I made this cake for the Crites family's 263rd Anniversary Celebration, in honor of the day we landed in Philadelphia from Switzerland on the Snow Rowand. This recipe has been slightly modified and clarified from the one found in the cookbook of my paternal grandparents' home church, St. John's United Church of Christ. However, I substituted regular flour for rice flour and omitted the nuts; the result is the picture you see here. In addition, although the recipe doesn't call for icing or a powered sugar coating on top, this can easily be added to suit your tastes. It takes a little time to mix the ingredients together for this cake, but the result is delicious and well worth it!Cinnamon Coffee Cake
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup of sugar
1 tsp of vanilla
3 eggs
2 cups of flour (or gluten-free flour)
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 pint sour cream
6 tbsp butter, softened
1 cup of brown sugar, firmly packed
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup of walnuts (optional)
Cream shortening, sugar, and vanilla. Add eggs, singly, stirring well after each addition. Sift flour, baking powder, and baking soda together. Add sour cream and beat until well blended. Spread half of the batter in a 10-inch Bundt pan that has been greased and lined on the bottom with wax paper.
In a separate bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. (If desired, add walnuts and mix well.) Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the batter in the pan. Cover with remaining batter. Bake at 350 degrees for about 50 minutes or until done.
A Note From Bethany...
The wax paper can be omitted; just make sure that you grease the sides and bottom of the pan well!
If you don't have a Bundt pan, you can easily make this in a regular square 8 x 8 cake pan or two loaf pans.
