Coffee Cake

My brother in law Austen got me a great baking cookbook for Christmas last year and over the weekend I decided to make coffee cake. Yum! While it was baking, the whole house smelled like a cinnamon-filled bakery. I brought it into work and it was quickly eaten. Such a treat in the morning. The cardamom was a really nice subtle spice.

Ingredients:

For Streusel

1/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp fine sea salt

3/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

3 tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

For the Cake

2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self rising)

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 tsp ground cardamom

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

3 large eggs, at room temperature

1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sour cream

Honeycomb Candy

A girl in my office, Sarah, is Australian and every time she comes back from a visit home, she brings us Violet Crumble - thanks, Sarah! I'm obsessed. Why this is not available in the US, I have no idea. My lovely new baking book, the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook, has a recipe for "Sorghum-Molasses Chips" which are basically homemade violet crumbles. I couldn't find sorghum, so I used a mix of honey and corn syrup, and wow - amazing! Homemade candy that is addicting. The caramel inside is crunchy and light, coated in dark chocolate. It's not that hard to make, as long as you have a candy/frying thermometer, and it's very impressive and a huge hit. This may be my new present when I'm invited to dinner/stay somewhere for the weekend.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup honey
2 1/2 tsp baking soda
12 oz dark chocolate (they said 6, but I needed 12 to cover them all)

Directions:
Line a baking sheet with parchment. In a large, heavy saucepan combine the sugar, 1/3 cup water, the butter, and the cream of tarter and heat over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Insert a candy thermometer and bring the mixture to a boil, without stirring, then cook until it reaches 250 degrees.