An Easy Little Coffeecake and Comment on 'The Yankee Way'

One of the very first baked offerings that my mother ever allowed me to make in our family kitchen was this little coffeecake.  I have fond memories of cutting the vegetable shortening into the dry ingredients, making the crumble topping with melted butter and breaking it into little chunks for the topping on the batter. Interesting that it took having some leftover pineapple glaze from a baked ham and bean supper at my little church to inspire me to put this coffeecake together and pop some of that glaze onto the batter  alongside the crumble topping before baking !

What a happy way to waste not, re-purpose, and use up some of that glaze ! That's called 'The Yankee Way' in this region of the country. Next time you need an easy coffeecake, plop a little of your leftover sweet stuff onto this cake and see what new treat you can make for yourself and your tea partner. Leftover cranberry sauce from a turkey dinner, peaches and Duck sauce from an Asian meal, or blueberry reduction from a venison meal comes to mind. I'm sure you can think of a few sweet additions too !

Here's that easy recipe. I line my 9x9 inch pan so I can lift the cake to a serving plate and leave the paper in place for a crumb shield that's reminiscent of bakery sale shelf. You can try to wrestle the cake loose if you like.

Crumble Coffeecake

In a mixing bowl, whisk together:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in with a couple knives:

1/4 c. veg. shortening or butter

In a 2-cup measuring cup, whisk:

a generous 1/2 c. milk

1 large egg

Add wet ingredients all at once and stir to make a thick batter.

Grease lightly and line a 9 " x 9" pan with parchment paper.

Turn the batter into the pan and spread to cover the bottom and get the batter into the corners.  Place small dollops of sweet topping ( I used leftover pineapple glaze) and crumble topping all over the top if the batter.

Bake in a pre-heated 375 degree F oven for 20-25 minutes or until a cake tester comes clean when the cake is poked.

Crumble Topping

Mix together in a small bowl:

3 tbsp. flour

1/4. c. brown sugar

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

3 tbsp. melted butter

Pineapple Glaze

Bring to a bubble in a saucepan and let bubble for a few minutes:

1 can crushed pineapple and its juices

a generous 1/4 c. brown sugar

1 - 2 tbsp butter

a pinch of cloves

Add:

2 tsp. cornstarch that has been dissolved in a small amount of water.

Stir to thicken the glaze. Cool a bit before using on this cake batter.