Carolina Coffee Cake

I woke up this morning craving coffee cake, so I grabbed the recipe for one I had been meaning to try for a few months. This fun-to-make coffee cake comes from my sister-in-law, Beth.  I admit that the name Carolina struck my fancy.  Anything with the word Carolina in it has to be good.  The children and I had a great time mixing this up for breakfast.

Start by creaming the butter and sugar.

My mixer is kaput, so I just went at this by hand with a wooden spoon.  Great upper arm workout.

Mix in a couple eggs.  These are fresh from my friend Kim's chickens.

That part makes me smile every time.

Next in goes the milk.  This milk is fresh from my friend Kim's cow.
Still smiling...

Stir in self-rising flour and 1/3 cup chopped nuts.

Spread into a greased and floured 10" iron skillet.  Now you can start putting together the topping.  Oops, minor set back.  I discovered I was out of brown sugar.  

Not a problem, really. Did you know you can make your own brown sugar in a pinch by blending some white sugar with a few teaspoons of molasses?

OK, now we can mix up the topping....butter, flour, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

Sprinkle that all over the top.  Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Put your bowl lickers to work while you clean up.

Bowl licker #1 still in her jammies, complete with bed-head.
Bowl licker #2, all dressed and ready to get the most out of this day.

All done!


Carolina Coffee Cake

• 1/3 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cup self rising flour
• 1/3 cup chopped nuts

        Topping:

• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour

Cream butter and sugar.  Add eggs and milk.  Stir well.  Stir in flour and nuts.  Spread batter in 10" greased, floured iron skillet.  Mix up topping in a separate bowl.  Sprinkle over the top of the cake batter.

Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.  Cool a little before cutting.

We enjoyed eating outside while the birds warbled wake-up melodies. There's nothing as lovely as an al fresco breakfast on a warm, spring morning.  

Have a beautiful weekend!

Love,