Wonderful Chocolate Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is a rich, sweet cake or bread served at breakfast, brunch, or the mid-morning coffee break, rather than as a dessert.There are two types of coffee cake. One type resembles bread because it is made with yeast; the other is more like cake because of the leavening effect on the batter by the baking powder or baking soda.

Both types are enriched with eggs or egg yolks and sweetened with sugar. In addition, fruits, nuts, and spices, such as cinnamon and nutmeg, are used to flavor the dough, filling, or topping.Coffee cakes are shaped in many different designs. The dough can be arranged in pinwheels, sunburst circles, braids, and Christmas trees.

The shape can also be formed by baking in loaf, oblong, square, round, and tube or bundt pans.Toppings make a coffee cake more attractive and appealing. Confectioners' icing is frequently drizzled over the warm bread. Nuts, candied fruit, raisins, and streusel topping can be sprinkled over the top for variety in flavor, appearance, and texture.

Coffee cake is usually served warm from the oven in the morning. Its addition to a mid-morning coffee break completes the affair whether the gathering is formal or informal. A hot bread is a must for brunch menus, and coffee cakes are favorites with both the hostess and the guests.Both the bread and cake type coffee cakes can be made using convenience products.

Biscuit and hot roll mix form the foundation with fruit, nuts, and spices added for flavoring. Other mixes, for instance muffin mixes, already have much of the flavorings and only require minor adaptation. Refrigerated biscuits and rolls are probably the quickest and easiest convenience products to use. They can be dipped in melted butter, sugar and spices, and nuts, or filled with a favorite fruit mixture.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

5 1/2 tablespoons butter

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup salad oil

2 cups flour

1 tablespoons baking powder

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a medium size loaf pan and set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar, the cinnamon and the butter and cream together until blended. Stir in the oatmeal until it becomes crumbly. Set this mixture aside while preparing batter.

Crack the eggs into a large bowl and beat them with a fork until combined. Add the milk and mix well with a wire whisk or egg beater. Add the sugar and the oil and mix with a whisk until blended. Sift together flour, baking powder and chips. Add this to the egg mixture and mix with a spoon for at least 30 strokes just until combined and all dry ingredients are moistened.

Next pour the batter into the bread pan. Do not worry that the batter is lumpy, it should be. Bake the coffee cake at 375 degrees for approximately 25-35 minutes until puffed and golden brown, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Serve warm.

Make a delicious cup of coffee to go with your Chocolate Coffee Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup water

2 1-ounce squares unsweetened chocolate

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons instant coffee powder

Dash salt

3 cups milk

Whipped cream

In a saucepan, combine the water, chocolate, the sugar, the instant coffee powder, and the salt. Stir over low heat until the chocolate starts to melt.Gradually add the milk to the chocolate mixture, stirring constantly.

When it is piping hot, but not boiling, remove the mixture from the heat and beat with a mixer until it becomes frothy.To serve, pour the chocolate coffee into cups or mugs. Then spoon a dollop of whipped cream on top of each.

This is another great recipe for chocolate and coffee lovers that combines both flavors into a delicious cake.

Ingredients:

18 ladyfingers (36 halves)

1 package, or 1 cup, semi-sweet chocolate pieces

1 tablespoon instant coffee

3 eggs1 cup heavy cream

1/16 teaspoon salt

Arrange 6 whole, or 12 halves ladyfingers in the bottom of an 11x7x1 1/2 inch baking pan.Melt the chocolate pieces over hot water. Stir in the coffee. Let this mixture cool.

Beat the egg yolks into the chocolate one at a time. Beat the egg whites until they stand in peaks, then gently mix them into the chocolate mixture. Whip the cream, with the salt added, until stiff. Mix this carefully into the chocolate combination.

Pour half of the chocolate mixture into a prepared pan. Place a layer of ladyfinger halves over the chocolate. Pour in the remaining chocolate. Cover this with the remaining ladyfinger halves, pressing them lightly into the chocolate. Chill this in the refrigerator for about an hour.

Caffe Cappuccino

Ingredients:

Freshly made hot coffee

Scalding hot milk

Powdered cinnamon

Pour the hot coffee and the hot milk together into cups and dust generously with cinnamon.This drink goes great with any sweet chocolate dessert. You might like to pour the hot coffee and the hot milk together into a blender.

Blend this a few minutes and pour the frothy and foaming mixture into your cups. The cinnamon is an option when drank this way.

Learn some great tips for cooking a delicious coffee cake.