Tidbits & Nuggets

A Tale of Two Coffeecakes

I'm not a big one on using biscuits from a can. As much as I love Pillsbury, those things always taste processed to me. For this recipe an exception will be made. The fact that it's really easy to make is a new concept to me. A few weeks back I went to a friend's house for a day of scrapbooking and was served this cake. After a whole week of no sugar this thing was heaven on a plate. It's a Paula Deen recipe and it's her picture here. Brown sugar was substituted for part of the sugar and plenty of orange rind was used. We speculated about adding marmalade to the cream cheese. Would it make it too sweet? Here's the recipe as we made it.

Nutty Orange Coffeecake

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 oranges worth of orange zest
2 (12-ounce) cans refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10 count)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted butter
1 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a small bowl, combine the granulated sugar, pecans, and zest; set aside. Separate the biscuits. Place about 3/4 teaspoon cream cheese in the center of each biscuit. Fold each biscuit in half over the cheese, pressing the edges to seal. Dip the biscuits in melted butter, then dredge in the granulated sugar mixture. Place the biscuits, curved-side down, in a single layer in the hollows of a lightly greased 12-cup bundt pan, spacing them evenly (do not stack). Place any remaining biscuits around the tube, filling any gaps. Drizzle any remaining butter over the biscuits, and sprinkle with any remaining sugar mixture. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. Immediately invert the cake onto a serving platter. Combine the confectioners' sugar and orange juice, stirring well; drizzle the glaze over the warm cake. Serve warm.

I made this for an office brunch and also got rave reviews. I dipped the cream cheese in the sugar nut mixture before rolling the biscuit around it. One of the women I work with pointed out this recent recipe that is basically the same concept. It was in Food and Family, a free magazine from Kraft that always has a bunch of good recipes.

Pull Apart Maple Sticky Buns

3/4 cup PLANTERS Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, divided
1/3 cup maple-flavored or pancake syrup
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 cans (12 oz. each) refrigerated flaky buttermilk biscuits
1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, cut into 20 cubes

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Spray 12-cup fluted tube pan or 10-inch tube pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle pecans evenly on bottom of prepared pan; set aside. Melt 2 Tbsp. of the butter in small microwaveable bowl. Add syrup; stir until well blended. Drizzle over pecans in pan; set aside.
MELT remaining 6 Tbsp. butter; set aside. Mix sugar and cinnamon in shallow dish; set aside. Separate dough into 20 biscuits; press each slightly to 1/4-inch thickness. Roll cream cheese cubes in cinnamon sugar mixture until evenly coated on all sides. Place 1 cream cheese cube in center of each biscuit circle; gather up sides of dough to enclose filling. Press edges of dough together to seal; roll into a ball. Dip top of each ball into remaining butter, then into cinnamon sugar. Arrange half of the balls, cinnamon sugar-sides up, in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining balls to form a second layer. Drizzle with any remaining butter; sprinkle with any remaining cinnamon sugar.

BAKE 30 min. or until golden brown. Cool 1 min. in pan; invert onto serving platter. Scrape any remaining pecans left in pan; spoon over buns. Serve warm.

Variations would be easy to create.