TNT My Aunt's Coffee Cake

[CWS4322]

This recipe is one that my aunt L served every time we visited. She still makes it (she's 93). My aunt L is an amazing cook. She also is a fantastic golfer (still), bridge player, and knitter. This is my favorite coffee cake--but that is probably because I have so many happy memories that it triggers every time I make it:

1/2 c shortening
3/4 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs, beaten
2 c flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 pt. sour cream

Topping:

1 c brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1 c walnuts (or pecans)
6 T butter

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Grease an angel-food cake pan.
3. Cream shortening and sugar, add vanilla and eggs, beat well.
4. Sift dry ingredients together. Add to creamed mixture.
5. Fold in sour cream.
6. Combine topping ingredients (crumbly).
7. Layer 2/3 of the batter in the cake pan. Sprinkle 1/2 of the topping on the batter.
8. Cover with remaining batter.
9. Sprinkle the rest of the topping on top.
10. Bake for 35-45 minutes.
Serve warm.

​

 

[PrincessFiona60]

That sounds wonderful! C&P! Thanks.

 

[CWS4322]

My mom's brother married a woman whose cooking skills could go head-to-head with with my grandma's cooking and baking skills. When my cousins got married (5 boys), my aunt put together a family cookbook with recipes from her side of the family and my uncle's. The only recipe that was attributed to my mom was Pizzaburgers made using Spam--something that was served in the elementary cafeteria where I went to school. My mother got the recipe from the cooks at the school--it did, however, require the use of a meat grinder...which my grandma's plum pudding recipe requires as well! LOL. The only other recipe that has ever appeared next to my mom's name in a cookbook is Aunt Flora's Peach Cream Pie (a darned good recipe, but not one my mom, "I hate to cook," created).

 

[Soma]

Thank you for this, it sounds wonderful....or perhaps I should say it schmecks wonderful, cuz I can almost taste it from reading the recipe. My fav coffeecake, which is similar, uses butter instead of shortening, and my son always called it "fatty cake".

How do you think it would compare, if you sub'd the shortening for butter? (even with leaving in the sour cream....)

 

[Whiskadoodle]

Yep, that's like the recipe I use, or one very similar. Not getting up and out of my chair to go compare. And I bake it in an angel food cake pan, the same as my mom did. It was one of the few things she didn't ruin. I have her angel food pan !! She almost always burned cookies, no matter what kind and made dried brownies too. ( "Just scrape the bottoms with a knife and they'll be fine" she said as she poured another glass milk for you to dunk them in. Her pies were good and this cake.

Did you ever plop a pat of butter on your slice when it's fresh hot out of the oven and let it melt in? O my.

 

[CWS4322]

Yep, that's like the recipe I use, or one very similar. Not getting up and out of my chair to go compare. And I bake it in an angel food cake pan, the same as my mom did. It was one of the few things she didn't ruin. I have her angel food pan !! She almost always burned cookies, no matter what kind and made dried brownies too. ( "Just scrape the bottoms with a knife and they'll be fine" she said as she poured another glass milk for you to dunk them in. Her pies were good and this cake.

Did you ever plop a pat of butter on your slice when it's fresh hot out of the oven and let it melt in? O my.

Oh, yes. My aunt is 1st generation American Norwegian....I suspect this was a recipe her mom made up in Northern Minn-AH-soooota.

 

[CWS4322]

Thank you for this, it sounds wonderful....or perhaps I should say it schmecks wonderful, cuz I can almost taste it from reading the recipe. My fav coffeecake, which is similar, uses butter instead of shortening, and my son always called it "fatty cake".

How do you think it would compare, if you sub'd the shortening for butter? (even with leaving in the sour cream....)

I've used butter--shortening in our family often = butter. I've also used 1/2 butter, 1/2 Crisco in the batter, but ALWAYS butter in the topping. You can add coconut to the topping, grated orange zest, a bit of rum flavoring...there are all kinds of possibilities with this, but you can't omit the sour cream.

 

[lyndalou]

does it have to be baked in and angel food cake pan?

 

[bakechef]

Thanks CWS I'm going to put this recipe in a file and make it sometime. It looks wonderful!

 

[CWS4322]

does it have to be baked in and angel food cake pan?

I would suspect one could make mini-coffee cakes using a muffin pan, make a coffee cake loaf using a loaf pan, or a Bundt pan, or just a plain 8x8 " square pan. We always make it in an angel food pan. The thread on cake pan size amounts would help figure out the size of pan(s) needed to based on the cups of liquid and dry ingredients added.

 

[Oldvine]

As my husband (born in Minnesota) would say "This tastes like an Ole coffee cake". He rarely says Minnesota because it all belongs to Ole.
Thanks

 

[CWS4322]

As my husband (born in Minnesota) would say "This tastes like an Ole coffee cake". He rarely says Minnesota because it all belongs to Ole.
Thanks

I think it might be Lena's recipe . As I recall, the only time Ole spent time in the kitchen was to snack on lutefisk at midnight.

 

[taxlady]

I would suspect one could make mini-coffee cakes using a muffin pan, make a coffee cake loaf using a loaf pan, or a Bundt pan, or just a plain 8x8 " square pan. We always make it in an angel food pan. The thread on cake pan size amounts would help figure out the size of pan(s) needed to based on the cups of liquid and dry ingredients added.

I bake a quick coffee cake that is very similar to this recipe. http://www.discusscooking.com/forums/f41/quick-coffee-cake-68325.html#post938198 I think I will switch to your topping and topping method.

I bake it in an 8"x8" pan and it comes out fine. I'll have to give the angel food pan a try.

 

[Kylie1969]

This sounds wonderful CWS, thanks