Coffee Cake

You will need a 9"x 13" baking pan, preferably metal; don’t use pan smaller than 9” x 11.” Also, it needs to be deep enough to hold batter & topping (preferably 2” but not less than 1 & 1/2”).

Ingredients

• ½ Cup unalted butter (one stick) – room temperature
• ½ tsp of kosher salt or 1/4th tsp of regular table salt
• 2 Cups granulated sugar
• 2 Cups all-purpose white flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Egg
• 1 Cup sour milk (see notes at bottom)

Preparation

1. Lightly grease and flour a 9" x 13" x 2” baking pan (preferably metal).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. With electric mixer, mix together the butter and sugar. Butter should be room temperature/also cut it into chunks before starting the mixing process. When well combined so butter well distributed in the sugar (you don’t want any large chunks of butter), add flour and cinnamon (do not add baking soda at this point); with mixer on low, mix so you have an even distribution of ingredients.
4. Reserve 3/4 Cup of the flour/sugar/butter cinnamon mixture to use later for the topping.
5. To the remaining flour/sugar/butter/cinnamon mixture, add the baking soda, sour milk, and egg. Mix till combined into smooth batter – but don’t over mix.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan and with spatula spread out into an even layer. Sprinkle the reserved flour/sugar/butter mixture evenly over the top of the batter. Bake for about 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. (You can test for doneness using a tooth pick in the center of the cake - done if the toothpick comes out clean with no batter sticking to it - I generally check for doneness at about 25 minutes - depending on how hot your oven bakes).
7. Allow to rest for 15 minutes or so before cutting. It’s easier to lift out pieces using a metal spatula.

Notes

Make Sour Milk by putting 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or vinegar [don’t use wine or a flavored vinegar] into a measuring cup that will hold at least one cup of liquid, and add milk to make 1 cup when combined with the lemon or vinegar.