Tastes and smells can carry us back in time. A whiff of Nilla wafers and I'm a gradeschooler standing on my tiptoes reaching for the top of the china cabinet at my great grandfather's house. I'm feeling for the bag of cookies, smelling his kitchen and hearing the soft elevator music always playing.
A taste of sweet thick barbecue sauce and I'm back in junior high school at a picnic table in Rhea County Tennessee. My best friend is with me, the sun is shining, and everything is hilarious.
With a taste of this coffee cake I'm always taken back to my seat at the dining room table in the house I grew up in. I used to choose the crunchy corner pieces where there was more sugar and less fruit. Mom always made this with blueberries, and always in a rectangular glass dish. I'm actually worried it will taste different when I bake it in round tart tins.
Easy Coffee Cake
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
generous pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries
For the topping:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 Tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat the oven to 4oo degrees.
Melt the butter in the microwave for a few seconds until it's very soft. Add the sugar and mix well with a fork or whisk. Add the egg and beat it in. Next add the flour and salt and mix it all up. That's it; you're done with the hard part.
Press this dough into a rectangular 13X9 inch pan or two round tart tins. Try to make it sort of even in thickness. If you're using frozen berries, rinse them well under hot water to defrost a bit. Sprinkle the fruit on top.
Mix the topping (you can use the same bowl the dough came out of to save on a dirty dish) and sprinkle it on top of the fruit.
Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden at the edges and bubbling in the center.
I does taste the same even though I got fancy and baked it in round tins! This is just about the easiest thing I know how to make. It's not really a cake at all, but so what who cares? We call it coffee cake, we eat it for breakfast, and we love it. You can use just about any kind of fruit. I've used chopped apples, peaches and cranberries according to what was available. If you have issues with dairy, I think coconut oil in place of the butter would work really well. You can also sub half of the all purpose flour for whole wheat. Just don't use less sugar or butter and it will be great every time.
Thank you for writing this post! I give this cake a 10 out of 10 (I think Daddy does also haha). I can't wait to prepare it this coming summer!
Posted by: Meredith | Thursday, 13 December 2012 at 04:20 PM