Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake

Yup, this creation is pretty much exactly what the name suggests and it's absolutely delicious! I know that I bake a lot, which is why I try to limit myself to only one or two servings of everything I produce, but with this I somehow found the excuse to have some both for breakfast at the beginning of the day and dessert at the end. I'm surprised by how buttery the cake tasted despite only using one stick of butter. And yes, I know I just further cemented my status as delusional when I use the word "only" to describe something that contains over 800 calories and about 90 grams of fat. Not to mention that I cleverly neglected to mention the additional 1/4 cup of butter called for in the streusel.

The cake on its own would be divine as it's light, buttery, moist, and flavorful. But add oats and layer it with cinnamon brown sugar streusel, raisins, and chopped nuts and it becomes irresistible. For good measure I also threw in some white chocolate chips, not called for in the original recipe but a brilliant idea if I may say so myself. Either way this is a must-try recipe!

Note: I don't own a 9" pan (as called for in the recipe) so used my 10" springform without any ill results. In fact, the slices were so thick that even if I had the choice I'd go with the 10" pan.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Coffee Cake
Recipe adapted from Baking Bites

For the cake:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup quick cooking oats
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
2/3 cup white chocolate chips

For the streusel filling/topping
1/4 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
2/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup toasted pecans, chopped (I used walnuts)

1) Preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly grease a 9-inch (or 10-inch) springform pan.
2) In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, quick cooking oatmeal, baking powder and salt.
3) In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar until light. Beat in eggs one at a time. Blend in 1/3 of the flour mixture, followed by half of the buttermilk and the vanilla. Then, blend in add half of the remaining flour, the rest of the buttermilk, and finally the last of the flour. Fold in white chocolate chips. Set aside to prepare topping.
4) For the topping, combine flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl and stir well. Rub butter into the mixture with your fingertips (or by pulsing a a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse sand.
5) Pour half of the batter into the springform pan. Top with half of the topping mixture. Evenly sprinkle raisins and pecans in a single layer. Pour remaining batter on top and spread carefully to the sides of the pan. Sprinkle all remaining topping over the batter.
6) Bake in a 9-inch round springform pan
7) Bake for 45-50 minutes (adjust time if using 10-inch pan), or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow cake to cool on a wire rack until it is room temperature before running a knife around the edge and removing the springform. Store in an airtight container.

Serves 10.

Christmas Pudding Cupcakes

See those glorious specks in the browned butter frosting? Perfection!

At the end of my whirlwind trip to London last year I found myself with a few hours to kill in Heathrow Airport. You know how they tell you to get there hours before your flight is scheduled to leave? Yeah, that's good advice if the wait in the security line is longer than five minutes or there's a problem with your ticket. Otherwise you'll be sitting there becoming increasingly hungry and might find yourself tempted by the overpriced food vendors. After I polished off a bacon, tomato, cheese, and ketchup baguette I was still ready for more. Must have been emotional stress eating at the thought of leaving my beloved London. Although it seems silly to visit an American chain while overseas, I gravitated toward the Starbucks kiosk in search of a festive holiday drink to end my dream vacation. I try to avoid desserts from chain stores that don't specialize in baked goods but while I was scrutinizing the menu for differences between the US version and the UK branch, a certain item caught my eye in the bakery case: a Christmas pudding cupcake.


Frankly, it didn't look that impressive and the photo I snapped of it is even more underwhelming but I found myself unable to resist anything with the word "cupcake" in the name. I was intrigued by what their version of Christmas pudding in cupcake form might taste like. Turns out the answer to that was simple and easy to sum up: delicious. I wish I had clearer memories of the flavors involved but I remember that the cake contained just the right amount of raisins to be reminiscent of Christmas pudding without being overly dense. The frosting was of the kind I would happily eat with a spoon straight out of the bowl, delicately flavored and paired nicely with the cake. Aside from confusion over the name I think it's something that would sell nicely here in the US.

I promised myself I'd try to recreate it in my own kitchen once I got home but somehow that plan fell by the wayside as I plunged into the holiday season. So here I am a year later unable to recollect the delicious details. After my suggestion to take a trip to England purely for the purpose of taste testing another was ruthlessly shot down by my husband, I decided to come up with my own interpretation of a Christmas pudding cupcake that may or may not resemble Starbucks' version. No matter as these are delicious concoctions in their own right.

Surprisingly, no one else out there on the internet seems to have tried this concept so I had to start completely from scratch. Of course, to add to my problem there just have to be hundreds of widely varying Christmas pudding recipes out there. I should also say that the one time I had Christmas pudding it wasn't my favorite, so I wasn't eager to completely copy the stuff. Just capture the essence in a more cake-like form. From my research, I came away with the thought that the defining characteristics are dried fruit in the form of raisins, cranberries, dates, etc. and spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Booze is a popular addition but since I don't own any of the traditional ones like rum or brandy I left that aspect out. I think it would be a welcome change to my recipe if you'd like to try it for yourself. I started with a sticky date cupcake recipe from the indispensable 125 Best Cupcake Recipes and went crazy from there. I substituted raisins and dried cranberries for some of the dates, decreased the overall amount of fruit, threw in some mixed citrus peel, and added the necessary spices to give it that holiday flair. The cake's a little denser than I envisioned so perhaps next time I'll try it with a more traditional vanilla cake recipe as my starter, but the denseness does work with the spices and fruit to emulate a good old fashioned fruitcake. There's just the right amount of fruit in each cupcake and the unexpected citrus burst from the mixed peel is the kicker.

And browned butter frosting? Why did no one ever extol the virtues of browned butter to me before? Damn, is this stuff good. Very, very sweet, but a perfect match for the spiced cake. Quite a winning combo to get me into the holiday spirit!

Christmas Pudding Cupcakes
Recipe adapted from 125 Best Cupcake Recipes by Julie Hasson

1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped dates
1/8 cup mixed peel, chopped
1/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1) Preheat oven to 350 F. Line 12 muffin wells with paper liners.
2) In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine raisins, cranberries, dates, and water. Cook until fruit is soft and water is absorbed. Stir in mixed peel. Set aside and cool.
3) In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and nutmeg.
4) In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat together granulated and brown sugars and butter until well combined. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add flour mixture, beating until combined. Add milk and fruit mixture, beating until smooth.
5) Scoop batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown and tops of cupcakes spring back when lightly touched. Let cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool completely on rack.

Browned Butter Frosting
Recipe adapted from The Sister's Cafe

1/3 cup unsalted butter
3 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
2+ Tb heavy cream

1) Melt butter in small saucepan over medium heat. Continue cooking, stirring constantly and watching closely, until butter just starts to turn golden (4 to 6 minutes). Butter will get foamy and bubble and you will see black flecks start to form toward the end. Remove from heat. Cool to room temperature.
2) Beat butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer until combined. Add vanilla and gradually add cream until frosting reaches the desired consistency. Pipe onto cooled cupcakes.

These are especially delicious served warm, so feel free to pop them in the microwave.