All recipes from the box
Three pieces of cinnamon crumb coffee cake on a simple metal tray.
Dessert1h 7m15 servings

Crumb-Topped Church Coffee Cake

This was one of the first recipes requested after the pineapple cake. Loretta's card calls it COFFEE CAKE — HALL, which tells you exactly where it went and nothing about the pan. My first attempt used the square pan I already owned. The topping climbed the sides and made a convincing argument for geometry. A 9-by-13-inch pan gives the sour-cream batter room to rise beneath a generous cinnamon crumb. It is a proper coffee cake: not too sweet in the center, deliberately untidy on top, and sturdy enough to travel without a layer of frosting sliding toward the passenger door.

Loretta's card

COFFEE CAKE — HALL 2 1/2 c flour 2 t B.P. + 1/2 t soda 3/4 c butter 1 c sugar 2 eggs vanilla 1 c sour cream + splash milk CRUMBS 1 c flour, 2/3 c br. sugar cinnamon, 6 T butter 350° until center springs

Front notes: The front is in Loretta's black ballpoint, with HALL boxed once.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour for crumb (120 g)
  • 2/3 cup packed light brown sugar (135 g)
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon fine salt for crumb
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, for crumb (85 g)
  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour for cake (300 g)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder (8 g)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3/4 teaspoon fine salt for cake
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened (170 g)
  • 1 cup granulated sugar (200 g)
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract (10 ml)
  • 1 cup full-fat sour cream (240 g)
  • 1/3 cup whole milk (80 ml)

Steps

  1. 1Heat oven to 350°F (175°C); grease and parchment-line a light 9-by-13-inch metal pan.
  2. 2Mix crumb flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, salt, and melted butter into clumps; refrigerate.
  3. 3Whisk cake flour, leaveners, and salt. Beat butter and sugar 3 minutes; add eggs and vanilla.
  4. 4Alternate dry mixture with sour cream mixed with milk; fold only until combined.
  5. 5Spread batter in pan, distribute cold crumbs without pressing, and bake 34–42 minutes until center springs back.
  6. 6Cool at least 25 minutes before lifting and cutting.

I am still working through the box.

I cook another one of Loretta’s cards most Fridays and write down whatever comes with it — the corrections, the misread words, the notes on the back.

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