Day 1 - Best Ever Coffee Cake

Being in the kitchen takes passion.  You have to want to be in there and really enjoy what you are preparing....well attempting to prepare.  My inspiration of cooking came from my mom.  She has cookbooks; and binders full of recipes.  She's always going that extra mile to make something out of the ordinary.  Well maybe not ordinary but something different.  Or does those words mean the same thing? :) 
As talking with my mom she tells me about The Pioneer Woman....I'm thinking who is that?  She said watch her on the cooking channel at 9:30 Saturday mornings.  I thought....I'll record it and we'll have to see if I will continue to watch it.  So that Saturday rolls around and there I am actually sitting in front of the TV watching The Pioneer Woman....lovin' everything about that show.  Just the other day I get a call from my mom telling me what she bought.  The Pioneer Woman's New cookbook; really?  I didn't even know that it was out.  So that next day I'm online (they make it too easy for you to buy stuff anymore) buying her new cookbook.  Waiting patiently for the book to come in....finally it arrives.  I was like a kid at Christmas time ready to open it and look thru it.  Looking at every page.....reading every bit of detail.  Then it's like the light bulb went off in my head.  I can be like the movie Julie and Julia.  Choosing a recipe out of  her cookbook a weekend and cooking it and then blogging about it.  Seeing what I could do differently and what other people could suggest that I do differently.  Then as making my weekly menu the other day for this weekend I noticed that I had more than 1 recipe on there...it's ok.  You know they always say the more the better. :)

So the first recipe I have chose to cook was her coffee cake.  Which unfortunately was not in her cookbook so I found it online...again the joy of having everything at such a ease to access online.
Here we go.....

I've learned throughout my cooking years to always get your ingredients together before preparing anything.  It will make things seem so organized and then you are not running around the kitchen like a chicken with your head cut off getting stuff out of the pantry out of the fridge...it's all right there for you.

Don't worry you won't be using all those eggs; that's just how I keep mine in the fridge.  It keeps my husband from cracking the eggs and putting the egg shells back into the egg container.  Nothing like opening up the container and having empty shells in it. 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Ha Ha I bet your asking....where is the picture of me setting the oven to 350; cause you know me.  Well I didn't go that far and taking a picture of that. :)

Next sift together your flour, baking powder (there's a reason for the word baking powder to be in bold and underlines), and salt.

After sifting everything beat get your 3 egg whites and beat then until stiff.  I know they sell those handy dandy tools to separate the eggs but I did it the way I remember my mom doing it...well still does it :)

I started off using a whisk...oh no that was not going to work.  So I was trying to think outside the box....what could I use that would not cramp up my wrist and arm.  So I grabbed my big hand mixer and placed only one beater on there and then turned it on and Wa La it worked.

Here is what your final outcome should look like.

Now it's time to get this party started.  Cream together your butter and sugar and once that is complete add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined.  Remember...don't overbeat.

                                       

Once this is all creamy and good lookin' fold in the egg whites.  I used a rubber spatula which made it easier to do the folding.  Hey I thought we were baking a cake not folding clothes... :)  Sorry have to add a little humor in it.

Spread in a well greased 9 x 13 cake pan.

Now time to prepare the yummy topping.  In a separate bowl combine all the topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly.

                                      



 Sprinkle the topping all over the top of the cake that's already prepared in the cake pan.  Bake for 40-45 minutes, until it's no longer jiggly.

Here is the final outcome:



I know it just don't look pretty like it should.  I then cut a piece and place it on my plate to sample it.  It still looked and smelt tasty after cutting it.  I ate it and tasted pretty good....just thought well something just isn't right.  All afternoon I didn't think about it anymore.  I sit down to start my blog and as I begin mentioning the sifting of the dry ingredients it hit me like a ton of bricks.......

I USED BAKING SODA....oh man....well I'm NOT going to redo it.  I'll let the family eat it and tell me their thoughts.  I mean it's not going to hurt.

So now we know the meaning of the boldness of the word Baking Powder.  This is one thing I will learn and take from this one recipe.....make sure to use the right ingredients. :)

Here is The Pioneer Woman's Recipe for The Best Coffee Cake Ever.

Click here....

Feel free to leave comments and tell me what you think. 

God Bless each and everyone of you just as He has blessed me!

Jennifer