Cinnamon coffee cake

Sometimes, serendipity starts with laziness.

I was invited to a friend's house for breakfast recently, and not wanting to turn up empty-handed, I started searching about for coffee cake recipes. But while many looked good, all of them would require a trip to the store, because I didn't have either buttermilk or sour cream in the house. (Alright, I could've made clabbered milk, but like I said, I was feeling lazy.) This really didn't seem right to me: Surely, a basic coffee cake should be something you can pull together from your pantry, something fairly simple and made with things you already have in the house.

And then, I came across this recipe. And sure, it would take a little bit of extra work, what with the whipping of the egg whites, but it promised that the results would be worth it. And it's from the Pioneer Woman -- she usually knows her stuff.

The results, I must say, were delicious, even though I was really skeptical while putting it into and taking it out of the oven. For one, the amount of topping called for here is downright absurd (but oh, so delicious). And for another, while her cake rises up around the topping, creating a buckle-like effect, mine mostly stayed put underneath the topping -- the only thing I can think of is that my egg whites weren't whipped enough, because while I did whip them thoroughly, I think they might've fallen a bit by the time I added them. But y'know, it didn't matter. This cake still came out delicious. This recipe's a keeper.

Cinnamon Coffee Cake
Adapted from the Pioneer Woman

3/4 c butter, softened
2 c sugar
3 c flour
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 c milk
3 egg whites

3/4 c butter, softened
3/4 c flour
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
2. Beat the egg whites until stiff. Set aside.
3. Beat together the butter and sugar. Beat in the flour mixture and the milk, a bit of each at a time, until combined. Then, gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
4. Scrape into a greased 9-by-13 pan.
5. Cut together the topping ingredients until crumbly, then sprinkle over the cake batter.
6. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, until no longer jiggly in the center. (I used the toothpick test to be sure.)