Recipe: Chocolate Streusel-Ribboned Bundt Cake

the appetizer:

Coffee Cakes, Simple, Sweet, and Savory, by Lou Seibert Pappas, features recipes like Sun-Dried Tomato-Pistachio Polenta Cake, Chocolate Streusel-Ribboned Bundt Cake, and Greek Almond-Crusted Citrus Loaves.

Chocolate Streusel-Ribboned Bundt Cake

Makes one 10-inch Bundt or tube cake

Serves 12

In this old-time favorite, which was popular decades ago, a cinnamon-chocolate streusel ribbons the center and tops the fine-textured cake.

Chocolate Streusel

2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into bits
3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 cup (3 ounces) chopped pecans or walnuts

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup sour cream

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter and flour a 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.

To make the chocolate streusel: In a medium bowl or a food processor, combine the butter, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and cocoa. Cut the butter in with your fingers or process until crumbly. Stir in the nuts and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream the 8 tablespoons butter and granulated sugar with a wooden spoon or an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla and almond extracts and beat until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to blend. Add the dry ingredients to the creamed mixture alternately with the sour cream in 2 increments, blending until smooth. Turn half of the batter into the prepared pan, spreading until smooth. Sprinkle with half of the streusel. Add the remaining cake batter, spread until smooth, and sprinkle evenly with the remaining streusel.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes. Unmold right side up on a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into slices to serve.

from:
Coffee Cakes
Simple, Sweet, and Savory
by Lou Seibert Pappas
Chronicle Books
Paperback; $18.95
132 pp; 25 color photographs;
ISBN: 0811855074
Information provided by the publisher.

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