Grammy's Coffee Cake

I don't want anyone to panic or faint in shock but I am doing another post already.  My last one was yesterday.  I know I have been a bit slow getting the recipes out here but it all takes time.  I wanted to make something to have on hand for a little dessert and coffee the other night so I thought about it and decided to fix this old recipe for coffee cake.  When our boys were growing up we had a rule that you had to eat breakfast before you could open gifts on Christmas morning.  I came up with this recipe because it was easy to make the day before and it stayed moist.  Besides that, the boys would eat it up!  I don't remember where this recipe came from but it has been a good one for a lot of years.  I know it freezes well and everyone seems to like it.  If you don't have a tube pan, just bake it in what you have, layering the topping as instructed.  You can leave it in a baking pan, if you want to!  Oh, always remember that you can use any kind of nut you have on hand.  All you really have to do is make it and enjoy it!

                               GRAMMY'S COFFEE CAKE

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Margarine or Butter, at room temperature

2 Eggs

1 cup Sour Cream

1 teaspoon Vanilla

2 cups Flour

1 teaspoon Baking Powder

1 teaspoon Baking Soda

1/4 teaspoon Salt

         Topping:

          3/4 cup Walnuts, finely chopped

          3/4 cup Sugar

          2 teaspoons Cinnamon

          1 teaspoon Vanilla

          Mix all of the topping ingredients together and set aside

In a medium size mixing bowl, cream together the Sugar and Margarine.  Add the Eggs, Sour Cream and Vanilla and mix well.  Stir in the Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Salt.  

In a well greased or sprayed tube pan, sprinkle a little of the Topping into the bottom.  Pour in 1/2 of the Batter.  Sprinkle 1/2 of the Topping over the Batter.  Add the remaining Batter over that.  Sprinkle the remaining Topping over the Batter. 

Bake in a 350˚ oven for 35 to 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.  Turn the cake upside down onto a serving plate.  This cake is good warm or cold.  

Look what we did to that beautiful cake. 

Chocolate Dipped Peeps

One of our daughter in laws recently had to make a trip to visit her sick father in Japan.  We went to Eureka to be there for our grandson while his dad was at work.  That is not a hard job, since Alek is almost 13 years old.  We mostly got him off to school in the morning, did our own thing all day, until he was out of school at 3 pm.  We made sure he did his homework, got to Tennis lessons, practiced his music and had a good dinner.  I taught him to make my deviled eggs, which he loved and one day we decorated peeps that I picked up at the grocery store.  I showed him how to use a knife to chop the nuts to decorate his peeps.  I think he enjoyed Grammy's Thyme In His Mom's Kitchen.

Chocolate Dipped Peeps

8 Easter Peeps

6 oz. white or regular chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped peanuts or colored sprinkles

Melt the chips in a small bowl.  You can do this in the microwave at 30 second intervals, stirring between each interval.  When the chocolate is melted, hold the peeps by their top and dip into the chocolate.  Use the back side of small spoon to get the chocolate where you want it.  Place the chopped nuts or sprinkles on wax paper or a small plate.  Dip the peep into the nuts to get a thin layer on the sides of the peep, try not to get nuts on the bottom of the peep.  Stand the peep up on wax paper, forming a stand with the chocolate that is on the bottom of the peep.  Allow these to dry.  You can decorate with a bow around your peep’s necks.  

"Grammy, what do I do with the leftover chocolate?"   hahaha!