{"title":"Discovering My Coffeecake","description":"\u003cdiv\u003ePat-a-cake, Pat-a-cake Baker's Man…\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e(bake me a coffeecake as fast as you can!)\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-tab-span\" style=\"white-space:pre\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Are you really a baker?\"\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThe question wasn't spoken.  But it was there.  For me, it was there.  I could sense it. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI was talking to the chef at the Overland Park Marriott in about 2018 - pre pandemic.  I had been supplying them cocktail loaves of plain brioche for their French toast along with my biscotti and other baked goods for a few years.  This chef had been on the job there for maybe half-a-year.  We had gotten along well.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThe imagined question came at the end of a brief chat that I do not remember as anything other than cheerful.  It came without warning. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Do you have a cinnamon coffeecake?\"\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eSince I was supplying a variety of fine baked goods, a lovely cinnamon coffeecake could be something I'd have.  Intense.  Pretty.  Delicious!  It seemed a natural.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI had nothing.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI'd given coffeecakes not even a thought until that moment.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eBut I had the same two attributes that had convinced me to begin a bakery business just over a decade earlier.  I had the lovely combination of ignorance and arrogance that's almost a requirement to begin any new venture.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI believed I had all the talent and experience and family history in fine food service needed to create a cinnamon coffeecake that would stand out...and I was blissfully unaware of all the complications and trouble that could make the job of creating it a major headache.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eSo when I was asked the chef asked if I had a cinnamon coffeecake, the answer came easily.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\"Not yet,\" I said with a smile.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThe chef smiled back.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAnd neither of us said another word about it.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI began thinking about the job I had given myself on the drive home.  I felt sure I'd find the beginning of what I needed somewhere in the mass of baking books and cookbooks I'd accumulated.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI turned first to Maida Heater.  I had discovered her indispensable cookie books and had a cake baking book of hers that of course had no recipes for coffeecakes at all.  I made a mental note to look into what more she might have if I didn't find something in my own little baking library.  (Yes, she has a coffeecake book that my sister adores and turns to often.)\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI remember being let down to find nothing in the brilliant 'In the Sweet Kitchen' - Regan Daley's masterpiece.  And so it went as I went through a few other go-to cookbooks and baking books.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eIn reality, I wasn't so much looking for a recipe as for inspiration.  And it came from an indispensable baker's book - one I'd purchased years before but used mostly for its how-to drawings of ways to form dinner rolls and sweet-rolls.  I'd looked at drawings and instructions for the 'book method' for croissants and  puff paste.  But I'd never really looked at or played with her recipes.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThis was the book that was about to rescue me.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003ePaula Peck went from student to teacher to rewriting the curriculum at the James Beard school.  In the 1960's she gave us her book, 'The Art of Fine Baking'.  And the back index listed coffeecake doughs and fillings.  I turned to them…and soon came the inspiration.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eRICH SOUR CREAM DOUGH\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThis dough makes brioche seem plain - ordinary.  I could sense that looking at the ingredients - milk, sour cream, egg yolks, butter.  And it demanded being kept cold from the start until it is shaped into a coffeecake in waiting and set back to rise.  It is essentially brioche on steroids.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eMrs Pecks 'Rich Sour Cream Dough' showed me why James Beard had loved and respected her so.  It's a dough that begs for a beautiful filling.  It's a dough that challenges you to use it well. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI made the dough well enough on my first attempt.  I would get better, but having made brioche weekly for a few years gave me enough experience to not be intimidated.  And all the fat from the milk and sour cream, egg yolk and butter make this a very supple, forgiving dough. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eIt rolls out beautifully.  It took only a few dustings of flour as I took it down to less than ⅛ of an inch.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAnd that was what I wanted.  I wanted a dough I could roll out, glob with filling, then roll up. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI wanted to make a generous ring coffeecake.  Ten inch.  I'd get two from her recipe that she says make three normal sized coffeecakes.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAnd this dough was going to make it easier by rolling thin without complaining.  It was also going to give me inspiration for how to handle the filling in its use of sour cream.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eI combined brown sugar with sour cream instead of using cream or butter and flour.  It became the medium within which the cinnamon, other spices and flavorings, and the chopped toasted pecans for the crunch would reside.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eIt's a bit of a messy filling, but it looses that messiness in the bake.  And it compliments the dough beautifully. \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThe chef at the Marriott was happy with what I created for him.  And I was happy to have been saved and inspired by Paula Peck and the love of baking she shared with us all.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eSo here's to all the cookbooks and baking books we buy just because something tells us we must.  We get the brilliance and generosity of someone willing to share so much of what they have come to know through years of mastering their craft.  \u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eThey reside in our bookcases, silently waiting to inspire us.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eAnd the coffeecakes wait with \"Other Goodies\" on my website.\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003eBob\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e","products":[],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0786\/1603\/5520\/collections\/146.jpg?v=1791597524","url":"https:\/\/benishsbakery.com\/collections\/discovering-my-coffeecake.oembed","provider":"Benish's Bakery","version":"1.0","type":"link"}