Currently baking from The Art & Soul of Baking by Cindy Mushet.

This coffee cake looked gorgeous, all tan and shiny with apricot glaze. Then I cut it in half and the insides oozed out, but not in a good “I want to eat that” sort of way. I don’t know what went wrong, exactly, but I was so mad that I threw it in the trash without even taking a photo.

I made the dough the day before and it came together pretty easily. After the first rise, the dough is rolled out and spread first with an almond paste mixture, then dried apricots soaked in amaretto and sprinkled with chocolate chips. Next you roll the dough up like cinnamon rolls before cutting the roll into decorative shapes. I noticed, as I was rolling up the filled dough, that it seemed very soft and slack. It didn’t hold together in a cylindrical shape, but puddled out on the baking sheet. As I read Mushet’s instructions on cutting the dough, I became very confused. I think it is supposed to appear “woven,” but I’m not sure as there is no picture of the overall finished product. I finally gave up and just left it as one long roll which I let sit overnight in the refrigerator before baking off in the morning.

The dough inside pretty much disappeared into the filling. I ended up with a cooked outside “shell” and a raw inside. I was also disappointed in the taste. I found it much too sweet and the almond paste overpowered everything else. I don’t think I’ll attempt this recipe again as it was quite a bit of work (not to mention expensive) and I didn’t even like the flavor.