Rick Bayless is chef of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo in Chicago, creator of Frontera gourmet foods, cookbook author and host of Mexico - One Plate at a Time.

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Recipes from Chef Rick Bayless

Apple Coffee Cake with Pecan and Bacon Streusel

Serves 8 to 10
Apple Coffee Cake with Pecan and Bacon Streusel

 

Rick and I talked about creating a dessert recipe for this month based on a fruit that would be available at the farmers market.  I decided that an apple coffeecake would fit the bill.  This is a very moist cake studded with diced apples (you could substitute firm pears) and topped with a sinfully delicious streusel of pecans and bacon.  The finishing touch is a drizzle of warm cajeta.  Cajeta is a goat's milk caramel that's available in Mexican grocery stores.  We like the Coronado brand Cajeta Envinada in the squeeze bottle for this recipe.   If you can't find cajeta, you can substitute a caramel sauce.  This is a great recipe to experiment with apples you may not have tried yet from the farmers market.  You're looking for a firm, tart apple.  Check with the farmer for his or her recommendation. 

Ingredients

Streusel
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 ounces pecans
6 tablespoon butter (3/4 stick), softened to room temperature
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 slices crispy bacon, crumbled


Cake
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (8 ounces), plus extra for the cake pan and the apples
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 3/4  teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 stick butter, softened, plus extra for the cake pan
1 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sour cream
1 pound firm, tart cooking apples (2 - 3 apples) peeled, cored, and cut into a medium dice

Finishing
1/4 to 1/3 cup warm cajeta

Directions

Set your oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees.  Butter and flour a 9-inch x 2-inch round baking pan.  Line the bottom with a parchment round, and sides with 2" strip of parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse together all the streusel ingredients except for the bacon until well combined.  The mixture should hold together, but still be a little crumbly.  Scoop the streusel into a bowl and mix in the crumbled bacon.

Whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.  Set aside.  

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time beating after each addition.  Pour in the vanilla and scrape in the sour cream.  Mix until smooth.  Add the flour mixture and mix on medium low until the mixture is smooth,  taking care not to overmix.   Toss the apple pieces with 1 tablespoon flour, then fold them into the batter.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle the streusel evenly over the top.  Bake the cake for 65 to 70 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in the middle of cake comes out clean.  Cool the cake completely in pan before unmolding.  Once unmolded, drizzle the warm cajeta over the top.

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