i’ve been devouring “my life in france,” a delicious tale chronicling julia child’s time in france, where she learned that for her, cooking was more than a hobby–it was a lifestyle. i’ll be sad to say goodbye to such a joyous read.

although she’d never made something quite so american and pedestrian as coffee cake, reading a few chapters this morning inspired me to try my hand at it. the fragrant cinnamony goodness is filling our home now. it’s just about ready…

i used the joy of cooking’s recipe–seemed only right to use a tried-and-true american cookbook for such a foodstuff. there’s not much to it:

aptly called “Quick Coffee Cake“ (or Kuchen)
preheat oven to 375 degrees

sift together:
1 1/2  C sifted all-purpose flour
1/4  t salt
2  t double-acting baking powder

cream until soft in a large bowl:
1/4 C butter

add gradually and cream until light:
1/4 to 1/2 C sugar

beat in:
1 egg
2/3 C milk

add the sifted ingreds to the butter mixture.

add:
3/4 t grated lemon rind OR 1/2 t vanilla

stir the batter until smooth. spread in a greased pan. cover with:

streusel

2 T all-purpose or rice flour
2 T butter
5 T sugar

blend these ingreds until they crumble with your fingers.

add
1/2 t cinnamon

sprinkle the crumbs over the cake and bake as directed.

bake about 25 minutes