter and cinnamon, and they were cooked until caramelized. I actually didn’t cook the apples down to complete tenderness because I prefer for the pieces to retain a little texture. Next, the dry ingredients for the batter were sifted together, and those included all-purpose flour, graham flour, whole-grain pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, a tablespoon of cinnamon, ground ginger, and salt. In a separate bowl, some melted butter, buttermilk, plain yogurt, applesauce, and an egg were whisked together and then incorporated into the dry ingredients. The batter was placed in a prepped nine inch cake pan, and the caramelized apples were spread on top before it baked for about 45 minutes.

There were three important things going on with the flavor of this coffee cake, and the first was the graham flour tasting deliciously of toasted wheat. Also, the cinnamon spiced the cake nicely, and there were the fresh, tart, and sweet flavors of the caramelized apples. Now, about those three different flours working together, as promised, they produced a very tender, light crumb. I want to keep making this cake throughout the year and try it with different fruits as they come into season. I’m already imagining it with peaches.



27 comments:

  1. Marvelous! I bet it tastes heavenly.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  2. Another stunner my dear! I think I'm going to invite myself over to your place for afternoon tea this weekend :D
    *kisses* HH

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  4. I meant to say:
    I would like a slice!
    This is my kind of cake!

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  5. I so love apple cake, and so does my boyfriend. My go to recipe is a bundt from smitten kitchen, but I'm going to have to try this one out next time!

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  6. Lisa! I just picked up (ok, technically it was dropped off by Amazon) this book too! I'm SO LOVING it. So far I've only made the spelt focaccia but I can't wait to make the rest of the breads in there. I was going to make either the spelt choc chip cookies or the olive oil rosemary cake last night but realized I didn't have any eggs. I can't wait to see what you make next.

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  7. The apples looks delish but I'm sure the cake would be divine with peaches. I've got to pick up this book as well. I saw an adapted recipe on 101 Cookbooks from the book, whole wheat chocolate chip skillet cookies, that I'm going to make for the husband's co-workers. The only problem is, I don't know if I have room in the pantry for any more flour. I'm up to 6 types right now and am rapidly running out of space!

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  8. Sounds amazing! I sure would love a piece with my coffee right now!

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  9. Wow...this cake just look too good! Can't take my eyes away from it. Looks so moist, too.

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  10. I have this cookbook and REALLY need to start cooking from it! Especially if the results will be as tasty delicious as this!

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  11. What a great book. This looks delicious. It's always fun to experiment with different combos of mixed grains and flours.

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  12. I have zero room for more bags of flour here, but once I'm back in my regular living conditions, I know I'll get this book, it's been on my wish list for a while...

    the cake made my mouth water, and I'm not even that fond of sweets... :-)

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  13. I generally don't like subbing whole grains for baked goods, but I have to say graham definitely works so much better with apples. It really sounds so amazing!

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  14. I have to try baking with different types of flour, this sounds lovely.

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  15. It's completely beyond me how everyone around you isn't the size of the world with all those cakes. Nom nom nom.

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  16. WOW - this coffee cake looks amazing! I have not had breakfast yet, unless you count a iced latte and how I wish that beautiful slice was in front of me right now. :)

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  17. In some recipes I like not peeled apples, it tastes different :) I like those caramelized apples with cinnamon that are on top.. :)

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  18. I always forget to make sure I'm well fed & all sugared up before visiting your blog Lisa :) Now, I'm just going to have to see if I've got everything to make this, it looks divine :)

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  19. Its been a while since I had a good apple anything.

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  20. I really like all the apples on top - it sounds like a lovely cake.

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  21. caramelized apples = swoonworthy. i love that you see no need to peel them--i'm the same way!

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  22. over here, our supermarkets are now stocked with relatively cheaper and organic red delicious. the apple topping looks great and I love the idea of experimenting with different types of flour.

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  23. I would love this as I think that apples are excellent married to these more rustic flours; yum!

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  24. Love the use of different types of flour and the caramelized apples makes it even more delish.

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  25. Keeping the peel on the apple is a nice touch.

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  26. Wow, Lisa..how did I miss this post the other day!? Looks WONDERFUL. I have been eyeing "good to the grain" for a while now! This totally inspires me to get it!

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