Dotty's Coffee Cake

Dotty Griffith brought me into her circle as a food reviewer nearly 30 years ago. When I told her that I was collecting Coffee Dessert recipes, she offered one of her favorite childhood memories with her MoMo and PoPo. This is special to me even more so with her passing almost a year after she sent me this Coffee Cake recipe. Thank you Dotty Mon 8/24/2020 4:03 PM To: JB Blocker JB Coffee Book Recipes DG.docx Hi, J.B. Here are my recipes. If you have questions or these recipes aren’t what you had in mind, let me know. Best regards, D Dotty Griffith True Texas Cuisine 214.356.5896 @dottygriffith Lots of kids went to camp. Instead, I went to spend a month with my grandparents in the small central Texas town of New Ulm. Summers with my maternal grandparents, Olga and Monroe Koch, were a blast. I called them MoMo and PoPo. The tiny town is part of the Texas German belt that runs from west of Houston through Austin and San Antonio into the Hill Country. Olga was an accomplished baker. She made their bread. She baked angel food cakes from scratch, separating a dozen eggs for the whites. Still, Olga was perhaps most renowned for what she called simply “coffee cake.” Full of butter, the crumb is airy and moist. Yet it holds together well enough to dunk into coffee. I’d love to be able to sit with her again in her small farmhouse over breakfast or her afternoon coffee break and dunk slices of MoMo’s cake into a cup of strong coffee. In the summer when fabulous Fredericksburg or Weatherford peaches are in season, I like to crown the cake with peaches. The remainder of the time, thumbprints filled with butter and sugar will do. Olga’s Coffee Cake (Maybe with Peaches) 3 cups all-purpose flour ½ cup sugar 1 package yeast 1 teaspoon salt ¼ cup water ¾ cup milk ¼ cup unsalted butter, cubed 1 egg 6 tablespoons butter, melted, plus additional as needed 3 small peaches (optional), halved and pits removed 6 tablespoons sugar plus additional as needed Heat oven to 350 F. Lightly coat a 13x9-inch baking pan or 2 (9-inch) cake pans with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine 1 ½ cups flour, ½ cup sugar, yeast and salt. In a 16-ounce microwave safe measuring cup, heat the water, milk and butter to 120-130 F. Add to dry ingredients; beat just until moistened. Beat in egg until smooth. Stir in remaining flour to form a soft, sticky dough. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 50 minutes. Stir dough down and spoon into baking pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 30 minutes. Melt 6 tablespoons butter and cool to room temperature. Using your thumb, make 6 thumbprints evenly spaced on top of cake. Divide sugar evenly between the indentations. Pour melted butter over sugar in each thumbprint. If using peaches, press a peach half into the thumbprint so peach is deeply embedded into the dough. Divide sugar evenly between the peaches. Pour melted butter over each. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until light golden. Remove from oven and brush surface with more melted butter. Sprinkle surface with more sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 12 servings. Recipe adapted from The Texas Holiday Cookbook, Second Edition (Taylor Trade Publishing) by Dotty Griffith • This is quite simply the best cobbler ever. Why? Because it has two crusts. Not a soggy bottom crust and a beautifully brown and flaky top crust. No, this recipe makes a cobbler with two crisp top crusts. It is a cobbler baked on top of a cobbler. Try it. You’ll love the double crust. It comes from my Celebrating Barbecue (Simon & Schuster) cookbook. I always wonder how anyone can find room for dessert after a plate of brisket and ribs. But this cobbler makes you want dessert with a cup of coffee no matter how much ‘cue you put away at your favorite barbecue joint. Double Crust Fruit Cobbler 8 cups peeled and sliced fresh peaches or other fruit such as apples or berries 2 cups plus 1 tablespoon sugar 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons lemon juice 3 tablespoons butter Pastry for 2-crust pie 2 tablespoons melted butter Heat oven to 425 F. Lightly coat a round 3-quart round or 9x13-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large saucepan over low heat, combine peaches, 2 cups sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon. When mixture bubbles, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes or until the peaches are barely tender. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice and 3 tablespoons butter, stirring gently until the butter melts. Spoon half of the peach filling into the baking dish. Top with a layer of pastry cut to fit the dish. Bake for 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and spoon the remaining peaches over the baked pastry. Top with a second layer of pastry cut to fit the dish. Pierce the top of the pastry with a fork to vent and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon sugar and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden. Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature. Makes 8 servings. ###

- J.B. Blocker is a media consultant based in Collin County in North Texas. Advertise with J.B. by calling 469-334-9962.