a brunch for special ladies

Sorry that I have been MIA for a bit...life has been ca-razy.  I will update more on this later, but here in Bowling Green, KY we've also had some of the horrible flooding that has affected the midsouth lately, and it was my birthday, and I have some developments coming up in the next few months that I will tell you at the beginning of June,  and my house is a mess!

Before I post about recent happenings, I decided that I would like to give you some yummy yummy recipes that would be perfect if you want to have a mother's day brunch.  I will be having a family cookout, but I made these yesterday for some other very special ladies--Nurses!  That's right, today is Nurse Appreciation day--so get out there and hug a nurse or bring her (or him...there are male nurses, just not at my office) some goodies!

 some of our lovely nurses in front of their breakfast table

the spread :)

And now for the recipes...

So this coffee cake...when I saw it in one of my holiday baking magazines (you know...when i freak out and spend all my money...) I had to make it.  However, I did not need one this big for me and hubs (i'm already too fat...).  So I made it for my sister-in-law and her girls.  It got rave reviews...but I hadn't gotten to try it!  So when I started planning on what to make for Nurse Appreciation breakfast I couldn't get this one out of my head.  I actually scoured the rest of my recipes for an easier overnight coffee cake, but nothing looked this delicious, so at 8:50 pm I began to make the cake...not even my butter was softened!  I generally go to bed right around 10 and, needless to say, that didn't happen last night.  But I think it was worth it!

YUM!

Cinnamon-roll coffee cake
Cuisine at home Holiday baking 2009

For the Caramel Topping:

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• pinch table salt
• 1 cup chopped toasted pecans

For the Streusel:

• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 Tbsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp table salt

For the Cake:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. table salt
• 1/2 cup buttermilk
• 1/4 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt (I used regular sour cream)
• 2 eggs
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350* F.  Coat a 9 inch round, 2 inch deep cake pan w/nonstick spray (i did not have this size pan, and used a 10 in. round springform pan.  a bit of the filling leaked out of the bottom, so if you go that route I would recommend lining your springform pan w/parchement, or at the very least, set it on top of a baking sheet--which i did)

Stir together the 3/4 cup brown sugar, cream, and a pinch of salt for the caramel topping in a measuring cup (not sure why the measuring cup is "necessary").  Pour caramel into the prepared pan, spreading to coat bottom of the pan. Sprinkle pecans over caramel.  Also, I was a bit "off my game" last night and measured this out backwards at first...1/4 cup brown sugar to 3/4 cup cream.  Then I realized it was WAY too liquidy...anyone know a recipe that calls for that mixture that has already been combined??


Process the 1/2 cup born sugar, 1/3 cup flour, the 1/2 stick butter, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt fo rthe streusel in a food processor, pulsing until the mixture is sandy but without clumps; set streusel aside.

Whisk the 1 1/2 cups flour, baking powder, baking soda, and 1/2 tsp. table salt for the cake in a bowl; set dry ingredients aside.

Whisk together buttermilk, yogurt (or sour cream), and eggs in a measuring cup with a pouring spout (pouring spout is helpful here...); set aside.

Using a hand mixer (?? I used my kitchenaid), cream together the 1 stick butter and 3/4 cup granulated sugar in a bowl, only until combined.  Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to the creamed mixture, strating and ending with dry ingredients.  Blend only enough to incorporate the dry ingredients into the batter.

Spread half of the batter over teh caramel in the cake pan, then sprinkle w/half the streusel.  Carefully spread remaining batter over streusel in cake pan; top w/the remaining streusel. Okay, I don't think the seperation of the streusel is necessary.  Half of what I had on the bottom just made a mess and fell off, so when I make this again I will at least do 3/4 in the middle, maybe all of it.

Bake coffee cake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50-60 minutes.  Cool cake for 5 minutes on a rack, then run a paring knife around the sides to loosen cak.  Invert onto a serving platter while hot.  Let cake cool slightly before serving. 


Next is an overnight sausage breakfast casserole, a la Sarah!  I got some basic guidelines from Cooks.com and then threw together a dish based on what I had on hand.  Here it is!

Overnight Sausage Breakfast Casserole

• 1--1 1/2 pkg. Kings Hawaiian Bread 
• 1 lb. pork sausage, cooked and drained
• 6 large eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk (or one cup skim milk + one cup cream)
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cup fiesta blend shredded cheese
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (i really just eyeball the amount of cheese...) 

Tear Hawaiian bread into bits and layer across the bottom of a greased 9x13" pan 
Layer half the sausage over bread, followed by half of the cheese.  Then repeat layers.
Whisk together eggs, milk, and spices until combined.  
Pour over bread/sausage/cheese mixture, pressing down on the top of the solid ingredients to make sure that egg mixture reaches the top.
Refrigerate overnight if desired.
When time to bake,  preheat oven to 350* F.  Bake for 35-45 minutes until set.

**I also think this would be GREAT with veggies mixed in...peppers, onion, mushrooms, etc...but there are some picky eaters at my office so I stuck to meat and cheese ;)