Ingredients
1 package (4 oz) baker's german's sweet choco, late, chopped
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cake:
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp calumet baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup (1/2 pint) sour cream or yogurt (pl, ain)
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) margarine or butter, soft, ened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
Directions
From: Baker's Chocolate Cookbook
NUT LAYER:
HEAT oven to 350.
MIX chocolate, nuts, 1/4 cup sugar and cinnamon; set aside. Mix flour,
baking powder and salt; set aside. Combine sour cream and baking
soda; set aside.
BEAT margarine and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until light and fluffy.
Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add
vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with sour cream mixture,
beginning and ending with flour mixture. Spoon 1/2 the batter into
greased 9-inch square pan. Top with 1/2 the chocolate-nut mixture,
spreading carefully with spatula. Repeat layers.
BAKE for 30 to 35 minutes or til cake begins to pull away from sides
of pan.
Cool in pan; cut into squares.
Preptime: 30 minutes.
Bake time: 30 to 35 minutes.
Servings: 6 servings
Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake Recipe brought to you by Recipe Ideas
Categories: Cake; Chocolate; Chocolate Cake; Coffee; Dessert
The History of Recipes
Recipes as an idea can be tracked way back into distant history, in fact as far into history as early Egypt, and possibly even further than that. Interesting though that is, in the main part, these old recipes were just very basic pictorial, hieroglyphic or cunieform instructions for food preparation.
In an interesting twist, the most ancient recipe in existence, according to historians is a collection of ancient tablets in Sumerian which recount the making of bread which is then used to make a drink, quite possibly a form of beer as it is recorded as having made those who drank it feel `exhilarated, wonderful and blissful`. Progressing into Roman times 25BC a roman called Apicius compiled a collection of documents showing how to cook the recipes cooked by wealthy Romans. In his works, he describes how the meals were separated into appetizers, entrees and dessert, something we still use today. Aspicius describes how the ancient cooks used many spices and herbs, including a few that are still present in modern kitchens such as thyme, fennel and asafoetida. Continuing our culinary historical journey, there were some books which appeared in the 14th Century - one book entitled `Forme of Cury`, and another, similary titled `Curye on Inglish`. The titles are somewhat misleading tho`, these two books are nothing to do with the indian food that is familiar to us all today, but rather descriptions of the types of meals prepared for the rich and powerful of those days. Later on, in the 15th century, knights returning from the crusades brought back a variety of foods and herbs from Arab countries, such as coriander, parsley, and rosemary. The introduction of these new foods and spices was responsible for an outbreak in cookery books, some of which still exist in private cookery archives. During the following few hundred years, the powerful families of the West strove to serve the most extravagent banquests, and because of this chefs and their recipe collections increased in prestige. Notwithstanding that, it was during the 1800s the formal cooking and recipe publications became really popular. The Famous Mrs Isabella Beeton in the UK, and the equally well-known Fannie Farmer in the US, devoted their lives to collecting, verifying, and publishing recipes that were common in the better off homes of the day. By the time we get to the 1900s, recipe books are greatly in demand as a result of higher levels of literacy, more spare time and a general increase in wealth. The arrival of television brought us TV chefs and the demand for the spin-off recipe books. And that neatly brings us to the present day and the invention of the internet, permitting everyone to access thousands of recipes such as those found on our web site. |
We hope you enjoy this Chocolate Chunk Coffee Cake recipe.
