Don't Quell Those Jingle Bells

By Rachel

Jingle Hell?? No way!! I LOVE Christmas. All the lights, the music, the good cheer, the nostalgia. In fact, if you don't want to do a big holiday party, why not plan a more intimate girlfriend coffee or tea? I have a scrump-alicious coffee cake recipe that is perfect – and nostalgic for me - because it was passed down to me from my Grandmother.

In fact, it was passed down DIRECTLY to me from my Grandmother. Note the missing generation: my mother. “Why?” you ask.  “Is your mother illiterate? Can she not read a recipe? Was there some horrible family secret that kept she and your grandmother at odds?” No, no, the family just got tired of buying new fire extinguishers after my mother cooked. In fact, if her cooking could have called the fire department, my sister and I might have had more dates with firemen.

But let me tell you about the coffee cake. Any time that my Grandmother or I would take this coffee cake somewhere everyone would want the recipe. In retrospect, we should have charged money for it. I could be retired by now. But here it is for free:

Amazing Coffee Cake

1 box yellow cake mix

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

¾ cup oil

¾ cup water

4 eggs

1 teaspoon butter flavoring

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup powdered sugar

2-3 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 350. Spray two loaf pans with Pam. Mix cinnamon and granulated sugar in a small bowl - or cup or saucer or whatever you can grab the quickest - and sprinkle ½ of the mixture in the bottom of each pan. In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cake mix, pudding, oil, water, eggs, butter flavoring and vanilla until smooth. Pour the cake mixture into the two loaf pans. Sprinkle the remaining cinnamon/sugar mixture on top of each loaf. Bake 40-50 minutes. Once the loaves cool, mix the powdered sugar and milk, adding 1 tablespoon at a time, until the desired consistency is reached for icing. Spoon the icing over both coffee cakes. Lick the spoon. Lick the bowl if no one is watching.