Heirloom Bakery's Sour Cream Coffee Cake - Los Angeles Times Culinary SOS

Heirloom Bakery's Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is really, really, really good. Sometimes, I make something and say, "Well, that was a good experience...and I'll probably never make that again." This coffee cake? Totally going to make this again.

This recipe comes from Heirloom Bakery and Cafe in South Pasadena and it's via the Los Angeles Times Food Section. They have a column called Culinary S.O.S. and readers send in requests for recipes from restaurants...and the LA Times begs them for it. The LA Times test kitchen always does a great job of testing and writing easy to follow directions.

This cake starts with a topping of melted butter, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, cinnamon, pecans and brown sugar. This is spread in two layers on the cake - so each slice had some on top and in the middle. Delicious!

Be sure you have an offset spatula to smooth out the layers!

I haven't been to the Heirloom Bakery and Cafe yet, but can't wait to visit. If you are in Los Angeles, they can be found in South Pasadena.

Recipe: Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Adapted from Los Angeles Times's Culinary SOS (June 24, 2010) of Heirloom Bakery and Cafe in South Pasadena.

Topping:
1/2 cup (100 grams) light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cocoa (I used Callebaut Dutch-Processed cocoa)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used Trader Joe's Chocolate Chunks)
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted and cooled

In a large bowl, stir the brown sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, chocolate chips, pecans and butter together. Set aside.

Cake:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
2 eggs, room temperature
1 cup sour cream (I used full fat)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups (210 grams) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep a 9-inch square pan by butter and flouring and/or line it with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. If your kosher salt doesn't go through the sieve, add that at the end and whisk to blend the dry ingredients. Set this bowl aside.
3. Using a mixer with paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, and beat until fully incorporated.
5. Add sour cream and vanilla and blend together.
6. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients. Don't overmix - stop the mixer before it is completely mixed and finish folding with a spatula until no big lumps remain. You can also fold all the dry ingredients into the batter.
7. Spoon half the batter into the 9-inch square baking pan and smooth out with an offset spatula. Top with half the topping. Add the remaining batter and smooth out. Finally, top with the remaining topping.
8. Bake until golden and a toothpick comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes.

Lemon Blueberry Buckle - Los Angeles Times Food Section

Lemon Blueberry Buckle

Love the Los Angeles Times Food Section! Always yummy recipes, stories, reviews, spotlights on Southern Cal's farmers market and local produce.

This Lemon blueberry buckle appeared in the Los Angeles Times Food Section in May 2009. It is adapted from "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson. This is a fruit cake, crumb topping and a lemon glaze on top. Oh yes, crumb topping with lemon glaze. Deliciousness.

The buckle is a simple cake with half the blueberries folded into the batter and the rest sprinkled on top. A crumb mixture tops the batter and then it's baked for 45-50 minutes.

After the cake is removed from the oven, a warm glaze of sugar and lemon juice is poured over the cake. I took the syrup a bit too far and it caramelized a bit so it was a little dark, but it didn't matter.

I brought this into the library and my co-worker did one of those smiling side-to-side sway thank yous. "Oh, it has everything I like. [sway hip to one side] Fruit and that crumbly topping! [sway hip to other side]." I wish I had video. So, make this cake and you'll get people dancing around the office.

Recipe:
Lemon blueberry buckle
Los Angeles Times, Originally published May 27, 2009
Adapted from "Rustic Fruit Desserts" by Cory Schreiber and Julie Richardson

Los Angeles Times Upside-Down Meyer Lemon Cake

Meyer Lemon Upside-Down Cake

The Los Angeles Times Food Section is opening its vault and has the Top 10 recipes of the past 25 years on the website. See the listing here. Earlier, I made the Cafe Beaujolais' Buttermilk-Cinnamon Coffeecake from 1985.

And the LA Times Food Section will be moving to Thursday (from Wednesday). This will be tough! The Wednesday Food Section is such a "hump day" treat...oh well, it used to be on Thursday and it's going back. I know the Los Angeles Times staff has taken a beating in this economic climate...I can't imagine life without the LA Times, especially the Food Section. I've been reading the paper forever...and will run out to the driveway on Thursdays now to grab the Food Section. Thanks LA Times Food Section and @latimesfood for all the great recipes and articles!

My dad has a lovely Meyer Lemon tree. It's old, short and stout. Hum, that kinda sounds like my dad too. :) Anyway, when I saw the Upside-Down Lemon Cake on the LA Times website, I knew I had to use my dad's Meyer lemons.

I just bought a new cast iron pan for the TWD Tarte Tatin, and was happy to use it again! A layer of brown sugar and butter is topped with the lemon slices. Then a cake batter is cooked on top.

Although difficult to cut because of the rind (make sure you use a sharp knife), this was a fan favorite at the library. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Check out the other LA Times favorites over the years here: Opening the vault: 25 years of our best recipes. This recipe was part of: Top 10 recipes of 2007

Recipe:
Lemon Upside-Down Cake
From Los Angeles Times test kitchen director Donna Deane. Published March 14, 2007.

From the article (Hello, I'm a librarian and had to get the citation :)
Blingtime for lemons; Let this season's precious fewer fruits sparkle and shine in desserts that make the most of every sweet-tart bit of golden citrus. Susan LaTempa, Donna Deane. Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, Calif.: Mar 14, 2007. pg. F.3

Lemon Upside-Down Cake
Printable recipe here or on Los Angeles Times

4 small lemons (about 4 ounces each) - I used Meyer lemons
One-half cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) butter, divided
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean, split - I used 1 tablespoon of vanilla paste instead
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl and set aside.

2. Cut 3 of the lemons into one-eighth inch thick slices. (I ended up using 4 smaller Meyer lemons) Remove seeds and set aside. You will have about 30 lemon slices. Grate 1 teaspoon lemon peel from the remaining lemon. Set aside the grated peel; save the lemon for another use.

3. Heat 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) of the butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet or an ovenproof 10-inch saute pan until melted. Brush the sides of skillet with a little of the melted butter. Add the brown sugar, stir until it is moistened with the butter and spread it into an even layer. Arrange the lemon slices, slightly overlapping, to cover the bottom of the skillet. Set aside.

4. Cut the remaining 6 tablespoons butter into a mixing bowl. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean with the point of a knife onto the butter. (I used 1 Tablespoon of vanilla paste). Using an electric mixer, beat the butter, scraping down the sides of the bowl, until creamy. Add the sugar and grated lemon peel and beat until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

5. Add half the flour mixture and beat until blended. Add milk and beat until combined, then add the remaining flour mixture and beat until blended.

6. Spread the batter over the lemons in the skillet to cover evenly. Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake is golden and the center tests done. Let the cake stand 5 minutes, then invert the skillet onto a platter. To serve, slice into wedges with a sharp knife. (It is difficult to cut so make sure your knife is sharp to get through the rind).