OVERNIGHT COFFEE CAKE

I have to admit the word "overnight" is what caught my eye with this recipe. I often find myself baking whatever I am taking to HPC Thrift Shop late on the day before. When I saw that this was mixed up the night before, stored in the refrigerator, and then baked the next morning. I liked the idea of taking something "warm" to the volunteers to enjoy before the shop opened. (I say before the shop opens because usually by the time the shop opens at least half of whatever I have brought has been eaten. Sometimes I get stopped and end up serving some of them on my way to signing in before I even get it to the Community Room - but that's okay. I cut it before I leave the house and they are busy sorting and pricing and want to make sure they get a piece and they aren't ready to take a break.)

The "easy, good, and make ahead - a great combination" recipe was from the Des Moines (Iowa) Register (newspaper) from 1974. The recipe actually had you sprinkle the topping on the night before, but a note said you might want to wait if you were afraid the topping might sink to the bottom. I don't know if it would or not, but I just decided to wait til the next morning.

The really interesting thing about this recipe is I found a recipe in Peacock Pantry, Favorite Recipes from Peacock Hill Country Inn in Middle Tennessee for a Pecan-Topped Coffee Cake. The note under the title said, "Easy, overnight, light-as-a-feather coffee cake". When I saw it, I immediately picked up the tablet that I had written the Des Moines Register's recipe and compared the ingredients. Imagine my surprise when I saw that the recipe was almost the same. Differences - butter was reduced to 2/3 cup, sugar was increased to 1 cup, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon was in the cake batter. (Personally it was sweet enough with the 1/2 cup of sugar especially with the topping.) Then in the topping they added 1 cup of coarsely chopped pecans and no nutmeg. (Personally I like nuts so think the pecans would be good.) They also went on and sprinkled the topping on the batter the night before. They did say to bring the cake to room temperature before baking. Anyway, I just find that interesting that I would find two recipes so similar and from different parts of the country.

OVERNIGHT COFFEE CAKE

Cake:
2       cup flour
1/2    teaspoon salt
1       teaspoon baking soda
1       teaspoon baking powder
3/4    cup butter, softened (1-1/2 sticks)
1/2    cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2    cup sugar
2       eggs
1       teaspoon vanilla
1       cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk with 1 tablespoon white vinegar 

Topping:
1/2    cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1       teaspoon cinnamon
a few grates of nutmeg, optional

Grease a 9 x 13 - inch pan.

In a small bowl, combine flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Stir and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, cream margarine and sugars til light and fluffy. (This takes several minutes.)

Add eggs and

beat again to combine well.

Add vanilla.

Add flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk beginning and ending with the flour.

Spread in pan.

Cover and store in refrigerator overnight.








The next morning:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove cake pan from the refrigerator and set aside.







Prepare topping:

Mix the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl with a fork.

Sprinkle over the batter in pan.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until cake tests done when you insert a toothpick in the center of the cake.

Cool in pan on wire rack.









NOTE: If you do not want to wait to cook the cake, spread cake batter in prepared pan. Prepare topping and sprinkle on top. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes.