Coffee Cake for Kansas Day and more...

We celebrated Kansas Day this week. Besides a proud heritage from pioneer settlers, Kansas has a interesting history of food facts. For instance: 

At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas. My family would be upset! 

Pizza Hut restaurants opened its first store in Wichita. I believe that building is now on the Wichita State campus as a historical site. 

The graham cracker was named after Reverend Sylvester Graham. He was a minister who strongly believed in eating whole-wheat flour products. 

We usually acknowledge the day with special foods that have some Kansas connection. I took this coffee cake to our church's coffee time last Sunday and it was well liked. Of course, we claim the flour as Kansas grown wheat and the pecans were from the KSU Research Center in southeast Kansas. In the instructions I've noted some tips for preparation and why. 

CINNAMON STREUSEL COFFEE CAKE       

Ingredients:

¾ cup granulated sugar

½ cup unsalted butter, softened

1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract

3 large eggs

2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup sour cream

Streusel Filling:

3 tablespoons butter, melted

¾ cup packed brown sugar

¾ cup chopped pecans

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preparation:

1.     Preheat oven to 350°F.

2.     In the bowl of a standing mixer or with a handheld mixer, cream together the butter and sugar for 4-5 minutes until light and fluffy. (Don’t skimp on this step, the creaming of butter and sugar not only thoroughly mixes the ingredients, the sharp edges of the sugar cut into the butter creating tiny air pockets to make the product lighter)

3.     Add the eggs, one at a time, making sure to fully incorporate before adding the next one(one at a time allows the mixture to thicken and emulsify). Add the vanilla.

4.     In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

5.     Alternately add the flour mixture and the sour cream to the butter until combined. (Additional steps, but it makes a difference. Adding flour all at once could cause the batter to be too thick. Adding liquid all at once could cause the batter to separate.) Start and end with dry ingredients. Stir after each addition, but only until just combined.

6.     In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, pecans, cinnamon and melted butter. Stir to combine well.

7.     Pour half the batter into a greased bundt pan, and smooth down with a spatula as this batter is thick and fluffy.

8.     Sprinkle the brown sugar mixture all over the batter in the bundt pan and pat in down lightly.

9.     Pour in the remaining batter and smooth down with a spatula.

10. Place the bundt pan in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.