A Triumph

Ever have one of those days that just works? Today was that kind of day for me. After endless days of rain, we woke up to sunshine ( well, actually we woke up before sunrise but once it came out, it was shining non-stop). And when I got out of work it was still shining.


It was too nice to go right to my bus stop so I walked around Downtown Minneapolis for a while, basking in the crisp fall weather and thought about those apples that are resting on our porch and how I wanted to try a new cake. So I headed to the library to browse through old cookbooks.
I checked out the Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking and as I rode the bus to Gian Luca's lab I narrowed down the options for tonight's cake. In the end, he picked out the recipe for Apple Streusel Coffee Cake.


As I walked home at 5 pm I soaked in the various reds, yellows, and oranges of fall, stopping to notice the little flowers that are still around.


Then I went home, opened the book, turned on some Italian rock music and baked. It was so simple, like I had made the cake 1,000 times. And, while it was in the oven, I even cooked dinner. Its these little culinary triumphs that make this blog writing so fun.



Apple Streusel Coffee Cake
Adapted from Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking
Coffee Cake:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons plain yogurt
3 medium apples (peeled and thinly sliced)

For the Topping:
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter


Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and set aside.
In a small bowl, combine 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix well and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat 1/4 cup butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Alternately add the dry ingredients and yogurt to sugar mixture, beating well after each addition. Spread batter in prepared pan; arrange apple slices over batter.

In a small bowl, combine all topping ingredients except butter. Using a fork, cut in 2 tablespoons of butter until crumbly. Sprinkle topping evenly over apples.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan.