BLACKBERRY SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

 When I was a kid we would go blackberry picking out in the country where wild blackberries grew. I loved the blackberries but I didn't enjoy picking them because I was always afraid of encountering animals I didn't want to see. The bushes were always so thick. When we moved to Kansas City a few years ago, we planted some blackberries bushes on the ditch bank behind our house. There is still a chance I might encounter one of them, but so far I haven't.

I try to pick the blackberries as soon as they turn black before the birds get them, so usually I am just getting a handful or small container at a time. That means I usually end up freezing them to use later. I have several bags in the freezer so when I saw this recipe in the Peacock Pantry, Favorite Recipes from Peacock Hill Country Inn in College Grove, Tennessee cookbook, I decided to make it to take to Hillcrest Thrift Shop for the volunteers. 

One volunteer told me she thought they were raspberries and I told her I was sure you could substitute raspberries in the recipe with you wanted. Manager Jim told me it was really good. I think he was eating a second piece, but not sure.

BLACKBERRY SOUR CREAM COFFEE CAKE

1/2     cup (1 stick) butter, softened or at room temperature

1        cup sugar

3        eggs, lightly beaten

1        teaspoon baking powder

1/4     teaspoon salt

1        teaspoon baking soda

2        cups flour

1        cup sour cream (I used light sour cream)

2        cups fresh or frozen blackberries

     *     *     *

1        cup packed brown sugar

1/4     cup (1/2 stick) butter, softened

1/4     cup flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease or spray a 9 x 13 - inch baking pan. Set aside.

Cream 1/2 cup butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until

light and fluffy.

Add the eggs, baking powder, salt, and baking soda and

beat well. (Make sure you scrape the sides of the bowl often as you mix the batter.)

Add 2 cups flour alternately with the

sour cream,

beating well after each addition.

Fold in the blackberries.

Pour and spread in prepared pan.

Beat the brown sugar and 1/4 cup butter in a mixing bowl until

light and fluffy.

Add 1/4 cup flour and

mix until crumbly.

Sprinkle over the batter.

Bake for 30 minutes or until the coffee cake tests done. The topping should melt and partially sink into the batter.

Cut into squares to serve.

Last Friday Wayne and I got our first dose of vaccine for the coronavirus. I was a little nervous with excitement to finally be getting it. We drove 1-1/2 hours to get to the site but it was very well organized and efficient. It was a National Guard Mass Vaccination Event that the state of MO started the weekend before. Every weekend they will hold events over the state not necessarily at the same location. I didn't bleed so the guardsman saved his band-aid. My arm has been sore but otherwise no side effects that I have noticed. (I'm still as crazy as I ever was.😜)