If you’ve been reading Inn Cuisine for any time, you probably know I’m a sucker for sweet things.
Whether that infers homemade coffee cakes with the cake-like texture of freshly mixed batter, or the doughy texture created from using frozen rolls or refrigerated biscuits, it makes no difference to me. As long as the coffee cake tastes great and brightens my morning, along with the morning of those at my table, I’m a happy baker.
Today I’m actually quite ecstatic, because I finally got to experiment with a recipe that had escaped me for the past nine years.
Taken from my indispensable The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook (circa 1999), I can’t explain why I didn’t run across this recipe sooner, or if I did, why it never particularly appealed to me. But, I have to tell you, I am so glad I found it after all these years, as I will definitely be making this particular coffee cake again (and again, and again).
Made with sweet orange marmalade and refrigerated buttermilk biscuits, the only things you need to add are a few moments of your time, along with some sugar, butter, and cinnamon. Before you can sit down to enjoy a cup of coffee and read the morning paper, you’ll have created a coffee cake you’ll be proud to serve overnight guests, unexpected visitors, or yourself and your family.
Really want this coffee cake to shine? Try pairing it with the flavor of freshly scrambled eggs, including this recipe for So Easy Scrambled Eggs, or this delightful French Country Omelet. And, because this coffee cake makes such a lovely addition to any table, why not take it along on those coffee dates with friends, to a ladies luncheon (it would pair beautifully with tea), or even consider giving it away as a hostess gift. After a night of hectic entertaining, I can assure you there isn’t a host or hostess anywhere who wouldn’t want to wake up to this.
So what do you say? Ready to brighten your day? Grab your favorite Bundt pan and let’s get started!
Orange Marmalade Coffee Cake
(recipe adapted from The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook, circa 1999)
- 1 cup sweet orange marmalade
- 2 tablespoons (or more to taste) chopped walnuts
- 1 cup firmly packed white or brown sugar (each work well and both taste great)
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 (approximately 12 ounce) cans of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
- 1/2 cup melted butter or margarine
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F for baking.
Assembly
Spread marmalade in the bottom of a greased, 12-cup Bundt pan; sprinkle with walnuts.
Melt butter. In a medium-sized bowl, combine sugar and cinnamon. Place butter, sugar/cinnamon mixture, and prepared Bundt pan in assembly-line fashion.
Separate refrigerated biscuits; dip in melted butter, then dredge in sugar mixture. Stand biscuits on end around Bundt pan, spacing evenly. Drizzle any remaining butter over biscuits, and sprinkle with remaining sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees F for approximately 35 minutes, or until top of biscuits turn golden. Cool in pan on wire rack for about 5 minutes. Invert onto a serving platter, and serve immediately.
Enjoy!
Serves 8
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on Sep 21st, 2008 at 8:23 am
Sandie, despite having just finished a stack of pancakes, I find myself wanting this now!
This is bookmarked…it’s so novel and I too have to try it.
on Sep 21st, 2008 at 2:56 pm
Ohhhhh that’s a lot like monkey bread but with the orange marmalade added. Interesting! Looks delicious!
on Sep 21st, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I would wish that I had have had this this morning for breakfast:D
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 7:56 am
i. love. this. first of all, it’s lovely to behold. secondly, it’s easy-peasy–God bless the creator of canned biscuits. finally, it must taste sensational! the combination of cinnamon and orange marmalade sounds amazing. very nice.
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Terrific recipe. Reminds me of monkey bread. Definitely bookmarked to make when the occasion arises!
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 1:22 am
Sandie, that cake looks amazingly luscious and honeyed. I love the photography on this and I would love to make this. Would you know what I could use in place of the “2 (approximately 12 ounce) cans of refrigerated buttermilk biscuits”? We don’t have those here in Australia.
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 7:39 am
Peter - I hope you will try this, it’s fast and fabulous and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed when wanting to create something slightly indulgent in a rush.
Kristen - Very similar, that’s what makes it so delicious!
Val - I *wish* I had the metabolism to eat this every morning with breakfast, but alas, that’s why I keep Grape Nuts and Raisin Bran stashed in the pantry.
Grace - Orange marmalade & cinnamon…mmm…are there any flavors more comforting in the morning?
RecipeGirl - Great! Let me know when you get around to making it.
Lorraine - To keep this recipe as hassle-free as possible, do you have access to Rhodes Frozen Rolls (or any other frozen, yeast dinner rolls that will rise when left out for a few hours or overnight)?
Those would work lovely in this recipe, provided you assemble the recipe as is, replacing the canned biscuits with the frozen yeast rolls, then covering all with a kitchen towel or plastic wrap and allowing the rolls to thaw and rise at room temperature (about 3-4 hours) until doubled in size prior to baking.
Alternatively, you could also assemble and cover the rolls, then place the entire Bundt pan in a closed oven (turned off of course) overnight, remove the towel (or plastic wrap) in the morning, then bake as suggested until the rolls turn a light, golden brown.
Hope that helps!
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Wow, that looks so good! I love anything with orange in it. And that first photo of yours is really wonderful, makes me want to dive right in!
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 11:41 am
I have just printed this recipe to share with guests! I have a couple from the UK staying with us at The Claiborne House B&B here in Rocky Mount VA. I was going to give them some southern biscuits tomorrow, but might combine their love of marmalade with our love of biscuits and voila! A marriage made in heaven. Thanks for sharing this.
QUESTION - due to the recipe calling for refridge biscuits, does that mean it does not hold?
If I served this for afternoon tea and left it OUT for a couple hours for check in (which can be from 4pm to 7pm), would the biscuits get all hard? Have you eaten it later on, instead of as the recipe dictates “Serve immediately”?
THANKS! http://www.ClaiborneHouse.net LOVE THIS SITE.
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Andrea - Thank you! Don’t you love it when a photo stirs your appetite like that? That’s what I strive for with all my food shots, but sometimes it’s easier said than done.
Shellie - To answer your question, I tested that very scenario. Here’s what my experience was:
I made this recipe in the morning and served this coffee cake with breakfast.
After breakfast, we let it sit out for a few hours (2-3), uncovered, and expected to find it rock hard. Surprisingly enough, it wasn’t. For whatever reason (the butter? the marmalade?), this coffee cake stayed fairly moist and supple after that amount of time. Not as good as fresh-from-the-oven mind you, but pretty darn close.
Then, with the 2 slices we had leftover, we let them sit out an additional 5 hours or so, about 7 hours in total—not that I am suggesting this. This is just to say that after all that time, the remaining coffee cake slices were still relatively moist & gooey.
From my experience, I would venture this coffee cake should last at room temperature, uncovered, for a couple of hours with no problem. If you have any doubts, just cover it lightly with some plastic wrap, or simply (and briefly) offer to microwave a slice for guests during check-in if you find it’s necessary, no more than 10-12 seconds or so.
Honestly, I don’t think this coffee cake will give you any problems—it’ll probably disappear too fast! (I’m not joking…it’s pretty popular with everyone I’ve served it to.)
And if it helps, the version you see in these photos was made with white sugar, not brown. That may make a small difference in how long the coffee cake will hold at room temp, I’m not sure.
Thank you for your compliments. I’m glad you love this site too!
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 1:45 pm
Thanks for the info.
Well I couldn’t wait. I never buy refrigerator biscuits (so I would have to go to the store), but did have a pack of FROZEN biscuits.
So taking into account the old monkey-bread cinnamon rolls made with yeast dinner rolls, I kinda did the same thing. But I used frozen biscuits, I used brown sugar, and I had pecans in the freezer so I chopped those up - as well. I have it covered in the fridge overnight and will bake it tomorrow morning for guests.
I almost, almost, baked it as it is, as these are the biscuits that like to lean on each other in the oven and rise better. But opted to wait and let the guests decide on the first bite!
Otherwise there would be none left for guests as the family would devour them. I used my last jar of marmalade on them too. THANKS FOR THIS WEBSITE, it ROCKS! All credits will be given to you and if they love it I will give them the URL.
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
Wow. I love marmalade, this sounds incredible! And it looks just gorgeous too. Thank goodness for shortcuts once in a while!
on Sep 25th, 2008 at 9:35 am
She’s a hit!
Guests loved it and even took some in a ziplock for the road as they tour the Blue Ridge Parkway. Perfect for our UK guests - that touch of Marmalade! Beautiful, delicious and a hit! I will be a regular on this website from now on… THANKS SO MUCH!
~Innkeeper at The Claiborne House B&B
http://www.ClaiborneHouse.net
on Sep 27th, 2008 at 8:56 am
I have a serious weakness for orange marmalade.
Combine that with the fact that I haven’t had breakfast yet… and this is deadly!
I think I’m off to eat something before I spy any more delicious recipes!
on Sep 30th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
That coffee cake looks so moist and good!
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 11:36 am
Made this for a business brunch meeting we had here the other day…they were fighting over the last piece!
on Apr 9th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Yum, that does look good! I love thos kinds of biscuits you can do soooo much with them!
Btw, thanks for the photo of the dough all lines up in the bundt pan!
~ingrid