Grandma’s coffee cake with a cinnamon nut crunch

For as long as I can remember, my family has always enjoyed coffee cake for Christmas and Easter brunch.  We would eat it at our dining room table still warm from the oven, with bacon and a selection of my mother’s homemade jams.  I spent my first ever Easter away from home this year, and I could not bare to break tradition.  So for brunch, I made my great-grandmother’s coffee cake in all its glory: absolutely fluffy with a delicious pecan cinnamon crunch.

Coffee Cake 

(10 generous slices)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 Tbsp Crisco

1 cup white sugar

3 eggs, one at a time

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 1/2 cup flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 cup brown sugar

1 generous tbsp cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped nuts (pecans are my favourite, but walnuts are delicious too)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Cream the butter, Crisco, and white sugar.  Add the eggs one at a time, the sour cream and the vanilla.  In a separate bowl, sift the flour, baking powder and baking soda.  Gently combine the wet and dry ingredients.

Combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, and nuts in a separate bowl to make the crumbs.  Place half the batter in a greased tube or bunt pan – it will be thick so you will have to tease it to spread evenly.  Sprinkle with half the crumbs.  Add the remaining batter, followed by the crumbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Delicious served warm with fresh berries!