This is a delicious, easy coffeecake recipe from the Amish Cook archives, appearing in the column back in 2001 when Elizabeth Coblentz still penned it. Note the use of lard in the recipe. You can substitute it with butter or shortening, but Elizabeth was very "old school" and often used lard. A new generation of Amish cooks seem to be use it less. Anyway, try - and enjoy - this recipe! I've added a photo to this post...this comes to us from Magdalena Perks who runs the Plain Anglican blog, her blog is a great place to explore simplicity from not an Amish angle but an Anglican one. Magdalena made the coffeecake and said it turned out great, so glad it worked out. The photo looks delicious!
German Coffeecake
Ingredients
- ¾ cup warm water (about 105 degrees F)
- 1 package dry yeast
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided for use
- 1 egg
- ¼ cup lard (or shortening)
- About 2 teaspoons margarine
- Brown sugar and cinnamon for topping
Instructions
- Dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand a few minutes, then
- stir. Stir in sugar, salt and 1 cup of the flour.
- Beat the egg, add lard (softened or melted and cooled) and the
- egg to the flour mixture. Beat in the remaining flour until mixture
- is smooth. Drop by spoonfuls into a greased shallow baking pan. Let
- rise in a warm place until dough is nearly doubled. Dot top of dough
- with tiny slivers of margarine, then sprinkle with brown sugar and
- cinnamon. Bake 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Delicious!
Deanna Schroeder
Thats my German grandma's coffee cake. Yum!
Diane
why is it called a German coffee cake when it has no coffee in it?
Kevin
Hi, Diane, I think a lot of coffeecakes are called coffeecakes just because they go well with a cup of coffee not because they have coffee in them, although a few recipes do.
Marge
Sounds nice and easy, will definitely try it
Magdalena
Thanks for the mention, Kevin. I baked this in my Amish-made "Baker's Choice" woodstove by Suppertime Stoves, made out in Aylmer, Ontario.
Marie Czarnecki
Looks great, and I am going to make it. Recipe looks easy, and "GERMAN" WOW. Just like Polish my grandmother always baked "GERMAN/POLISH FOODS.