an unanswered question

I foolishly thought you could find the answer (perhaps an answer would be more appropriate) to any question on the internet. Not so, people. I have absolutely scoured the web for the reasoning behind calling certain sourdough starters Herman and I can find nothing.


If you know the origins of the name, please do tell. However, even if there turns out to be a legitimate reason, I refuse to rename Eb. He's an Ebenezer, through and through.

Eb's latest accomplishment is a coffee cake. Since I was in a questioning mood, I wondered to myself just what defined a coffee cake. My go-to source for such inquiries says that a coffee cake is "a cake served with coffee or eaten at breakfast...typically flavored with cinnamon, nuts, and fruits" and that "sometimes has a crumbly or crumb topping called streusel." Ah, streusel. Even reading the word makes me swoon.


I should really remove all paraphernalia from my table before the photo session begins. Yes, that's a banana in the background. It's ripening nicely.

So according to that definition, this is definitely a coffee cake. It was a)eaten for breakfast, b)eaten with coffee, c)flavored (abundantly) with cinnamon, and d)streuseled. (I'll bet you didn't know streusel could be used as a verb. Now you know.)

I chose this particular recipe because it calls for two whole cups of starter, and I needed to use quite a bit since Eb was outgrowing his jar. Plus, even though I just made that phenomenal (all modesty aside, of course) cinnamon cake, I figured a little more cinnamon aroma in the apartment couldn't hurt. Also, unlike the cinnamon cake [that one was mine, all mine! (insert evil laugh here)], I'd be sharing this one.


Look at that crater. You could fit an entire Riesen chocolate chew in there. Awesome.

I only made one change to the typical coffee cake. Instead of having the streusel on top, I put it in the middle in hopes of creating a lovely, aesthetically-pleasing ribbon of buttery, cinnamon-happy goo. I also increased the streusel component since I figured that two cups of starter might be a bit overwhelming (and because it's butter, flour, sugar, and cinnamon--come on!). Ultimately, I think the sourdough flavor was still a bit strong, but it was undoubtedly a delicious cake.


Sweet and Sour Coffee Cake
(based on this recipe)

Cake:
2 cups Eb, activated
2/3 cup oil
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar

Streusel:
1 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup butter, softened

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a mini loaf pan (or your more traditional 9x13" pan) with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, whisk together Eb, oil, and eggs. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar. Add the flour mixture to the egg mixture and stir until combined.
For the streusel, stir together the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in the softened butter until the mixture resembles very coarse crumbs. Try to refrain from digging in with a spoon.
Divide the cake batter evenly into the loaf forms, filling them about 1/3 full. Sprinkle each with the streusel and top with the remaining batter.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the toothpick test is passed. (No, Floyd County footballers--not that toothpick test.) Cool on a wire rack.