Sunday, October 5, 2014

Budapest Coffee Cake


Budapest Coffee Cake 
Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1999 ed.), pg. 72.

Maida Heatter states that she once received a marriage proposal over this cake and I am not surprised. It is wonderful and reminiscent of what you would find in a bakery. This is one of the recipes that I have long wanted to try and am just now getting around to it. It is simple to make and the batter is lovely (silky smooth). 

As is often the case with me, despite going over the recipe beforehand and checking my ingredients, I somehow overlooked the fact that I only had 1 stick of butter. Since I needed 1/2 stick more, I substituted canola oil. If you decide to use oil instead of butter in any recipe, know that the equilvalent will not be the same - you will not need as much oil. The general rule is to use 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil for every 1/4 cup butter. Some sources I read say that this is not recommended for cakes but it turned out fine. Of course, the obvious thing to do is to make sure you have the correct ingredients on hand!

Nut Filling

3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 TBS. cinnamon
1 TBS. unsweetened cocoa
2 to 3 TBS. currants or raisins, coarsly chopped
1 cup walnuts, finely chopped 


To make the filling, just place all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix. I used raisins and did not chop them (I suppose currants would be larger and would require chopping).

Cake Batter

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
6 oz. (1 1/2 sticks butter)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
2 cups sour cream

Preheat the oven to 375 and butter a Bundt pan (I was short on butter and used shortening instead).


Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Beat the butter to soften and add the vanilla and sugar. Beat for a minute or two.
Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix well. Beat on high speed for one minute.
Alternate adding the flour mixture with...
the sour cream.
There will be a lot of batter - notice how smooth it is.
Now it is time to assemble the cake. Add dollops of the batter to the greased pan and spread in an even layer. This should be a thin layer.
Sprinkle about 1/3 of the nut mixture over the battle. Now repeat with another layer of batter, etc. You will spread 4 layers of the batter and 3 of the nut mixture, ending with the batter layer. Bake for about 45 minutes (check with a toothpick). The book states to bake this for an hour but if I done that, I would have ended up with a burned cake. Keep an eye on it! When it is done, allow it is sit in the pan for 5 minutes. Prepare the glaze while it sits.


Glaze

2 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 to 5 TBS. hot milk 


Mix the confectioners sugar, vanilla and hot milk together, gradually adding more milk as needed for a fairly thick consistency.
After sitting in the pan for 5 minutes, turn it upside down to remove the cake. Place it on a wire rack with parchment paper or foil underneath.
Slowly pour the glaze over the cake and allow it to run down the sides.
You can scoop up the glaze that falls underneath and pour it back over the cake if needed. Allow the glaze to set before serving. The cake is good served warm or cold.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I made it exactly according to the directions; it came out perfect and was fabulous! I plan on making it often as it is an impressive and scrumptious breakfast /brunch dessert.(although good anytime)

Anonymous said...

This is the most delicious cupcake! Fantastic! Thank you! From Russia with love:)

Anonymous said...

Just made this today for my son and daughter-in-law’s Anniversary, we served it with tea. It was amazing and easy to make! Baking my way through all of Madia’s cookbooks. ❤️

sacariq said...

We have a walnut allergy in our home. Do you think the cake would be okay without nuts? Or do you have a suggestion for a non-nut substitute? Thank you!

Anonymous said...

Hello, I am curious about substituting oil for butter. You have that the general rule is 4 tablespoons of oil for every 1/4 cup butter, but you state they should not be equivalent. There are 4 Tb in a 1/4 cup. Also, I only have dried cranberries. That should do fine here in stead of raisins, right? This cake is beautiful!

Phillip Oliver said...

I'm not sure about the oil/butter ratio but it is certainly fine to use cranberries instead of raisins.