March 2011 Daring Baker's Challenge: Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake

Tada! My first Daring Baker's Challenge. I'd been seeing all my other favorite bloggers participate in the Daring Bakers and was super envious of their creations. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't join before, but I'm glad I finally did. The March 2011 Daring Baker's Challege was hosted by Ria of Ria's Collection and Jamie of Life's a Feast. Ria and Jamie challenged The Daring Bakers to bake a Yeasted Meringue Coffee Cake. So, over Spring Break on the rainiest day in quite some time, I tried my hand at it.

The thing is, though, is that because it was so rainy, I had no desire to go out and buy ingredients. The lucky thing was that I had all of the ingredients for the recipe already at home. The recipe requires we make the sweet yeast dough and meringue and suggests using chocolate and walnuts. The problem was just that combination of pastry and chocolate, of which I am no fan. I know, I know. Everyone loves pain au chocolate and chocolate covered pretzels and these sorts of things, but I find the combination of anything bready and chocolately just meh. And a little blech. Still! I persevered because chocolate and nuts were all I had and was actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

I found the dough quite pleasant to work with. I enjoyed kneading it by hand while watching the rain and taking my mind off schoolwork for a bit. Kneading dough is pretty much one of my all time favorite things. The rhythm is hypnotic and the feeling of shaping something with my own hands is intoxicating.

After the dough has risen, it's rolled out and the filling is added to it. I wasn't too worried about making the meringue, but I was a little worried about how the goodies would stay inside.

Following this, the dough and goodies are rolled into a log and then shaped into a ring. Slits are cut into the sides and the ring proofs for a while before going into the oven.

While the ring was baking, some of the meringue leaked onto the baking sheet. I was worried about it burning, but it was okay. Actually, it formed into delicious caramelized meringue puddles and I ate them all. The cake was quite lovely in presentation and the sun decided to peek out for this last photo.

The verdict? Good. I liked the dough a great deal and am eager to use it again. The meringue was gooey and sweet, but I still couldn't get past the chocolate/dough combination. What a pity! I think I would make it again with some variations because it really is not that difficult and is attractive. I only had one slice, but I left it out at Andrew's house and it was all gone by morning, so someone must have liked it.

For the recipe, visit here, and for more from other Daring Bakers, see here.