Daring Bakers: Coffee Cake with Meringue and Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Filling

 The March 2011 Daring Baker’s Challenge was hosted by Ria of Ria’s Collection and Jamie of Life’s a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. Doesn't it look beautiful?

Actually, I can't take credit for making this bread all by myself. My cousin from D.C. visited for spring break, and as a sweet treat for breakfast, we made this coffee cake. Erica, my cousin, is not only an amazing ballet dancer, but also loves to bake. And guess what?! She has her own blog too. While she was here we baked many sweet treats besides this yeast cake, including daifuku mochi, dorayaki, a neopolitan cake, and visited many of Oahu's best restaurants. Don't worry, I'll post the recipes and pictures :) Or if you can't wait for the daifuku recipe (mochi with anko) you can check out Erica's blog.

 Now on to the bread or is it a cake? Well anyways, it was amazing. Soft and fluffy sweet dough encasing a chocolate filling. The meringue seemed to melt in to the bread, but where the meringue had oozed out were slightly chewy, slightly crisp, and very yummy meringue bits. We made this bread early in the morning and enjoyed this as a brunch treat. It was the perfect baked item to start our day, and would be perfect for a brunch or afternoon snack.

Coffee Cake with Meringue and Cinnamon Chocolate Pecan Filling
Ingredients
Dough:
2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 1/8 tsp (1/2 package) active dried yeast
3 fl oz. milk
2 fl oz. water
1⁄4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large eggs, room temperature


For the meringue:
1 1/2 large egg whites at room temperature
pinch salt
1⁄4 teaspoon vanilla
1⁄4 cup sugar

For the filling:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 Tbs granulated sugar
1⁄8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup  semisweet chocolate chips

1 beaten egg

Directions:
For Dough:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine 3/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, salt and yeast.
2. In a saucepan, combine the milk, water and butter and heat over medium heat until warm and the butter is just melted.
3. With an electric mixer on low speed, gradually add the warm liquid to the flour/yeast mixture, beating until well blended. Increase mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes.
4. Add the egg and remaining flour and beat for 2 more minutes.
5. Turn out onto a floured surface and knead the dough for 8 to 10 minutes until the dough is soft, and elastic, keeping the work surface floured and adding extra flour as needed.
6. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl, turning to coat all sides. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a kitchen towel and let rise until double in bulk, 45 – 60 minutes.

For Filling:
1. In a small bowl, combine the cinnamon, nuts, chocolate, and sugar

For the Meringue:
1. In a clean mixing bowl beat the egg whites with the salt, first on low speed for 30 seconds, then increase to high and continue beating until foamy and opaque.
2. Add the vanilla then start adding the 1⁄2 cup sugar, a tablespoon at a time as you beat, until very stiff, glossy peaks form.





To assemble:
1. Line a cookie tray with parchment paper
2. Punch down the dough. On a lightly floured surface, working one piece of the dough at a time, roll out the dough into a 20 x 10-inch (about 51 x 25 1⁄2 cm) rectangle.
3. Spread half of the meringue evenly over the rectangle up to about 1/2-inch (3/4 cm) from the edges. 4. Sprinkle filling evenly over the meringue
5. Now, roll up the dough jellyroll style, from the long side. Pinch the seam closed to seal. Very carefully transfer the filled log to one of the lined cookie sheets, seam side down. Bring the ends of the log around and seal the ends together, forming a ring, tucking one end into the other and pinching to seal.
6. Using kitchen scissors, make cuts along the outside edge at 1-inch (2 1⁄2 cm) intervals.
7. Cover  with plastic wrap and allow them to rise again for 45 to 60 minutes.
8. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
9. Brush the tops of the coffee cakes with the egg wash.
10. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until risen and golden brown. The dough should sound hollow when tapped.
11. Remove from the oven and slide the parchment paper off the cookie sheets onto the table. Very gently loosen the coffee cakes from the paper with a large spatula and carefully slide the cakes off onto cooling racks. Allow to cool.

In just ten minutes we ate over half of the cake! We didn't even have time to remove it from the pan!