sparked in me
Coffee cake and I go way back. It’s one of the first things I remember baking as a kid, which makes me realize that, when I first started out in the kitchen, I was much more the cook than the baker. In my single-digit years, I made a mean ham sandwich (extra pickles!) and I had the “spaghetti test” (the one where you fling a cooked noodle at the nearest wall; for the life of me, I can’t remember what result one hoped for) down pat. By the time I could drive, I had a bruschetta recipe that earned me adoring fans (family memebers all, but still.). When I finally moved into an apartment of my own in college, my talents lay mainly on the stovetop, rather than the oven—in the sizzle of a wok (stir fry), on the shining surface of a griddle (grilled cheese; pancakes), in the bubbling water of a sauce pot (pasta). Aside from an impromptu chocolate chip cookie bake or my mom’s annual Christmas cookie madness (with which I helped and, naturally, by “helped” I mean “sneaked bits of dough”), I just wasn’t much of a baker.
Which probably explains why the coffee cake stands out in my memory. It’s what I baked during a seventh grade home economics (was it really called that?) class and, I suppose, it’s quite possibly the first thing I baked all on my own (or rather with the help of a couple group members, if memory serves, but I have every confidence they functioned primarily as my sous chefs). Whatever the case, I was dazzled by that coffee cake experience—from the precise measurements to the thick batter to the final product, a puffed cake topped and bisected with a rippling layer of struesel. I even liked the process of cleaning up the mess—returning flour canisters to the cupboards, filling a sink with sudsy soap, upturning the washed measuring cups on a kitchen towel to dry—as the cake baked. I remember hardly anything else from home ec (I do have a vague recollection of a long row of sewing machines and a length of cloth stiched to the quarterback’s flannel (it was the 90′s, folks) shirt), but I do remember that cake.
As it turns out, it set off in me a love of streusel-y baked goods, be they muffins, tea cakes or sweet rolls. But, my favorite of all these remains the coffee cake. And here’s the even better part: baking coffee cake, like any homey cake, still inspires a bit of wonderment in me—the kind I felt in the miniature kitchen tucked away in a corner of my middle school. It’s that process of taking always-there staples (flour and sugar from the cupboard, cinnamon from the spice rack, butter and eggs from the fridge door), mixing them into a rather ho-hum-looking batter and pulling, a mere half-hour or so later, a completely beautiful cake from the oven.
In some ways, it’s more satisfying than baking a towering layer cake, or a meringued pie, or delicate pastries, or yeast-leavened breads. Because here the process is so much more stripped down—no double-boilers, no hours of inactive time, no obscure ingredients. It’s familiar and quick; it can be accomplished on a whim. It’s simple—simple enough, even, for a 13-year-old kid rolling her eyes through a home ec class—and I like that.
Sour Cream Coffee Cake
Adapted from Cooking Light
This cake, while not the exact recipe from seventh grade (though I do remember bringing it home to my mom, breathlessly conveying my success with the cake), this recipe is remarkably similar. It’s tender and rich, with a streusel that’s equal parts sweet (brown sugar), spicy (cinnamon) and nuttily crunchy (toasted walnuts). I’m certain my home ec teacher would approve.
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened & 1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 large egg whites
1 1/4 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Preheat oven to 350°. Brush a cake pan (springform, as I have used, or 8- or 9-inch square or round pans will all work fine) with the melted butter and set aside.
Combine first 3 ingredients; set aside.
Place granulated sugar and softened 1/4 cup of butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until well-blended (about 5 minutes). Add egg whites, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring well with a whisk. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat well.
Spread half of batter into an the prepared pan. Sprinkle half of walnut streusel over batter. Spread remaining batter over streusel. Top with remaining streusel.
Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool the cake on a wire rack. If using a springform pan, allow the cake to cool completely before releasing the outer ring.
19 comments so far. »
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i want!!! i want!!! do you just see me reaching for a piece ALL the way from NYC?
The first time I had coffeecake I was amazed. how can something be so light and sweet with a crunchy topping? That was when my love affair with coffee cake began. And I think I was around the same age as you…
One of the first things I baked was coffee cake! Albeit, the recipe I used started with a yellow cake mix, but thats beside the point.
I think spaghetti was done when it sticked on the wall. I definitely got some stuff on our kitchen ceiling growing up
Mmm.. who doesn’t love coffee cake?!? Smitten Kitchen posted a recipe for a rhubarb coffee cake that I made over the summer. It was totally swoon worthy.
Ha! I think we had the same curriculum. We made a coffee cake in Grade 7 Home Ec as well, without nuts but with a cinnamon crumb topping like a New York Crumb Cake. I came home and baked one that same night.
Still the best cake I ever made. And oh, so stealing “a love of the streuseled” and working it into my next conversation.
Yum! I love the walnut studded streusel on top. This is definitely Sunday morning coffee drinking newspaper reading material.
radish: I have a visual. : ) How about I promise to have a slice waiting for you next time you’re in Chicago?
Amanda: So glad to know I’ve got good company in this coffee cake adoration of mine. : )
Whitney: Yes, that’s it! And I’m sure it was horridly overcooked by that point. The al dente taste test, however, is not nearly as fun.
Jillian: You know, I meant to try that one. I’ll have to keep it in mind for the spring, when rhubarb’s back in town.
tara: So the coffee cake was standard issue, you say? Interesting. Let me know how the “streuseled” reference goes. Might have to pick the right company for that one. : )
Elizabeth: Oh, yes! Or, in my case, Sunday morning in front of the computer, mug just at my side, coffee cake on the other side. Perfect!
This looks amazing.
Home Ec was awesome. Looks like your class was a bit more advanced than mine. Coffee cake takes a lot more skill than english muffin pizzas.
Deal!
That looks lovely. So very, very lovely! I want a slice too!
Done. This looks awesome: added a few things to the weekend shopping list, and this is in my near future. Lovely, lovely photos.
What a great story!! You have a knack for writing!! And the cake looks delicious. I’m a sucker for streusel-y things!
Think my home ec classes really got me off on the right foot…learned to sew, cook, plan meals etc. And then for 2 months, the boys and girls switched and they took home ec and we took shop. I learned a lot about fixing things- something all women should know.
Imagine most people are reading this and think I am a dinosaur! Oh well, no more.
Anyway, I love your coffeecake recipe!
Delicious looking. I really do love coffee cake.
I WAS just thinking about how I want to make a coffee cake ASAP. Must be something in the air! This one looks great!!!
Pretty cake and pretty blog! I’m glad to have stopped by– I think I dropped by once before but forgot to bookmark you, which I shall now.
Looks delicious and home ec is now called “Skills for Life” . I’m not sure that’s a better title:)
looks heavenly
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