Coffeecake

Happy Mother’s Day!

I had a wonderful Mom.  I still miss her very much and to this day wish I could still talk to her.  She loved me unconditionally and to me that is the greatest gift that you can give your children.  So before I get too sappy and cry too much so I can’t write this post, I want to share a recipe that my Mom made many, many times.

It’s a simple coffee cake, not too many bells and whistles (no nuts, apples, dried fruit, etc.) and one that uses an unusual pan.  (This is exactly the pan that I have which used to be my Mom’s.)  I believe the recipe is from the original Betty Crocker Cookbook.  The pan and dividing the streusal in half (half in middle, half on top) is my mom’s idea.

I am going to make the recipe in the cake pan with the cutter and a regular cake pan and share the results.  I certainly don’t want you to have to buy a recipe specific cake pan if you don’t need to.

So make this today for your Mom or for yourself and share it with your family!

Coffeecake

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

Streusal Filling and topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

2 tablespoons butter, softened

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Spray 9 inch round cake pan with cutter  with canola spray or cut wax paper circle to fit 9 inch regular cake pan.  Spray bottom of cake pan with canola spray.  Put wax paper circle in cake pan and spray bottom and sides with canola spray.

In a small bowl combine ingredients for streusal and set aside.

In a medium bowl, place flour, baking powder and salt and stir together with a whisk and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together thoroughly the sugar, softened butter and egg.  Stir in milk.  Add flour mixture gradually until just combined.  The batter will be thick.

Pour 1/2 the batter into the pan, sprinkle 1/2 the streusal mixture on top.  Cover with the other 1/2 of batter, spreading batter with tip of rubber spatula, over the streusal.  Be gentle.  Sprinkle the rest of streusal mixture on top.

Bake for 25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle of cake comes out clean.  Do not overbake.

Put cake on wire rack and let cool for 30 minutes.  Loosen edge of cake  by running a serving knife around edge or just run the cutting blade around if you have that special pan.

Serve immediately or let cool completely on wire rack and then serve.

Cake pan with cutter, sprayed with canola:

Regular 9 inch cake pan, prepped with wax paper round and sprayed with canola oil:

Half the batter and half the streusal:

Other half of batter spread:

Remaining streusal sprinkled on top:

Finished cake (pan with cutter):

Finished cake (regular 9 inch cake pan):

The two cakes, side by side, with their corresponding cake pans:

Slice of each cake, side by side:

Well, these are the results:  I like the cake better with the cake pan that had the cutter.  It tasted more like my Mom’s.  My only conclusion is that the cake pan with the cutter is not as deep and is slightly larger in diameter.  As you can see from the picture of the cakes side by side, the cake with the cutter is slightly more brown.  I really wanted to say that it doesn’t make a difference but it does, according to my perfecting deliciousness taste buds.  So, it might be worth buying this very specific pan.

I also talked to my husband about the results when he came home.  He remembered that his Mom had the exact same pan and made a delicious apple cake with it.   I will get the recipe from my sister-in-law and share with you all!!