Yeah, I know. The title of this post sounds like something you’d see in SkyMall Magazine. Laugh now, but don’t say you weren’t warned – this cake disappears QUICKLY!
My sister, brother in-law, and their two adorable kids Brynn, 3, and Troy, 1, came to visit us in Jackson Hole last week (hence the delay in posting). I was super excited since their visit coincided with Jenni and my’s birthday (aka the birthday week, my little sister is also born in the same week).
In preparation for their arrival, I wanted to make a breakfast meal that we could quickly inhale before heading to the mountain for some skiing. I went with Pioneer Woman’s “Best Ever Coffee Cake”. The 3 sticks of butter, brown sugar pecan streusel, and countless positive comments made for an easy choice. The only problem with it was that we (including Brynn) could not stop eating it! Ollie, who is very finicky with food, even started following Brynn around just incase she might drop a crumb or two.
We had a great time with Jenni, Brent and the kiddos. After 3 days of ski school, Brynn was blazing down the mountain solo. I’m predicting that she will be out skiing all of us by age 5. I’ve never seen someone so fearless. Jenni on the other hand, did an even more amazing job of skiing given it had been well over a decade since her last ski trip. She is even still speaking to me after Chris and I took her up the Tram in whiteout conditions.
This one is a MUST make. But make sure you have guest coming in so you don’t eat it all yourself!
Pecan Coffee Cake adapted from The Pioneer Woman Cooks
You will need:
Cake –
~ 1 ½ sticks butter (softened)
~ 2 cups sugar
~ 3 cups flour (sifted)
~ 4 teaspoons baking powder
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 1 ¼ cup whole milk
~ 3 egg whites, beaten until stiff
Streusel (topping) –
~ 1 ½ sticks butter (softened)
~ ¾ cup flour
~ 1 ½ cup dark brown sugar
~ 2 tablespoons cinnamon
~ 1 ½ cups chopped pecans (look for them in the baking section of your grocery store)
Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease a 9 x 13 inch baking pan with butter (a little more butter is not going to hurt you!). In a large mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Then start sweating by whisking your egg whites until you’ve made stiff peaks (use a copper bowl if possible).
Cream butter and sugar together. Add in 1/3 of milk and 1/3 of flour mixture to the sugar and whisk. Repeat until all of the milk and flour has been added. (I’m getting so HUNGRY typing this out!) Slowly fold in egg whites with a rubber spatula. (As Brynn would say “Yummy. Yummy. Yummy. I’ve got batter in my tummy”).
Next pour mixture into your greased baking pan.
To make the streusel, combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and cut with a pastry knife until mixed thoroughly. Then pour evenly on top of the batter. Bake cake for about 40 to 45 minutes or until the mixture stops jiggling.
Prepare to be full. 
9 comments
Jen says:
Mar 2, 2011
Ok my kitchen guru, I have a general cooking question for you. Just how important are the proper tools when it comes to cooking? This recipe, for example, calls for sifting the flour. What happens if I don’t have a sifter….are they called sifters? What are some of the most important tools that a novice like myself MUST have?
admin says:
Mar 3, 2011
Hey! So, my understanding of a sifter is that if you are going to bake, its important to get one. Basically, it does a much better job of mixing dry ingredients together than a regular wooden spoon. And who want a large chunk of salt in a cookie or piece of bread.
They aren’t very expensive – I got one for $3.99 at the grocery store.
The most important thing to me in the kitchen are knifes. They make cooking that much easier and also prevent injuries….. I’m looking for a few good knifes and will let you know what I find!
linda says:
Oct 27, 2011
If you don’t have a sifter you can cheat and just stir it with a whisk, but of course sifter works better. When you sift flour it allows air to circulate through, and takes out possible clumps. Flour is compact in its packaging so you want to ‘fluff’ it out. How is that for technical terms, ha-ha. Fluff.
p.s. My hubby would absolutely LOVE this cake. On my baking list.
Julie says:
Oct 28, 2011
Hi Linda! Thanks! I’m not much of a baker – still learning but that makes sense!
Sue says:
Dec 14, 2011
I would love to start using your recipes for Christmas,,, do you think this would be good for Christmas brunch???
Mary says:
Jan 9, 2012
I used your streusle recipe and actually put it on sugar cookie mix bakes into muffin type shapes. Then I used the left overs and put them on preztles! It was soooo good! Thank you
Tina says:
Jan 14, 2012
Disaster!
The cake batter rose all around the sides and gobbled up the streusel. The cake ended up like cake (bottom), streusel middle, and then another layer of cake top. I even tried with a thinner-than-average layer of batter but ended up with the same result. Any tips?
Julie says:
Jan 14, 2012
Oh no!!! I have no idea. Do you have a gas oven? Maybe it heated too fast??? I know that my gas oven has crazy temperatures. When I set it to 350°F the thermometer will read 400°F or more. I’ll play around this weekend and see if I can come up with any ideas.
Tina says:
Feb 3, 2012
I do have a gas oven, I do get the same crazy temp issues as you but I hadn’t thought of that! I tried this recipe again last week but this time I lowered the temp to 320 and I used a larger pan so I could have a thinner layer of streusel. Everything turned out perfectly! I think the culprit was the streusel being too heavy on top in addition to the oven temp.
Anyway, great recipe!