Blueberry Friendship Coffee Cake

I am a Home Ec teacher; I love to bake, craft, and crochet. My library holds are full of cookbooks and pattern books (aside from all the Pete the Cat and Splat the Cat books for my kids...). One thing I love more than baking, though, is to share what I make.

At school on Thursday afternoons, staff can expect an email from me announcing special treats I've cooked up for them to try. It's the highlight of my week (and maybe a couple staff, too). I love hearing about how their weeks are going whether they are teaching, cleaning, supporting, or leading. An invitation for little conversations, insights, building community.

Last week, I brought in some of my Amish Friendship Bread starter to bake a couple cinnamon loaves. But as I was mixing up the batter, creativity took me in a different direction and a blueberry coffee cake with a crumble topping was the result. Needless to say the cakes were devoured and enjoyed by all. I hope you get the chance to make it, too.

Here's the recipe, from my heart to yours:

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup Amish Friendship Bread starter

3 eggs

1 cup canola oil

1/2 cup milk

1 cup sugar

2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

1 small box of vanilla pudding

1-2 cups blueberries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 9" round baking pans with cooking spray (or line with greased foil to make it easier to remove cakes from the pan later).

2. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Combine all dry ingredients in a separate bowl.

4. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Do not over mix.

5. Fold in blueberries (if using frozen berries, adjust baking time)

6. Pour batter into the 2 greased 9" round baking pans and sprinkle cakes with crumble topping.

7. Bake for 1 hour in 350F oven. Test for doneness with a toothpick. Let cakes sit in the pan for at least 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.

CRUMBLE TOPPING (enough for 2 cakes)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup white sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter (or margarine), melted

1 3/4 cups flour

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Combine the above ingredients and mix with wooden spoon until a crumble mixture forms. You may need to use your hands to finish mixing.