April | 2014 | Dessert Surveillance

Sour Cream Coffee Cake from Jim & Patty’s Coffee (Portland, OR) – Photo Courtesy of Jim & Patty’s Coffee

Years ago, the cakes I drooled over were gooey – rich with filling, frosting, and cream. Now I find myself gravitating more to Bundt Cakes and Coffee Cakes. (Lest anyone become alarmed, this is NOT to say I’ve sworn off gooey cake.)

Of course the age-old question is “Why isn’t Coffee Cake made with Coffee?” After all, there’s Chocolate in Chocolate Cake. Well, one theory is, since this Cake was often served with Coffee, it was given the name “Coffee Cake.”

Let’s start at the beginning. What is Coffee Cake? It’s a sweet cake-like bread typically eaten at breakfast or brunch, and sometimes served warm. Coffee Cakes often sport streusel toppings – crumbly mixtures of flour, sugar, butter, and spices. To liven up Coffee Cakes, they may be filled with cinnamon and sugar or even cream cheese.

How popular is Coffee Cake? And what varieties are out there?

The Sugar Cube’s “Crack Coffee Cake” – Photo Courtesy of The Sugar Cube (Portland, OR)

Kirsten Jensen of The Sugar Cube, based in Portland, Oregon, said the Coffee Cake is one of the most popular breakfast items. In fact, it’s called “Crack Coffee Cake” because it’s so addictive – people keep coming back for it. Crack Coffee Cake has a moist Coffee Cake base, studded with liberal amounts of seasonal fruit. It’s flavored with spices such as Saigon cinnamon, ginger, fresh nutmeg, and cardamom. And it’s topped with toasted pecans, brown butter, more spices, and oats. Kirsten believes it’s all about the crunchy topping. She thinks Coffee Cake evokes memories of conversations had while sitting around the family breakfast table.

Crumb Cake from Sweet Sam’s (New York City) – Photo Courtesy of Sweet Sam’s

Sweet Sam’s, a New York City-based bakery that ships nationwide, offers five types of Coffee Cakes. The most popular Coffee Cake is the Crumb Cake – its cake base is piled high with crumbs. Taking 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th places respectively are: Coffee Streusel Cake (with a filling of finely chopped walnuts, cinnamon, and sugar); Blueberry Crumb Cake (blueberries are in the cake base and the topping); Apple Crumb Cake (diced apples are in the cake base and sliced apples are in the topping); and Chocolate Chip Crumb (semi- sweet chocolate chips are scattered throughout the cake base and topping).

New York City-based sugar Sweet sunshine has “The Real Deal” Coffee Cake on its line-up and it’s one of the most popular breakfast Cakes. Peggy, one of the co-owners, thinks its popularity is due largely to its cinnamon swirl.

The Andersonville Coffee Cake from Swedish Bakery (Chicago, IL) – Photo Courtesy of the Swedish Bakery

The Swedish Bakery specializes in European-style Pastries and Cakes. While this Chicago-based bakery typically offers 10 different Coffee Cakes in its store, customers can order any of the 35 Coffee Cakes on Swedish Bakery’s Coffee Cake line-up. The most popular Coffee Cake is the Andersonville – named after the Chicago neighborhood in which the bakery has been located for more than 80 years. The Andersonville, a Swedish Coffee Cake, has a cardamom dough base with almond and cinnamon fillings. Pecan Streusel, Coconut Custard, Plain Streusel, and Chocolate Chip Streusel are some of the popular American-style Coffee Cakes. The Swedish Bakery doesn’t plan to add any new Coffee Cakes this year. According to Eliza Williamson, the General Manager, “We like to keep it simple and traditional for our customers. They know what they want and we’ve got it!”

Grilled Coffee Cake from Southport Grocery and Café (Chicago, IL) – Photo Courtesy of Southport Grocery and Cafe

In the bakery case of Chicago-based Southport Grocery and Cafe, you can find Coffee Cake. Southport’s version is made with sour cream. In the Cafe you can also order Grilled Coffee Cake. The Cake is cut in half and house-made cream cheese is added. The Cake gets caramelized on the top and bottom, while the cream cheese melts. Jake Davis of Southport thinks Coffee Cake is popular as it reminds us of our families and spending early morning hours huddled over a pan of fresh baked Coffee Cake. And as Jake notes, while Coffee Cake is simple, you can add a little something to it, such as bacon crumble, fruit jam, etc., to take it to a whole new level without going overboard.

I’m ready to bake, or better yet, eat, Coffee Cake!

Roger Smith Food + Tech Conference, April 2014

The Roger Smith Hotel – Site of the Conference – Photo Courtesy of The Roger Smith Hotel

The focus of the Roger Smith Food + Tech Conference is a fascinating one, “the exploration of our ambiguous love, hate, and fear of food technologies.” It’s a surprisingly broad topic. The Conference sessions and specific areas covered ranged from modernist cuisine to processing cacao to 3-D printing of restaurant dinnerware to smart appliances. Here are some of the more interesting points brought up at the sessions I attended:

American Heritage Chocolate – Photo Courtesy of American Heritage Chocolate

Mechanizing Cacao: Processing the Food of the Gods

— At least 12 pieces of equipment are needed for the various stages of processing cacao – for splitting open the pods and removing the beans; fermenting and sorting the beans; roasting and grinding the beans, etc.,

— A metate is a slab – a stone-age technology – that’s still used today in some areas, such as rural parts of Guatemala, to grind cacao.

— Cacao production is one of the few areas which benefits from industrial processing. A finer grinding of cacao can lead to chocolate with a smoother mouth feel.

— However, in an opposing trend, a division of Mars, Incorporated, American Heritage Chocolate, eschews high technology to produce its chocolate. Instead it uses the technology and raw products that were available to the American colonists. Consequently it’s a coarser texture chocolate. And some artisan chocolatiers today also produce chocolate with a coarser texture.

Baklava Brought in for Attendees of the Thousand and One Layers Panel

Attendees of the Tales of a Thousand and One Layers Panel Were Able to Sample Baklava

Tales of a Thousand and One Layers (Baklava)

— The layering of pastry originated in Central Asia.

— Baklava pieces are often diamond-shaped but can take other shapes such as rectangles. The pieces are cut before being baked.

— Baklava is extremely labor-intensive. It’s all about the thinness of the dough. And the rolling out of the paper-thin layers requires much practice and precision, not to mention upper body strength. As part of the rolling process, each of the layers is rolled back on to the rolling pin.

Technology of Cake

— A quote (from Rachel Laudanum) was repeated- “Cake is America’s gift to the world.” What people think of as cake is American cake. It had its origins in the 16th century as a yeast cake.

— A hoop was used to help shape cake but it was difficult use.

— One of the most important technological advances that made butter cake easier and faster to produce was baking powder.

The Future is Now: The Brave New Worlds of 3-D Printing, Outer Space and Non-Thermal Technologies

— Americans waste 40 pounds of food per person each year.

— That’s why food technologies such as HPP (high pressure processing) and UV (ultraviolet light) are important. These technologies make foods safer and extend their life.

— HPP: foods in their final packaging are inserted in a machine and subject to very high pressure. Food suitable for HPP are coconut water, cold-pressed juices, etc.

— UV light: microorganisms are killed after their DNA absorbs the light energy. Fruit juices are very well suited to UV light treatment.

Modernist Cuisine: A Dialogue

— Wylie Dufresne started his restaurant, WD-50, because he wanted a place where he could continue his culinary education. He believes that while there’s no one right way to cook, if you understand the variables impacting cooking, you can make more informed cooking decisions. Wylie thinks you can learn a lot about frozen foods from Clarence Birdseye.

The Roger Smith Food + Technology Conference provided much food for thought!

Dessert Surveillance

the business behind what's delicious

Monthly Archives: April 2014