Comfort Coffee Cake from the Baking Dispatcher

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You caught me - I ate some cake before snapping the pic:)

My daughter has become my "Baking Dispatcher"!  During this Covid time, she likes to say "Hey, can we make some chocolate chip cookies?"  Let's break this down ...1) there is no WE in this, this is her way of saying...Mom, rassle up some chocolate chip cookies and 2) she usually asks for these sweet treats at 8:30 PM at night when I've put in a full day of cooking already. Case in point, this past week, at the dinner table, she says "Hey Mom, can you make me some Naan bread?"  Sigh....I am not a Naan whisperer at all but I continue to persevere.  Kiddo has been struggling lately with the "new normal" so I started the oven with my pizza stone and got to work.  We were all enjoying Show Me The Curry's Naan bread warm at 9 PM with some room temperature butter 
​Show Me The Curry Naan Recipe
​Not a bad way to end the evening! 
I guess, since that went so well, my daughter levied her baking desires again at 9 PM on Wednesday...."Hey Mom, can you make me some coffee cake? or an Apple Clafoutis?" I respond..."Are you kidding me, it's 9 PM!  I'm getting ready for my slumber!"  The next day I set out to make my kid happy and hey, coffee cake does sound really good!  I reach out to my good friend and colleague,
​Anne Blankenship @ Designed Cuisine 
​for a tried and true coffee cake recipe.  She gave me the perfect coffee cake recipe - easy to make, completely traditional and you can just taste the homemade difference!  Fortunately, Anne nabbed this recipe from the Dallas Morning News Taste section back in 2007. 
It's a winner! Check it out!

​Coffee Cake Exceptionale
2 1/4 cups All Purpose Flour
1/2 TSP Salt
2 TSP Cinnamon, divided
1/4 TSP Ginger, ground
1 Cup Brown Sugar, firmly packed
3/4 Cup Sugar, granulated
3/4 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
1 Cup Walnuts or Pecans, chopped
1 TSP Baking Soda
1 TSP Baking Powder
1 Egg, Large, beaten
1 Cup Buttermilk

How To
Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a 9x13 baking pan.  (I used a Pyrex)

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt, 1 tsp cinnamon, ginger, both sugars and oil.  

Remove 3/4 cup of the sugar mixture and add it to the nuts & remaining teaspoon of cinnamon.  Mix well & set aside to use as the topping.  (I used walnuts).

In separate bowl, combine buttermilk, egg, baking soda & baking powder.  Add wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  Mix until combined. Small lumps in batter are OK.  

Pour batter into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle topping mixture evenly over the surface & bake for 40-45 mins.  (My cake took 40 min, it's ready when the toothpick/skewer comes out clean).  

Yield: 12- 16 servings

No Buttermilk, No Problem: Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar or lemon juice to 1 cup milk.  Let sit for 10 minutes and give it a stir.  You'll note that the milk has thickened from the acid and will look like buttermilk.  When I made this recipe, I didn't have buttermilk and used this workaround.  I use it all of the time - works like a charm!

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