Friendship Sourdough Coffee Cake

For a very long time, I've had my eye on the Friendship Sourdough Coffee Cake recipe from Marcy Goldman's A Passion for Baking. Last night I decided it was time to whip out the sourdough starter and put it to good use. As it is, I'm always looking for alternative ways to use my starter so I dont know why it took me so long. I took out my neglected starter and fed him the night before. There must be some strong yeasts in there because he was ready to use right away. I gave him a bit extra "food" yesterday so that by the time I got home I could bake right away. I always wonder what the starter actually contributes in terms of flavor but all I can say is that the collective response to this cake was YUM. I get nervous that the sourdough flavor would come through, but I need not have worried. Here are my notes on the recipe. I used walnuts instead of graham cracker crumbs in the topping and would make 1 1/2 times of the recipe because I thought it was a bit scant. As for the cake itself, I cut back the margarine to 3/4 cup, the brown sugar to just one cup and omitted the apple/pumpkin pie spice. Regardless of the changes, the cake turned out moist and dense, but definitely nowhere near dry. I was disappointed to see that the topping sunk into the cake so next time I would bake the cake without the topping until the cake sets on top and then add the topping. Because the crumble sunk and wasnt so evident, I decided to throw together a glaze which I think was a nice touch that elevated it a tad. I'm sending this over to Yeastspotting this week!

Friendship Sourdough Coffee Cake
adapted from A Passion for Baking

Topping:
1/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/3 cup flour
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup powdered sugar

Cake:
3/4 cup unsalted butter or margarine
1 cup white sugar
1 cup dark brown sugar
2 tbsp molasses
4 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups sourdough starter
1/4 cup sour cream
3 cups flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Glaze:
powdered sugar
milk
drizzle corn syrup

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 9x13 inch pan. Set aside.

Place all of the topping ingredients into a small bowl.

Toss together and rub the margarine in to form smallish and large chunks. Chill until ready to use.

Place the margarine, sugars and molasses in a bowl.

Cream until smooth.

Add the eggs and vanilla,

and beat to combine.

Add the starter and sour cream,

and fold to blend.

Add the dry ingredients,

and fold until a uniform batter is formed. If it is too loose, add a few tablespoons more batter.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan.

Top with the reserved crumb topping.

Bake for about 45-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely. In a small bowl, whisk powdered sugar, with the corn syrup and a bit of milk until a thick, pourable glaze is formed. Drizzle over the cake. Cut into hunks and plate.