Sour on the Sourdough Bread, but Sweet for the Sour Cream Coffee Cake!

My attempt at Sourdough Bread (which I discussed in an earlier entry) was not as successful as my other breads.  My starter had developed after feeding it for two days, so I followed the recipe in CIA's Baking at Home, adding a cup of the starter to the prescribed amounts of water, yeast, flour and salt.  The dough was very sticky, so I kept adding a bit more flour.  It never felt right to me, but since I've never made this before, I thought perhaps this was the consistency of this particular dough.  So I shaped it into a round and left it to proof. It didn't rise very much--even after 2-3 hours.  I was just about to toss it in the trash when I remembered something Peter Reinhart said; how you can't go wrong with fresh baked bread even when it doesn't turn out the way you want.  So I put it in the oven and let it bake.  After the suggested time of 30 minutes, it was still pale, and though the internal temperature was 200 degrees, I put it back in for another 10 -15 minutes until golden.  After cooling, the loaf felt dense and heavy and tasted doughy.  I left it overnight, cut a slice in the morning, but still was not happy with the texture, and though I thought it might work well toasted, I tossed it in the trash!  This weekend I will begin again--only this time I'm using Reinhart's San Francisco Sourdough Bread recipe on page 64 of his Artisan Breads Every Day.  I've had such good luck with his recipes.  I don't know why I didn't use his to begin with!

  

Now on the same day I made my favorite coffee cake.  Sour Cream Coffee Cake is a variation of a Betty Crocker Baking Basics recipe that includes a brown sugar and nut filling and a glaze topping.  This time I used chopped pecans instead of walnuts and it was delicious. So my baking day was not an entire waste!

                                        

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray angel food or tube cake pan with cooking spray.  (I use a bundt cake pan)

Brown Sugar Filling (Prepare and set aside)

• 1 cup brown sugar, 1 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans, 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon, well-mixed.

Coffee Cake

• 3 cups all-purpose flour, 1 1/2  tsp baking powder, 1 1/2 tsp baking soda, 3/4 tsp salt.  Well-mixed in in large bowl, set aside.
• 1 1/2 cups of sour cream (can use light sour cream, if desired)  set aside.
• In stand mixer, beat on medium speed:  1 1/2 cups of sugar, 3/4 cup butter (1 1/2 sticks, room temperature) 1 1/2 tsp vanilla, 3 large eggs.
• On lower speed, beat in 1/2 of flour mixture and then 1/2 of sour cream; repeat until mixed well.
• Spread 1/3 of batter on bottom of pan; sprinkle 1/3 of filling. Repeat twice.
• Bake 350 degrees about 1 hour--until toothpick comes out clean.
• Cool about 10 minutes before removing from pan.  Cool another 10 -15 minutes.

Glaze

• 1 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp vanilla, 6 T milk.  Mix thoroughly and then drizzle over cake.