Daring Baker’s Challenge – Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

Daring Baker’s Challenge – March 2011

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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.

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This challenge was interesting because it came on the heels of making many versions of King’s Cake (click here to see the ones I made this year).  A King’s Cake is a yeasted bread ring with filling and icing.  Both the King’s Cake and the Meringue Coffee Cake are yeasted bread doughs and require the same kind of treatment as any other bread dough.

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*~Also, a colleague of my sister needed a lemon meringue pie.  For this pie, I made the filling a bit more tart than the recipes I found and the crust was made with a combo of butter and Crisco (non-butter flavored).  Essentially, I had made all the parts for this challenge over the few weeks before.

~In making various versions of King’s Cake, I found that using coconut oil made no difference.  In this version of dough, expeller pressed, safflower oil was substituted to give a healthier dough.  Also, a vanilla bean was steeped in the milk.  (This is a picture of the dough.)

~I wanted to make both fillings, so to keep it all straight, I left them in long lines.  I made the meringue as specified and followed the directions.  There was too much meringue and so it was both difficult to roll and difficult to pinch the edges together.  Searching through my cabinet, I found 2 pans that were about the right size and placed the cut rings into the pans (sprayed with Pam and a parchment circle on the bottom). 

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~What happened? I thought they rose beautifully and looked just like coffee cakes (as opposed to a different version of a King’s Cake or bread ring).  Because I grew up with more of a quick bread version of coffee cake (like a NY crumb coffee cake), this shape resembled more of a cake.  It’s also very dramatic.  The flavors were good – both fillings were fun.

What would I do differently? I would make less meringue and more filling. Also, the saturated fat (both butter and coconut oil) produced a more moist cake, as well as a richer mouth feel.  Maybe half/half next time?

Bottom line: Fun challenge…. I loved trying different fillings and will try this cake again using different mixtures.

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