coffee cake

Growing up, I remember my brother and I visiting our cousins, and my Mom and her sister would always make a particular treat for the nieces and nephews to trade.

My Mom would make a coffee cake and my aunt would make Chinese dumplings.  Both were very good, and we would eat the dumplings on the car ride home as my cousins would devour the coffee cake my Mom would make.  We were recently at one of my cousin's engagement party, and when I saw my aunt, I could almost taste the dumplings she would make.  Almost pavlovian, isn't it?

I never quite understood the name "coffee cake"...it doesn't necessarily have coffee in it.  But I guess the premise of having coffee cake is to have it with...coffee.  This isn't my Mom's recipe (I would have to give up my first born for that one!)...here's a similar cake that I like to use.  It travels well, and can be served with coffee or tea...or just devoured in the backseat of the car, on your way home from visiting friends or family.

Simple Coffee Cake

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp. melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk.

Crumble Topping (optional)

• 2/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed.

Mix the sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon, with a fork (I like using a pastry blender), until it resembles a crumb like mixture.

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 
• Mix dry ingredients together.
• Mix the egg, milk and melted butter, then add to the dry ingredients.
• Pour the mixture into an 8x8 baking pan.  
• Top with the crumble mixture. (optional)
• Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Serve.