my Brioche Coffee Cake with Pears, Pecans and Cardamom from Intermezzo Magazine – Issue 38
live version 11/23/16
This is the time of year when I always turn off the news stations in my car and dial onto the Classical music stations. I still keep a collection of my favorite CDs there, too. I know. This is such an outdated approach to listening to music, but that’s just where I remain. I find the music not only soothing but uplifting, too. It doesn’t matter how many times I listen to the same pieces, I just love it. It’s mostly Mozart, Rigoletto and yes, the Nutcracker.
For some odd reason I have been thinking about the Italian words used in music this week. I went looking for a list and posted it the other day on one of my FB pages. For me, I remain intrigued to study all the things I never had a chance to earlier. And, I’ve got a very long list.
Lots of people are waking up today in the state of angst. If you’re cooking for a large group you may open your eyes and have that instant pang of panic immediately set into the pit of your stomach. Will I get everything done? Will it taste good? Will I get crazy? Will everyone have a good time? Will I have a good time?
Yesterday, I covered gravy. Today, I’m going into the part of the meal I’d always rather be involved with – the baking part.
As I got to writing this morning I got to thinking that a good approach to the next two days in the kitchen is to write it as a Divertimento. While I’m no expert in classical music, I know enough to think that this should work. While basically all the same I liked the definition from dictionary.com
– an instrumental composition in several movements, light and diverting in character, similar to a serenade.
Bingo, this, I said to myself, is what I’d keep in the back of my mind as I go along in my “schedule”. It’ll be an instrumental composition in several movements, light and diverting in character – and NOT an overall stress-infused blur only to be enjoyed when you, exhausted, sit down to the table tomorrow. And, I’ll keep the actual music in the background as I work. Any time we begin to feel stressed, just repeat – several, light, movements – you’re just dividing all the work into small workable pieces along the way. Let’s see if we can make that work:
Today’s chores involve making the dough for my sweet potato rolls. As usual, I find myself considering a number of iterations here – most all would not be approved of. I find my family wants things in their usual form – no surprises on Thanksgiving. I’m always tempted to sneak some things into the dough – like caraway seeds for example, but I’d get a huge push-back from “certain” commentators. Depending on how many people I’m serving, I’ll either make two batches of dough or divide one in half. One half will be the dinner rolls and one half will become breakfast rolls – usually classic cinnamon.
Yesterday, I found myself considering incorporating some pears, as I have a nice bowl on my counter – inspired by my recipe in the Issue 38 of Intermezzo Magazine, (yes, thank you to Roseann Tully!)- The Brioche Coffee Cake with Pears, Pecans and Cardamom. Check out the full issue (you can always get back issues) to see the original recipe and my others.
any iteration of this cake will make a fragrant, yummy addition to your holiday! (If you can’t do it today, save it for Christmas!)
So, here’s the experiment that I’m going to do today. This would be a hybrid of my Sweet Potato Dough recipe and the filling from my recipe in Intermezzo – The Brioche Coffee Cake with Pears, Pecans and Cardamom.
Follow along. And don’t forget the music.
First, you must roast 2 large sweet potatoes (I did mine yesterday but if you do it now, you’ll still have time). Prick with a fork and roast on a pan at 400F for 1 – 1/1/2 hours, until soft all the way through. Cool completely and scrape out flesh to measure 2 cups.
Sweet Potato Roll Dough
1/4 c warm water
1 package active dry yeast
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
5 tblsp butter
2 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
1 tsp lemon juice
1 egg slightly beaten
5-7 cups sifted all purpose flour
melted butter
caraway seeds, optional
In a measuring cup, combine warm water and yeast. Stir to dissolve. Set aside.
In a saucepan, scald milk. Add sugar, salt, cinnamon and butter. Stir to dissolve.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, pour milk mixture over the mashed sweet potatoes. Add lemon juice to the mixture and beat until smooth. Cool to luke warm, then add egg and yeast mixture; blend well. On low speed, blend in 2 cups of the flour and beat at medium speed for about 3 minutes. Turn the mixer back down to low and add enough flour (another 4-5 cups) to make a stiff dough, one cup at a time. 5 cups is usually good. Mix on medium for 3 minutes.
Turn the dough onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic. Place dough in a buttered bowl, turn dough to butter top and cover and let rise until doubled in bulk (overnight in refrigerator as noted above). Punch down and knead lightly once more. Divide the dough in half, reserving half for your dinner rolls and half for this coffee cake. This is before the last rising.
divertimento: one movement ended already!
With the half portion for the coffee cake:
THE SWEET POTATO COFFEE CAKE WITH PEARS, PECANS AND CARDAMOM *
one half recipe sweet potato dough, above
ingredients for the filling:
2 tablespoons softened butter
1 cup sugar combined with 1 tsp cardamom
2 ripe bosc pears, peeled and diced
1 cup toasted pecans, cooled and chopped
zest of one lemon
1 egg beaten with 1 tsp water
4″ high tube pan, well-buttered with a piece of parchment paper on bottom, buttered
1. roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to measure 12 x 8″
2.dot the surface with the softened butter right up to the edges, distributing the butter evenly
3. Sprinkle the dough with half of the cardamom-sugar. Top with the lemon zest, pears and pecans, being sure to distribute each ingredient evenly over the surface and right up to the edges.
4. beginning at the long edge, roll up the dough being careful to keep filling ingredients intact. Finish with seam side down and a nice, uniformly shaped roll. Cut dough, using a dough scraper into 10 even pieces. Place each piece, cut side up, around the tube pan. Cover with a clean dry towel; let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 2 1/2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350 F. Brush the top of the cake with the egg wash and sprinkle some of the remaining cardamom-sugar over the top.
6. Bake for 25 minutes or until firm to the touch and nicely browned. Cool in the pan for 30 minutes. Run the tip of a sharp knife down and around the outer and inner edge to loosen the cake. Gently remove the cake from the pan and cool completely.
* last minute changes on Thursday – sugar = 1/2 tsp cardamom and rounded 1/2 tsp allspice and I baked this for about 35 minutes, then drizzled about 2 oz millefleurs honey over top and baked it for about 8 more minutes – Enjoy!
