On November 17, our church celebrates the memorial of St. Elizabeth of Hungary. St. Elizabeth was the daughter of King Andrew II of Hungary, and she obediently fulfilled her duties as daughter and wife during her short life. After her husband died, however, St. Elizabeth traded her worldly goods for a life of service to the poor and sick, thus trading her crown of riches for the crown of one of God's chosen. St. Elizabeth shows us how to carry out the Spiritual and Corporal Works of Mercy, and to put other's needs before our own.
St. Elizabeth is also the patron of bakers, and so it is appropriate to spend some time creating a treat by which to remember her. We enjoy this crown cake to celebrate her feast. The cake itself is a Hungarian family recipe from my husband's family and I dress it up with a thick, white icing and bright gumdrops. I found some extra large gumdrops at my grocer, but small gumdrops are just as pretty. The Hungarian flag is red, white and green -- if you can get a bag of candy with those colors in it.
Hungarian Coffee Cake
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 c. brown sugar (not packed)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)
1 c. butter, softened
2 c. granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla
1 c. sour cream
2 c. flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a Bundt or ring pan.
Combine cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts. Reserve.
Cream butter and granulated sugar.
Add eggs and beat well.
Add vanilla and sour cream and mix.
Add flour and baking powder and beat for a minute or so until well combined.
Spread half of batter into prepared pan.
Sprinkle half of nut mixture over batter (try to avoid getting sugar against the pan).
Spread remaining batter over nut mixture.
Sprinkle remaining nut mixture over the top.
Bake for 45 to 60 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.
Do not overbake.
Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto a rack or plate.
Cool completely.
Frost with white glaze and top with colorful gumdrops.
Glaze:
2 T. butter, melted
2 c. powdered sugar
2 - 4 T. milk
1 t. vanilla extract
To prepare the glaze,
mix in a bowl all ingredients until a thick drizzling consistency,
adding a few more drops of milk if necessary.
This cake would even be good as Christmas cake =) Thanks for the info about St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I know a hungarian catholic :D I've been to their church too . God Bless!
ReplyDeleteIt would also make a great Epiphany cake!
ReplyDeleteI like how it is a Hungarian coffee cake too, really lovely!
ReplyDeleteYum!! This looks great Barbara, I can't wait to try it, thank you :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a great recipe and your cake looks so yummy!
ReplyDeleteLiturgy of the Hours
This looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to give this a try. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI just made this this morning for my Nameday -- I just left off the icing and the gumdrops. It is delicious! Possibly the best coffeecake I've ever made, and a wonderful way to celebrate my patron saint.
ReplyDeleteWe made this yesterday to celebrate St. Elizabeth's feast day. It turned out very well and we all enjoyed it very much. The frosting required a lot more powdered sugar to turn it into a thick glaze though - I don't know if I had a problem with my measurements or what! But after some futzing it turned out well and looked lovely when decorated with sprinkles for jewels. (I never made it to the store for the gumdrops)
ReplyDeleteAmber, Sorry you had trouble. I have adjusted the recipe for less milk. I have ceased to measure for this glaze and maybe I don't use as much as I thought!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to try this tonight; I needed something to take to my Catholic Club Potluck. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI made this cake for my family that night and they ALL liked it very much. I think I found my birthday cake this year! Now if I could only get someone else to make it for me. LOL!
ReplyDeleteMy kids and I made this on the feast day. We not only enjoyed the cake, but a good discussion on St. Elizabeth and Hungary.Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this great recipe! I made it before my kids woke up this morning and they had a blast inviting their aunt and Grandparents to enjoy it with coffee after decorating it with copious amounts of jewel colored sprinkles!
ReplyDeleteI made this gluten free as well using Namaste Perfect Flour blend (I sift mine to help with density and sub out a T or two for cornstarch) and an additional egg. It was delicious!
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