Strawberries & Cake & Crumbles... All in one retro recipe!!

I absolutely love strawberries.  They're always on hand and I always have them as a snack or add them somehow to a meal or dessert whenever I can.  My cousins came over for a dinner the other day and I needed a quick dessert and one that I had most (if not all) of the ingredients on for.  When I found this I was really excited because I not only had all the ingredients on hand, but I was able to make a strawberry dessert!  Who knew retro recipes would be this easy??

This recipe came from the early 1950s and is a Strawberry Coffee Cake.  I served it as a cake, but it can also be served as a bar and cut into pieces to be eaten by hand - I sent some pieces with Mike in his lunch for work to be eaten by hand the few days after I made it.  This recipe kind of reminds me of a crumb cake because it has a bottom layer of cake, then the strawberries, and then crumbs made of butter, flour, and sugar on top.  It's really good and hits the spot!

STRAWBERRY COFFEE CAKE

*  2 cups sifted flour

*  2 tsp baking powder

*  6 tbs sugar

*  3/4 tsp salt

*  1/3 cup shortening

*  1 egg, beaten

*  1/3 cup milk

*  1 1/2 cups strawberries, cleaned, and cut into quarters

*  3 tbs butter

*  1/4 cup sugar

*  3 tbs sifted flour

Bake in a greased 10x6 in. pan at 400 degrees F.

Sift first four ingredients together. 

Cut in shortening with two knives or pastry blender.  Combine egg and milk and add all at once to dry ingredients. 

Blend thoroughly. 

Spread dough in greased cake pan and arrange strawberries on top. 

Combine remaining ingredients and mix together with a fork (or crumble by hand) until a crumbly consistency.  Sprinkle over strawberries. 

Bake in hot oven (400 F) about 25-30 minutes. 

Serve and enjoy!

ORIGINAL RECIPE: