Coffee Crumb Cake

When I set out to bake something out of a vintage cookbook, I expected to find a few differences, mostly in flavor and methods of preparation. I was wrong. My ancient cookbooks are filled with head scratching directions like "add 1 gill of milk", "add the weight of 4 eggs of flour", and simply "bake in a moderate oven". Ok, I don't know what a gill is or how much 4 eggs weigh, and while I can guess what a moderate oven might be, I have no clue as to how long it might take to bake this item. I also encountered the puzzling statement that "After a very little experience the heat of the oven can easily be judged by simply feeling it with the hand". I clearly did not have enough respect for the talented cooks who came before me.

I decided that a coffee cake might be a nice place to start, but finding a recipe proved to be a bit of a challenge. Finally I located one in the Ryzon Baking Book, a cookbook complied by the Ryzon Perfect Baking Powder Company in 1917. The introduction states that "every one of the prize selections was carefully tested by actual baking", which is a good way to test recipes, much better than simply guessing whether or not it works. So, fortified by the knowledge that I was using a recipe that had actually been tested, I began. I creamed butter with a wooden spoon - vintage style - no stand mixer for me, added sugar, sifted flour, figured out what a gill of milk was and popped my lovely vintage coffee cake into the oven. I set a antique egg timer for 20 minutes and waited.

The coffee cake smelled heavenly and tasted just as good. This isn't a very sweet coffee cake, and it has the weight and density of a corn bread with a nice sweet bite provided by the crumbly topping. The recipe calls for a much smaller ratio of butter and sugar to the flour used than in most of the other recipes in my contemporary cookbooks - 2 Tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of sugar compared to at least a whole stick of butter and a cup of sugar in other recipes. This tastes very much like a cake you might find in Europe, compared to the almost sticky sweet pastries we have become accustomed to in America. I wonder if the limited use of the more expensive ingredients was due to price at the time, or if people really just ate differently and through time our palates have changed (not necessarily for the better). I'm intrigued by the differences and can't wait to investigate further. Meanwhile, enjoy this - it's fantastic!

Ryzon Coffee Crumb Cake  - Copied as it appeared in the book

2 tablespoonfuls (1 ounce) butter

3 level tablespoons (1 1/2 ounces) sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

2 level cupfuls (1/2 pound) flour

1/2 cupful (1 gill) milk

2 level teaspoons Ryzon ( I had to substitute the generic baking powder that was in my cupboard)

1 pinch salt

Crumb Topping

2 tablespoonfuls (1 ounce) butter

1/2 teaspoon powdered cinnamon

4 level tablespoonfuls (2 ounces) sugar

1 level tablespoon flour

2 tablespoonfuls chopped pecans

For Crumb - Mix butter, cinnamon, sugar and flour together until like crumbs and then add pecans.

For Cake - Cream butter and sugar together, add eggs well beaten, vanilla, one cupful flour, milk, and second cupful flour sifted with Ryzon (baking powder) and salt. Mix and turn into a flat greased and floured cake tin, dust over with crumbs, and bake in a moderately hot oven for twenty minutes. Sufficient for six to seven persons.

Note: Moderately hot is around 350 degrees and I left it in the oven an extra 5 minutes.

Comments

[Doreen McDade]

Ok! so what is a gill????????? I have a vintage cook book and I can't figure it out>