Do you feel that family recipes are sacred? I used to. I would stick to the recipes passed to me not daring to deviate in the slightest. But the longer I've been baking, the more I feel open to tweaking. Same goes with recipes from other sources. Perhaps its more about confidence than anything else.
This recipe, listed in my book as "Prize Coffee Cake" due to its history winning ribbons at the LA Country Fair, was a staple in my house growing up. My dad would make it on weekend mornings and I'd always go for a corner piece, because extra topping seemed to collect there. Over time, I've made a few changes. A bit of wheat flour here, a little less cinnamon there, some blueberries because I live in Maine and have a ton in my freezer.
In the end, I don't think Dad would mind. Maybe he'd even go for a second slice. :)
Prize Coffee Cake
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup (or 1/2 stick) butter, softened
- 1 egg, room temperature
- ¾ all-purpose flour
- ¾ wheat flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup milk
- ½ cup fresh or frozen blueberries (optional)
Topping
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 2 Tbl melted butter
- 2 Tbl flour
- 1-2 Tbl cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease and flour a 9"x9" pan, line with parchment as desired.
Cream together sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg and mix until fully combined.
In a separate bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt. Alternating with the milk, add flour mix to butter cream. Pour into pan.
If using, sprinkle blueberries across top of cake, distributing them evenly, then push them down slightly into the thick batter.
Mix together topping ingredients. If necessary add a little more melted butter until it clumps, but we wary- too much butter will cause the topping to turn molten and sink into the batter instead of staying nice and crispy on top. Sprinkle topping on top of the batter.
Bake 25-35 minutes or until a tester comes out clean. Cool slightly before cutting and serve warm, with butter as desired.
Recipe doubles well, just add 5-10 minutes cooking time for a 9"x18" pan.
