Oh what a beautiful morning, oh what a beautiful day. I simply adore mornings in general, but especially in the spring and fall. The air seems to change with the seasons. There is more excitement – more energy – in a spring or autumn morning. Winter, you want to pull the blankets up. And summer’s are meant for being lazy.
One of the things I loved growing up were the coffee cakes. It seems to me, way back when women weren’t working outside the home, they had more time to be social within their own communities. Often I can remember neighbors gathering around our kitchen table and you could bet one of those ladies had baked a coffee cake. Mom would put a pot of coffee on the stove. The ladies gathered and a meeting of the minds would begin. While these seemed casual to the outside observer, often there was an addenda. Perhaps it was to organize an upcoming fashion show and fundraiser or a clean up project or to discuss issues of the day. Any way you sliced that coffee cake, things were going to get done.
I honestly believe women were the fabric that held communities together. It was a serious task. And each did their part, especially when it came time to volunteer their husbands. The men found their weekends filled with things like building a baseball field or painting the community center or planting trees for a new park. Communities didn’t wait, nor need, the government to handle such matters. Committees were formed right there at someone’s kitchen table over a slice of coffee cake and a freshly brewed pot. I miss those days.
Still, I like to bake coffee cakes, even if I’m not feeding a committee of chattering women. Although this coffee cake could do just that. I’m even kicking around the idea of making it in two smaller pans, as part of a donation to the Church’s Fall Festival next year.
This is the perfect cake for Christmas Morning when the house is filled with people. Or to share at a PTA potluck. Do those still happen? All I know with any certainty is that my guys loved this morning treat. What we didn’t eat fresh was wrapped and re-warmed throughout the week as a nice way to start the day.
Over-The-Top Buttery Crumb Coffee Cake
Buttery Coffee Cake
1 (18-25 oz) box Yellow Cake Mix
8 tablespoons Butter, softened
3 Eggs, room temperature
2/3 cup Water
Note: Make sure the butter is soft and the eggs are at room temperature before beginning.
Heat oven to 350-degrees. Grease a 15-inch by 10-inch jellyroll pan, set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat cake mix with butter, then add eggs, one at a time. Slowly add water until blended. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Batter will be thick. Spread out evenly in the prepared jellyroll pan.
Place in the heated oven to bake until the edges of the cake are a light brown while the center is still a little gooey, about 10 to 12 minutes. While the cake is baking, made the Buttery Crumb Topping.
Buttery Crumb Topping
24 tablespoons (3 sticks) cold Butter
1-1/2 cups packed Brown Sugar
2 tablespoons Cinnamon
1 tablespoon Vanilla Extract
2-1/2 cups Flour
Powdered Sugar for dusting
Dice the butter into small pieces, place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a blade. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and 2 cups of flour. Pulse until medium crumbs form. Transfer to a large bowl. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2-cup flour, work into mixture with fingertips. Set aside.
Remove the cake from the oven, press about 3/4 of the crump topping over the top of the almost-baked coffee cake. Reserve remaining topping.
Return the cake to the oven, bake for an additional 8 minutes, until cake is cooked through and topping is firm.
Remove coffee cake from the oven, sprinkle with remaining crumb topping, dust with powdered sugar. Let cake cool for about 10 minutes. Slice into squares, serve warm.
Remember your mercies, O Lord
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