When I was in my 20's and trying to find the perfect gift for my mother one year for Christmas - I had the brilliant idea of "Salvaging" her cookbook. It was a 1956 (or so) edition of the Betty Crocker cookbook. She had received it for a wedding gift and used it almost everyday for one thing or another. The pages looked like they had been loved for too many years and I was going to fix it for the perfect gift. I bought a bazillion page protectors and a binder and got to work. By the time I had inserted every page into that binder it was 3 times the original size and did not possess quite the nostalgia. My mother, being the incredibly sweet person she is, thanked me profusely and convinced me it was the best gift she could have ever gotten.
The next year Betty Crocker published the original 1950's cookbook - and as a surprise I put that under the tree for my mother. When Christmas day arrived we both had a chuckle as she had purchased the same gift for me! Ah - great minds think alike!
This is a picture of my copy which I refer to all the time.
I always get a chuckle at the pictures inside. This is the Appetizer section and this....
is the picture of the salad section. Everything looks plastic - like it should be under the glass of an old cafe with dust all over it. Although the pictures are quite dated the recipes are timeless. Everything is from scratch and just good, old, home cooking. This is the coffee cake my mother always made from her famous recipe book. Tasted just as good today as I remember it.
Thanks mom and Betty Crocker!
Prize Coffee Cake
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup soft shortening
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1 1/2 cups sifted gold medal flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Mix together the sugar, butter and egg. Stir in the milk and flour mixture (flour, baking powder, salt).
Spread batter in greased and floured 9 inch square pan. Sprinkle with desired topping. Bake until wooden pick thrust into center of cake comes out clean. Serve warm, fresh from the oven.
Streusel Topping
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
Bake at 375 for 25 to 35 minutes!
Tastes just like mom used to make!
* For an orange variation of this coffee cake follow the recipe above - except use orange juice for half of the milk, and add 1 1/2 tsp. grated orange rind. Sprinkle top with Crumb Mixture, given above, adding to it 1 1/2 tsp. grated orange rind.
22 comments:
We had that cookbook too and I used to make this very coffee cake when I was a little girl. It tastes like Sunday morning to me.
Prudy - That is exactly how I feel about it! Thanks for stopping by. Loved your blog about small town!
That coffee cake looks brillaint! Yeah, and I bake bread when I am bored too!
First time here, and I like your blog.
could you look up and post the orange variation of the coffee cake?
that's the one my mom made for us on Sunday mornings!
I lost the photocopy my mom made for me about 20 years ago and she got rid of the cookbook...so sad. I spent countless hours pouring over the pictures in that cook book before I could even read! It was my favorite book in the house. And I loved the food my mom made from it. It has the best recipes for brownies, chocolate chip cookies and coffee cake. I wanted to bake every cake in that book when I was five!
Thank you very much for posting the recipe!
Michal in Israel
Nancy - I posted the orange variation on the blog. I have never tried that but it looks yummy! Thanks for having me look that up - my next one will have an orange twist!
Thanks so much. I decided I had to have that cookbook, so I looked it up on e-bay and made a bid!
I'll be making mine this week, too. My neighbor's fresh oranges and I'll some whole wheat flour, too.
All the best
Michal (Nancy)
My mom has a similar cookbook--from 1960--and used to make this coffee cake with endless variations. She'd add Nestle's Quik and chocolate chips, or put strawberry jam on top instead of the steusel topping. I've been trying to get the basic recipe for years, so I could try some variations of my own. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the coffee cake recipe. My father used to make this for us when we were kids, and even after we were kids.
Thanks so much for this recipe - I think it's the one I've been looking for! In fact, I'm preparing to make it now, but one big question - the list of ingredients has "softened shortening" but the directions say "butter." Which is it? Thanks!
Terry - It is shortening - but I always just use butter for both the cake and the topping. Silly me - just turned my brain off while I was writing. Hope it is the one you were looking for!
Just today during our Mother's day lunch my daughter said to her mother in law "my mom used to make the best coffee cake ever" can you make that again for me?" I came home and I found my "favourite coffee cake" recipe by Betty Crocker. I remember using butter for the cake and crumbs too. Great!, after 25 years I will be making the best and easy coffee cake. Thank you. Lizbeth
I have been looking for this recipe for a while now. My mom left her copy of the cookbook with my grandmother in Germany. The coffee cake turned out wonderfully, like it always does. Thanks for posting!
Thank you soo much for posting this! I love this recipe! I have looked all over for this one, instead of the Bisquick one. I just things taste better from scratch. I am so glad you posted it! Thank you again!
Thanks for posting this recipe! It is not available in the lastest Betty Crocker cookbook and I was craving this coffee cake!!!!
ahh i too used to make this recipe when i was little, using my mom's betty crocker cookbook. i got a copy of the cookbook but it only has the 'sour cream coffee cake' and not this one! thanks! its in the oven right now!
Thank you so much for posting this. My mom had the same cookbook when I was a little girl, and it was the one I learned how to do almost all of my cooking with. This was my favorite recipe by far. The cookbook was destroyed in a kitchen fire when I was a teenager, and I haven't been able to find this recipe again... Just the ones that use baking mix which, in my opinion, are nowhere near as good :)
In 1971 I went to New Mexico to finish my grade 12, it was my first trip to USA. It was there were I discovered Betty Crocker at my school.
Thank you so much for this recipe I am enjoying it right now while I am typing.
Cheers,
Liz
Thanks so much I have been looking for this recipe forever. I am making one to take to Mom this Xmas. Mom also made a variation with glazed fruit and drizzled icing on top. Can't decide which to make. Maybe both!!!
Thank you for posting this. Like so many other people on here, I remember baking this a young girl also.
I used to bake this and send it through the mail to my grandfather! Thanks for posting the recipe :)
I had the cookbook once too- I bought it at a garage sale- it was lost in a basement flood…… it took me years to find the recipe- there was the key recipe w/ several variations listed below as well as pouring 1/2 the batter put struesel layer then more batter top w/ struesel on top yum
The blue berry buckle variation was fantastic too
The 50’s Betty Crocker key recipe is the absolute best coffee cake ever…..it had several variations listed below I made the blueberry buckle version often when the berries were in season
Post a Comment