Rain, rain - you can stay!

It's a fabby day to bake to-day!

So Marge & I whipped up a 'Reliable Recipe' from the 29th Edition of the Calumet Baking Powder Company's cook book. American Coffee Cake. I'm sure it's just what hits the spot for Ted Nugent after a long day of deer hunting and rifle cleaning. And cans of Coors.

I can't find a publisher's date on the book, but rest assured that 'EVERY INGREDIENT USED [is] OFFICIALLY APPROVED BY U.S. FOOD AUTHORITIES.' Great.

Who in the hell are these authorities? The mad men that want to sneak Calumet Baking Powder into every thing you bake. I can see Don Draper's storyboard illustrating the 'Level. Rounding. & Heaping teaspoons to bake by. And I'm cool with that.

American Coffee Cake
2 1/4 c flour
2 level [double check the dandy illustration for levity] teaspoons Calumet Baking Powder
1/2 level teaspoon [you're on your own] salt
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg
1 scant cup milk [aka just shy of a cup]
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon mace [I subbed cinnamon]

Sift flour, measure and sift three times with baking powder, salt, spice and sugar. Work in butter with tips of fingers or a knife. Beat egg, combine with milk and add to dry ingredients. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Turn into a square [I walked on the wild side with my rectangle] cake pan and spread with the following mixture:

1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs [I, mom of 2, had none. So I subbed old-fashioned oats. Would Calumet approve? Bah.]
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon mace [again, I feel safe in my neighborhood, so I subbed cinnamon]
3 tablespoons butter [level? heaping? you be the judge. I did melt it, though.]

Mix all together; spread on cake [we opted for messy crumbling so we could lick our fingers] and bake in a moderate oven thirty to thirty-five minutes @ 325-250 degrees.

Hmmm....
A tinsy bit bland. But isn't that the joy of retro baking? Moist - definitely at its peak when served warm - and the sugary-sweet crust that forms is a keeper. Chase it with a cup of joe, it's a coffee cake for heaven's sake! It's a rainy-day or coffee klatsch go-to that you can definitely amp up on your own with brown sugar, vanilla, oats [I am left wondering about the graham crackers, so I'll try my hand at this again once I cross the crackers off my shopping list], apples, or dried fruit. Definitely be deviant with this recipe!

[p.s. I didn't use Calumet Baking Powder. I'm going to hell.]