Strawberry Coffeecake

The fabulous Butta Buns has once again shown her fearsome courage. First she made a towering Dagwood Sandwich, after some fiend Triple Dog Dared her to do it. Now she has posted a different cake five days in a row. After reading about the popularity of her Strawberry Coffeecake, so good one friend described it as "strawberry crack," I knew I had to make it. It seemed perfect for a little Mother's Day get together today.

This is one of those recipes that's easy to prepare and great fun to eat. How could it miss, with fresh strawberries on top of the batter creating little lakes of juice as they bake? One of the ingredients in this recipe is cinnamon, which gives the cake a sweet floral flavor, but doesn't overwhelm the berries. I used my wonderful Penzeys Vietnamese Cinnamon, which gave the batter a faint tan color. Although cinnamon is, in truth, a spice, I have deemed it an herb this week, to qualify for Weekend Herb Blogging, the marvelous event created by Kalyn at Kalyn's Kitchen. This week WHB is being hosted by Patl at Up A Creek Without A Patl. Stop by her site and enjoy all the other herby recipes from around the world.

Here you see the strawberries on top of the batter. This set me to thinking how different fruits, such as blackberries, raspberries, or sliced peaches, would taste? Ahh, the possibilities!

A crumbled topping is sprinkled on top of the strawberries and into the oven it goes. In no time, it's done with beautiful berry juice pooling on the surface of the cake.

I didn't wait for it to cool. It was quite wonderful eaten while it was warm. Thank you Butta Buns!

Strawberry Coffee Cake

Crumble Topping

1 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 stick of margarine (stick form is necessary), cold from the fridge (I'm a hopeless butter fanatic--so I used it instead.)

To make crumble topping, sift the sugar and flour together in a large bowl. Place the margarine in the center of the bowl and sprinkle a little of the sugar and flour mixture over it. Place all 10 fingers on the stick and start crumbling it by making cat-kneading gestures with your fingers so the margarine turns into little pea sized bits. If you need a visual, refer to this little fella. Keep crumbling until the stick is completely whittled down.
Keep the bowl of crumbles in the fridge until you’re ready for it.

Strawberry Coffee Cake

2 c. flour
1 c. sugar
2 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. milk
2 eggs
1/4 c. margarine, melted (Again, like Paula Deen, I use butter!)
3 c. strawberries, sliced

-Sift the first four ingredients together in a bowl and set aside
-Whisk the milk, eggs, vanilla, and melted margarine together in a bowl.
-Add the mix of wet ingredients to the bowl of dry ingredients.
-Beat together with a handheld mixer until well incorporated.
Pour into a pre-greased 13×9 pan. Arrange the sliced strawberries on top of the batter. Sprinkle the crumble toppings.
Bake at 350F for 35-45 minutes.

From: http://whatdidyoueat.typepad.com