French Vanilla Coffee Cake with Crème Anglaise

By miss5elements

Recipe created by Rori Trovato
Oprah.com | January 14, 2010

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp. finely ground French vanilla coffee
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 Tbsp. plus 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 large egg yolks, at room temperature
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 cup half-and-half

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from oprah.com

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 1 (8" x 4") loaf pan; set aside. Combine coffee, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.

Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat on medium-high until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Slowly add 1 cup sugar until blended, scraping down the sides. Increase to high, and beat for 2 minutes. Reduce to low, and add eggs one at a time, then beat in 2 tablespoons vanilla extract.

With mixer on low, alternately add coffee-flour mixture and sour cream to bowl in several parts (ending with dry mixture) until smooth and blended.

Make crème anglaise by whisking 1/4 cup sugar and egg yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Prepare an ice bath by placing a medium bowl in a shallow bowl of ice water; set aside. Split vanilla bean and scrape out seeds; add seeds and pod to a saucepan with half-and-half. Cook on low until small bubbles form around rim, 3 to 5 minutes.

Whisk half of hot half-and-half into sugar-egg mixture in a thin stream, then pour mixture into saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until sauce has thickened slightly, 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately strain sauce into bowl of prepared ice bath to stop the cooking (discard pod). Add 1 teaspoon extract; stir to combine. Serve right away or refrigerate until chilled.

Cut cake into thick slices or cubes. Pour crème anglaise on top, or pass it around in a bowl as a dipping sauce.