RAGBRAI 2012: Snickerdoodles on steroids in Orange City

Orange City — First-time RAGBRAI riders are often surprised to see locals watching the ride from the curb or clustered in lawn chairs in their front yards. Bike-riding is not usually a spectator sport.

But it was just such a group that sat in a shady spot on the way out of Orange City. A few had brought sticky rolls or fruit salad to share.

When they offered me a bite, I chose wisely: Elaine De Jong’s coffee cake combines cinnamon crumble with a stealthy layer of goo that I first suspected was almond paste (it was Dutch country, after all) but turned out to be cream cheese. It’s like a snickerdoodle on steroids.

She was nice enough to email the recipe later in the evening.

Cream Cheese Coffee Cake

2 packages crescent rolls
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 egg

Plus: ½ cup of sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons of cinnamon and ½ cup of walnuts, all mixed together.

DIRECTIONS: Lay 1 package of crescent rolls in a 9-by-13-inch pan. Mix the cream cheese, the cup of sugar and the egg yolk. Spread the mixture on the rolls in the pan, then lay the second package of crescent rolls on top.

Beat the egg white until frothy. Spread it on top. Sprinkle the mixture of cinnamon, sugar and walnuts on top.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

(And my suggestion, based on my sample this morning: Serve them while they’re still warm from the oven, or even better, leave them out on a picnic table in July, so the cream cheese is gooey.)

Thanks, Elaine!

Here she is on the left, with some of her friends from the O.C.

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