Pecan Coffeecake

The thing that most people enjoyed about this coffeecake was the flavor of the cake part, not the filling or the topping.  The two pecan elements were good, but the extra flavor of the cake was a delicious surprise. Usually most coffeecakes are plain, letting the filling and topping be the highlight of flavor.  We all have experienced that plain bite of coffeecake, you know, the one that has no filling or much topping with it.  So, since filling and topping in every bite is hard to guarantee, the next best thing is to make the cake taste delicious on its own.

This recipe uses lemon zest in the batter, which paired nicely with the pecan filling.  Yet if that was not enough, the icing has espresso in it. So, if your standard breakfast has reached that blah stage, change it up with this coffeecake. It will definitely make for a better morning.

Pecan Coffeecake
adapted from My Great Recipe Cards

Ingredients/ Cake
1 egg
1/2 cup warm milk (105-115 degrees)
1/4 cup butter (room temp)
5 tbs cold butter, cut into cubes
2 tbs shortening
2/3 cup bread flour
1 1/4 cups bread flour
1 pkg active dry yeast
1/2 cup sugar
grated zest from one lemon
1/4 tsp salt

Ingredients/ Filling
1/3 cup butter
3 tbs shortening
1/3 cup flour
2/3 cup dark brown sugar (packed)
2/3 cup finely chopped pecans

Ingredients/ Topping
1 egg mixed with 1 tbs water (egg glaze)
2 tsp hot water
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp instant espresso powder
whole pecans for placing on top

For the cake, sprinkle yeast in warm milk.  Stir with a fork until yeast has dissolved.  Fold in 2/3 cups of the flour.  Cover and set aside.

Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat together butter, sugar and shortening until fluffy.  Add the egg, salt and lemon zest and beat for 30 seconds on medium speed.  Then stir in yeast/flour mixture, set aside. Fill another bowl with the remaining 1 1/4 cups of bread flour.  Using a pastry blender, cut the butter cubes into the flour until it is crumbly and the clumps are about pea sized.  Then add the yeast/flour mixture, stirring until all is blended and it forms a dough.  Cover and let dough chill for 2 hours.

While dough is chilling, the filling can be made.  Beat the butter and shortening together until light and creamy.  Using a handheld mixer on medium speed, mix in the dark brown sugar.  Then fold in the chopped pecans.  Lastly, stir in the flour until evenly distributed.  Also, prepare 2 baking sheets by lining with parchment paper.

Prepare a flat surface by dusting with flour.  Remove the dough from the refrigerator and knead dough on surface about 18 turns.  Divide dough in half.  Roll one piece of dough into a rectangle, measuring about 10X14 inches.  Take out 1/2 of the filling and spread down the center of the length of the dough, leaving about a 2 1/2 inch border on either side. Fold borders of dough over the top of the dough that is spread with filling.  Overlap each side by 1/4 of an inch, pinching the center of the dough together to seal.  Also, to further seal the dough, take a rolling pin and lightly roll over the top in a few strokes. Flip sealed dough over and center on a prepared baking sheet.  Repeat process with the remaining dough and filling.

Make 1/2 inch slashes on each side of the length of each coffeecake.  Use a knife and prick the top of the dough.  Brush with the egg glaze and place pecans decoratively on top.  Let cakes rise on baking sheets for 30 minutes.  During the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Once rise time is completed, bake cakes for 30-35 minutes until golden brown.  Remove and let cool for 15 minutes before icing.  Let cakes stay on baking sheet until completely cool.

The icing can be started by dissolving the espresso powder in the hot water.  Then stir in powdered sugar until smooth.  Drizzle over the top of each cake.

Tips and Notes:
1. This coffeecake can be made thinner by rolling out to a wider shape after the dough has been folded over the filling. This will create a thinner type of pastry that will be more crispy as compared to the one in the above picture.
2. Watch the hue of the dough while baking.  The first one I baked came out too dark.  The one in the picture was covered in foil halfway through baking so it would not get too brown. 
                                    **TWO YEARS AGO: Berry Meringue Slices**

Pecan Tassies

Pecan pie does vary quite a bit when it comes to the filling.  Some are sweeter than others and the filling can be runny or be pretty solid.  However, just like peanut brittle, there is never enough nuts there to satisfy.

These little gems turned out to be less like a pecan pie than I thought they would.  Instead of a nut topping with a filling, they were packed with pecans and the liquid filling baked up to be just enough to clump all the nuts together.  Between the taste and the size, these tarts are perfect for any get together or afternoon snack. The recipe below makes 24 tarts, 2 1/2 inches in diameter.

Pecan Tassies
adapted from The Essential Baker

Ingredients/Pastry Dough
1 cup flour
1/2 cup softened butter
3 oz softened cream cheese

Ingredients/Filling
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbs dark corn syrup
1 egg
2 tbs melted butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup of pecans

For pastry dough, cream together butter and cream cheese until fluffy.  This should take about 2 minutes on medium speed using a stand mixer.  With the mixer still running, add the flour in 1/4 cup increments, beating until the mixture becomes a ball of dough.

Flatten the ball of dough, wrap in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to chill for no less than 2 hours.  Remove and let stand for about 10 minutes until it becomes flexible.  The dough should be able to be rolled easily without breaking and should not require a lot of flour.

Lightly dust 2 wax sheets of paper with flour.  Then sandwich the dough disc between the wax paper with the flour side facing the dough.  Roll until dough is 1/4 of an inch thick.  Remove the top sheet of paper and dust off excess flour from the dough.  Cut out rounds in the dough measuring 3 1/4 inches in diameter.  Keep cutting and rolling scraps until there is no longer enough dough to cut out.

Place each circle of dough in the mini tart pans. Press and shape to fit all crevasses, making sure it clings to the bottom as well as the fluted sides. Smooth off the excess dough sticking above the top edges with your fingers.   Place the pans on a baking sheet and chill in the refridgerator while you make the filling.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the nuts in a shallow foil pan or on a baking sheet.  Let nuts toast in oven for 5 minutes.  Remove and once the nuts have cooled, coarsely chop and set aside.

Fill a medium bowl with the egg, vanilla, butter and corn syrup.  Whip together with a wire whisk.  In a separate bowl, mix the sugar and salt together.  Add this dry mix to the egg mixture, whisking until completely blended. Put mixture into a container with a pouring spout.

Take out the mini tarts.  Evenly fill each one with the chopped pecans. Then pour the sugar mixture into each, dividing the liquid filling equally.

Leave the tarts on the baking sheet and place in oven to bake.  Tarts are done when filling is set and crust is a light brown.  This should take about 25-30 minutes.  Remove pans and place on rack to completely cool.

Tarts should come out of pans easily by tapping on the bottom.

Notes and Tips:
1. The tartlet pans I used were not non-stick and the instructions stated they needed to be greased.  I used a paper towel dipped in oil to grease the inside of the tart pans
2.  Even with greasing the pans, the spilling of the filling on the top edge of the tart will cause it to stick, so be careful when pouring the filling.
                       **LAST YEAR: Brown Sugar Peanut Squares**