I saw a mention of this vintage recipe the other week on a recipe page, and stashed it to try it out. With a drizzly cool fall-leaning morning, this seemed like a good day to bake.
I did lower the sugar by using my favorite substitute for the white sugar, but otherwise, I followed the recipe.
As for the “salad oil,” that would have been corn, soybean, or sunflower, most likely, back in the ’50s. Whatever was bland and cheap. I prefer to use avocado oil in recipes. Bakers’ flour is just all-purpose flour.
And? It turned out fabulous. It’s moist and soft, and there is just a thin layer of crumb topping. I wondered if I would miss the thick crumb topping, but I did not. It’s also far less messy to eat.
Do not be scared by the nutmeg either; it makes the cake. Maybe America needs to embrace Nutmeg more; it used to be so popular until after WWII.
Old-Fashioned Coffee Cake
Ingredients:
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup brown sugar, packed
- ½ cup + 1 Tbsp granulated sugar or powdered sucralose or similar sugar substitute
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ¾ cup avocado oil
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 large egg
- 1 cup buttermilk or 1 cup milk + 1 Tbsp lemon juice
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°, lightly oil a 9×13″ glass baking pan.
In a mixing bowl mix the flour, brown sugar, white sugar, salt, nutmeg, and oil, until crumbled.
Transfer ½ cup of it to a small bowl, and add the cinnamon.
Add the baking soda, baking powder, egg, and buttermilk to the mixing bowl and whisk until combined.
Scrape into the prepared baking pan and smooth out.
Sprinkle on the reserved dry mix over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes. Test the center to see if it is done; if not, bake another 5 minutes.
Let cool on a rack.
~Sarah