Davenport coffeecake rich, moist, thinner

Eagle-eyed pastry-eaters may have noticed a change recently in one of the Davenport Hotel’s signature baked goods.

The coffeecake, it appears, has gone on a diet.

But do not be misled by the cake’s new, thinner profile. This stuff is rich, moist and chock-full of butter (and sour cream, too). In short, it’s finally the coffeecake the Davenport’s owner, Walt Worthy, intended to serve when the landmark hotel reopened several years ago.

The original recipe came from Worthy’s sister, Mary Beth Worthy-Kirkland. It was a combination of one handed down from her paternal grandmother and one she tasted while teaching school in Japan.

“The recipe that I gave Walter to begin with was absolutely A-plus,” Worthy-Kirkland says. “When they made the recipe from one coffeecake to 10 coffeecakes, something got lost, I think, in the measurement.”

And when she tried a piece of coffeecake while visiting Spokane, “I took one bite and threw it in the trash can.”

So, she went to the hotel kitchen and held a little coffeecake-making tutorial for the chefs. But, again, the recipe didn’t come out as she and her brother remembered from their childhoods.

“It was never supposed to be a great big thick piece of coffeecake,” Worthy-Kirkland says. “It’s just a nice little light piece of cake.”

Finally, she was back at the Davenport about a month ago. She returned to the kitchen and is, at last, happy with the result.

The revised recipe makes two thinner cakes, instead of one thick cake with a sweet, crumbly filling.

Compared to the old recipe, this one calls for slightly less flour, one extra egg, more vanilla and pecans (instead of walnuts) in the topping.

Also, this coffeecake must be baked in a foil-lined pan, just as the Worthy’s grandmother used to do.

“The first thing you need is a good piece of foil to line your pan,” Worthy-Kirkland’s grandmother always told her, she says.

The edges won’t look as pretty as if baked in a cake pan – but that makes it authentic.

“It makes it look very homemade,” says Melody Hotrum, the Davenport’s afternoon pastry supervisor, who bakes 12 coffeecakes on a busy day at the hotel. “I like this one a lot better.”

Davenport Hotel Coffeecake

1 cup salted butter, softened

2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1 3/4 cup cake flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Topping:

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pecan pieces

1 teaspoon cinnamon

Powdered sugar, for dusting (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line two 9-inch round cake pans with foil.

In bowl of standing mixer (or with a hand blender), cream together the butter and sugar for several minutes until light and fluffy. Blend in the eggs, stopping often to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Blend in the sour cream and vanilla. Add the cake flour, baking powder and salt. The batter will be quite loose.

Divide the batter evenly between the two lined cake pans.

Combine all topping ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle on top of the two cakes.

Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Immediately lift cakes out of pans by pulling up the foil and let them cool completely on wire racks before carefully peeling back the foil. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

Yield: Two cakes, six slices per cake

Approximate nutrition per serving: 434 calories, 24 grams fat (13 grams saturated, 50 percent fat calories), 4 grams protein, 51 grams carbohydrate, less than one gram dietary fiber, 124 milligrams cholesterol, 277 milligrams sodium.