los angeles unified school district's old fashioned coffee cake
Earlier this month—to bring some comfort in these times—the Los Angeles Unified School District tweeted the original recipe for its legendary Old Fashioned Coffee Cake. The cake dates back to 1954 and has been on school district menus for the last sixty years. In 2018, the district estimated that its 700 cafeterias churn out approximately 10 million servings of coffee cake per year. These days, the schools produce a more wholesome version which comes from a custom cake mix.
I just tried the original 1954 version, and I get what all the fuss is about: it’s soft and tender, full of warm spices, and a lovely crumb streusel. This cake means a lot to a lot of people. It’s easy to understand why.
The recipe is simple and clever: the streusel is made from part of the batter mixture. The vegetable oil (a.k.a. salad oil) gives it a cloud-like texture. But that texture also comes at the price of flavor, so—true to form—in my adaptation below I’ve swapped out some of the oil for browned butter. I’ve also upped the cinnamon, added vanilla, and decreased the granulated sugar by a touch. I’ve included metric measurements and clarified directions where possible.
Los Angeles Unified School District’s Old Fashioned Coffee Cake (1954)
Adapted from L.A. Unified.
See a description of my modifications above. Please feel free to leave out the butter and use 3/4 vegetable oil if you prefer to stick closer to the original. Or if you don’t feel like browning the butter, try it with melted butter instead. In general, this recipe is easily adaptable; I could see it with nuts or some chocolate chips on top, if that’s your thing. If you’re feeling fancy, you could also sift a bit of powdered sugar and cinnamon (or a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar) over the top of the baked cake.
Makes one 9”x13” coffee cake.
INGREDIENTS
7 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 1/2 cups (325 grams) all-purpose flour
1 cup (198 grams) brown sugar
1/2 cup (99 grams) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, divided
1 cup (180 grams) buttermilk
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
METHOD
Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9”x13” baking pan with butter, line with parchment paper, and grease the paper.
Brown the butter: Melt butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring the pan every few seconds, until it turns a deep gold color and starts to smell fragrant, 3-7 minutes. Remove from heat and pour into a large bowl.
Add oil, flour, sugars, salt, nutmeg and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon. Mix to form a streusel. In a small bowl, remove 1/2 cup of streusel for the topping; add 1 teaspoon cinnamon to it and set aside.
Combine buttermilk, egg, vanilla, baking soda, and baking powder together and add this to the first mixture. Whisk together until smooth, but don’t over-mix.
Pour batter into prepared pan, sprinkle with reserved topping, and bake for 25-30 minutes. This cake keeps well, loosely covered at room temperature.
May 2, 2020