Coffee Cake

Coffee cake is a favorite breakfast among those who have time to make it. Although the common version does not actually contain any coffee, coffee cake is often eaten with coffee for breakfast or brunch. Some breakfast cakes, such as sponge cake, do contain coffee or coffee flavoring, but are not usually called coffee cake. Although this may seem confusing, especially to someone unfamiliar with the idiosyncrasies of English, there is not usually any confusion as to what coffee cake actually is among Americans and Europeans. Coffee cake often is not homogeneous, that is, it contains fruits or nuts or several layers or crumbly pockets of sugar.

A great coffee cake is made in two parts: the cake itself and the topping or streusel as it is more accurately called.

The topping requires:

One half cup brown sugar

One fourth cup sifted flour

One fourth cup butter

One teaspoon cinnamon

For the cake itself, you will need:

One and one half cups sifted flour

Two and one half teaspoons baking powder

One teaspoon salt

One egg

Three fourths cup sugar

One third cup melted butter

One half cup milk

One teaspoon vanilla extract

Make sure that the flour is well sifted before measuring, otherwise the cake may be tough. To make the topping, simply mix all ingredients in a bowl with a fork. When the mixture is crumbly, set aside and make the cake itself.

Sift the flour for the cake into a bowl with baking powder and salt. Beat the egg, and add sugar and butter. Beat and add milk and vanilla. Stir into flour mixture.

Grease and flour a nine inch layer cake pan, and pour in batter. Sprinkle streusel mixture over the top. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

This dish makes for a great breakfast food, and goes well with other pastries such as this cinnamon roll recipe. Serve with coffee or orange juice.