The Amish Cook: Sassy Sundae and Favorite Coffeecake

THE AMISH COOK

BY GLORIA YODER
Dear Friends,

What gorgeous fall weather we're having! I love observing the red, yellow, and orange of the trees and bushes as they turn into their beautiful autumn colors before dropping their leaves. Several weeks ago when my 3-year-old daughter Julia first noticed a tree without leaves she informed me that the tree is dead and we're going to have to cut it down. I explained to her how new growth will start again as the seasons change and it warm s up outside after it has snowed. Truly we serve an amazing God who so wonderfully designs and creates all things.
You may remember from last week's letter that we were expecting to get a new pony. Now this week we're delighted to let you know that it has arrived! Thanks to Jim and Linda from northern Illinois. They traveled 5 1 /2 hours to deliver her to our little farm. Her name, Sassy Sundae, fits her quite well.
"Look at her tail! See she's sassy," Linda said, pointing to a baby picture of Sassy Sundae twitching her tail to the side in a dignified manner
"She was born on a Sunday morning," they explained "and we like ice cream sundaes, so we decided `sundae' will have to be part of her name."
The combination just clicked so she was named Sassy Sundae. She has a reddish brown coat with a beautiful white blaze and a white foot as well as a sprinkle of white over her back and rump. You can only imagine how excited Julia has already been to have a pony of our own.
Last night she was harnessed up for the first time. At first she was not too sure about it but I think she'll do fine after she's accustomed to it a bit more. With her being a notch smaller than Sapphire, our Standard Bred mare that we use in the buggy, she'll be a lot easier for me to harness, hitch up and drive, especially when going away with little ones. As of now we're keeping Sassy Sundae in a stall but look forward to seeing how her and Sapphire will respond to one another once we put them together in the pasture. I'm sure Sapphire will be glad to have a companion.
Now, for this week's recipe: I decided to share one for our "Favorite Coffeecake." It has been tried and proven many times. I've made it countless times as a young girl at home. At that time we always put it into a 9 X 13 inch cake pan and put the crumbs on top and for a treat we sometimes sprinkled a handful of chocolate chips on top as well. Now recently I started pouring the batter into four 8-inch pie pans. Next, I spread the filling over two of the cakes and put the remaining two cakes on top. Sometimes I also drizzle chocolate and vanilla icing over the top to give it a more complete look. We prefer eating it chilled.
The coffeecakes are perfect for giveaways for anyone who may drop by. When my husband Daniel comes into the kitchen while I am baking them  he'll sometimes ask 'for me, too?"