Fresh fruit coffeecake pays homage to its ancestors

Editor's note: Annie Overboe is taking some time off. This column originally appeared March 27, 2002.

While attending the Culinary Institute in New York's Hyde Park, I had the opportunity to study under Paul Prosperi, a well-known French pastry chef. Looking back now, I can't remember what all my expectations were on the first day of his class. However, I came away from his bakeshop with a new understanding of our European culinary roots and their profound influence upon American baking.

The English word cake comes from the Old Norse term kaka, meaning sweetened bread. Imagine a family tree with bread as the trunk. From this solid beginning, variations branched out with different cultures leaving new recipes.

During the Renaissance, for instance, Western Europeans had an outrageous sweet tooth, which our baking ancestors satisfied with cake. Bakers embellished biscuitlike dough with sugars and butter to achieve a tender sweet dessert.

Before baking soda bubbled upon the culinary scene circa 1840, bakers had only two choices to leaven their cake batters: use yeast, which in those days was a culinary roll of the dice, or rely on aerated eggs to give it lift. Spongecake got its name from the stretchy texture created by leavening with eggs.

By 1900, American bakers had embraced baking soda and powder as pure culinary magic. Along with improved ovens that ensured even heating, home bakers could turn out cakes that soared to new heights. Somewhere between the plain breakfast bread and the frosted sweet cake, the coffeecake was born.

The coffeecake branch of the baking tree has sprouted two main twigs. You can choose from the breadlike variety that is leavened with yeast or the cake style using baking soda and powder. Toppings and embellishments aside, the cake-style coffeecakes tend to be sweeter.

For a springtime brunch, try my recipe for Fresh Fruit Coffeecake. I started with a basic cake style coffeecake and lightened the taste with a touch of lemon. Sour cream enhances the tangy citrus flavors and moistens the crumb texture.

In most coffeecake recipes, the customary streusel topping made with brown sugar tends to overwhelm the taste buds. Following the light theme, I substituted granular sugar for the heavy brown version and added grated lemon zest for flavor.

In early spring, the best choices for fresh fruit are strawberries or raspberries. Use a light touch when adding sugar to the fresh fruit. Remember the coffeecake has the sweet taste in contrast to the fruit. A simple dusting of powdered sugar provides the finishing eye appeal to your breakfast treat.

• Annie Overboe, a Culinary Institute of America graduate, lives in Villa Park. To submit a topic to be addressed in this column, write to Baking Secrets, Daily Herald Food section, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006. Or send an e-mail to food@dailyherald.com. Questions will not be responded to personally.