Breakfast Cake or "That Yellow Cake"

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When I was little, my mother would read a story to me about a little girl whose mother would, once in a while, allow her to eat a big bowl of ice cream for breakfast (and that's all I remember about the story). For a 5 year old, that was a wonderful concept! Oh how I envied that little girl! Now I know this is a regular cake and not so much a coffee cake, and it's probably more along the lines of something you'd prepare for dessert; but ... every now and then, it is good to have something sweet for breakfast. Sort of like in the storybook. :) Let's just say the ham and eggs cancel out the cake - especially if you drink orange juice with it!


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1(18.25 oz) pkg Yellow or White cake mix (here, I used white cake mix because that is all I had - I usually use a yellow cake mix)
1 (3-oz) pkg butterscotch or vanilla instant pudding mix (here, I used butterscotch)
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup water
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tsp cinnamon

Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.


Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. In a large bowl, with an electric mixer, beat the cake mix, pudding mix, vegetable oil, water, eggs and vanilla for 1 minute on low speed; then for 2 minutes on medium speed. Pour one-third of the batter in a greased 9 x 13" pan, and sprinkle one-half of the sugar-cinnamon mixture over that. Pour the next third of batter over the sugar-cinnamon, sprinkle the remaining half of the sugar-cinnamon mixture over the batter; then top with the remaining batter. You don't necessarily have to pour the cake batter evenly, it will spread out as it bakes. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool slightly, then spread with the Glaze.


Glaze
1 cup pwd sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla


Mix together until smooth.

Salted Butterscotch Coffee Cake

I make a similar cake to this that I've also served as a breakfast cake. The recipe is right here. This particular recipe is found on the Julie's Eats and Treats blog.

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Cake
1 (15.25 oz) yellow cake mix, dry
4 eggs
1 (3.4 oz) instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 cup vegetable oil
1 cup water
1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Cinnamon Swirl
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Salted Butterscotch Glaze    Note: You can also use just a regular vanilla glaze, if you prefer
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup butterscotch ice cream topping
2-3 tsp milk
1/4 tsp sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a bundt or a 9x13" cake pan. Mix together the cake mix, eggs, pudding, vegetable oil and water until well combined. Stir in the butterscotch chips. Pour half of the cake batter into the prepared pan. In a small bow combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over on top of the cake batter.

Bake 350 degrees for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool cake. In a small bow, combine the powdered sugar, butterscotch topping and milk (you want the glaze to be fairly thick so it doesn't run off the cake). Drizzle the butterscotch glaze over the cake and then sprinkle the sea salt over the glaze. 

New York-Style Crumb Cake

This recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated. I made only a few adjustments to it. The directions say to be sure to use cake flour, or else it will turn out too dry. It only is enough to make a 9" cake pan, so it was almost completely gone after we ate. (We had "breakfast" for dinner!) It's good enough that I'm tempted to make another one, tomorrow morning!

Printable Recipe

Crumb Topping
8 tbsp butter, melted and still warm
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar (I used light brown sugar)
3/4 tsp cinnamon (I used 1 tsp, but you could even add a little more)
1/8 tsp salt
1  3/4 cups cake flour
I sprinkled on some nutmeg, when I put the crumb topping on the cake batter

Cake
1  1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
6 tbsp butter, cut into 6 pieces, softened but still cool - not melted at all
1/3 cup buttermilk or plain low-fat yogurt (I used buttermilk)
1 large egg plus 1 egg yolk
1 tsp vanilla extract

For The Topping:
Whisk the butter, sugars, cinnamon and salt together in a medium bowl. Stir in the flour until completely incorporated; set aside to cool to room temperature, 10 - 15 minutes.


For The Cake:
Adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line an 8" square pan with foil, allowing extra foil to hang over the edges of the pan. Lightly coat the foil with vegetable oil spray.
(I skipped the foil step, and obviously, I used a round cake pan ... my square pan is in storage. I must say that I did have a little trouble getting the first piece out of the pan, but that could have been because I did not cool it as long as it says to later on in the directions. So you may want to do the step with the foil.)

Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl until completely combined. With an electric mixer on low speed, add the butter 1 piece at a time, beating until the mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no visible chunks of butter remaining, 1 - 2 minutes. Add the buttermilk, egg, egg yolk and vanilla and beat on medium-high speed until batter is light and fluffy, about 1 minute, scraping sides down as needed.

Spread the batter in the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula. Break the crumb topping (Which will probably be somewhat hardened at this point, but that is ok) into large pea-sized pieces and spread in an even layer over the batter beginning with the edges and then working toward the center. (There was so much crumb topping, I had to do almost a double layer of it; but that's not a bad thing!) Just be sure not to press the topping down into the batter. I sprinkled the crumb topping with nutmeg.

Bake at 325 degrees until the crumbs are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 35 - 40 minutes. Cool the cake on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes, remove from pan by lifting the foil extensions. Dust with pwd sugar just before serving.

Cherry Pastry

I got this recipe years ago from a lady at work. I haven't made it in many years, but I noted the recipe card that this is very good. It is a very simple dessert that you can even serve as a breakfast cake. You can also make this with an apple or blueberry pie filling. For that matter, you could even use lemon pie filling.

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1 cup butter, softened
1 3/4 cups granulated sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 can cherry pie filling, or any desired flavor

Glaze
4 tbsp butter, softened
2 cups powdered sugar
2-4 tbsp milk or water
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix together until smooth.


Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until well mixed. Add the flour and baking powder, and beat just until combined. Spread half of the batter in a greased 9 x 13" pan. Spoon pie filling over on top. Drop remaining batter by spoonfuls and spread gently. You do not have to completely cover the pie filling. Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Drizzle with glaze while warm (you may not need to use all of the glaze).