Spray the inside of a 9-inch by 13-inch rectangular cake pan with Pam or another nonstick cooking spray.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: This recipe is very easy to make with an electric mixer. It’s also possible to do it by hand if you wish.
To Make the Cake Dough:
Cut the softened butter into chunks and place them in the mixer bowl.
Place the white (granulated) sugar on top of the butter.
Turn the mixer on LOW speed for 30 seconds. Then turn the mixer up to MEDIUM speed and mix until the butter and sugar are fluffy and of a uniform color.
Turn the mixer down to LOW speed again and add the salt and the vanilla extract and baking powder. Mix until everything is well incorporated.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each addition.
Shut off the mixer and add one cup of the all-purpose flour.
Turn the mixer back on LOW speed and mix the cup of flour in thoroughly.
Turn off the mixer and sprinkle in the second cup of all-purpose flour.
Turn the mixer on LOW speed again and mix in that second cup of all-purpose flour.
Turn off the mixer and sprinkle in the third cup of flour.
Turn the mixer back on LOW speed again and mix in the flour thoroughly.
Shut off the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl, take the bowl out of the mixer, and use a mixing spoon to spoon one-half of the cake batter into your prepared cake pan.
Spread the cake batter out with a rubber spatula as evenly as you can.
Leave the rest of the cake batter in the mixing bowl and take out another bowl to prepare the coffee cake filling.
To Make the Fruit Filling:
If you haven’t already done so, measure out your blueberries and crush them in the bottom of the bowl.
Stir in the sugar. Stir it in thoroughly.
Measure out the all-purpose flour and then sprinkle it on top of the sugar and blueberry mixture in your bowl.
Mix the flour in thoroughly.
Place spoonfuls of the blueberry filling all over the top of your cake dough. Make extra sure you get a spoonful in all four corners of the pan.
Carefully spread the blueberry filling out from spoonful to spoonful so that the filling covers the entire surface of the cake batter.
Give the rest of the cake batter a final stir by hand.
Drop spoonfuls of the remaining cake batter on top of the blueberry filling and spread it out as best you can.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: Don’t worry if the cake batter on top doesn’t completely cover the blueberry filling. It doesn’t have to. You will put the crumb topping right over the top of your coffee cake.
To Make the Peek-a-Boo Crumb Topping:
Mix the brown sugar and the all-purpose flour together in a small bowl.
Add the softened butter and cut it in until it’s crumbly. (You can also do this in a food processor with chilled butter and the steel blade.)
Use your impeccably clean fingers to sprinkle the crumb topping over the top of the cake pan. Do this as evenly as possible and don’t worry because the topping doesn’t cover the top of the pan completely. The blueberries are supposed to show through so everyone will know what’s inside.
Bake your Blueberry Coffee Cake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 55 minutes or until the edges of your cake are nice and golden brown.
Take your coffee cake out of the oven with potholders and set it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack to cool.
This coffee cake can be served warm or cold, depending on when your guests are coming.
To serve, use a knife to cut your coffee cake into squares right in the cake pan. Then remove the squares to small plates with a wide metal spatula. Be sure to serve your Blueberry Coffee Cake with plenty of strong freshly brewed coffee or icy-cold glasses of milk.
Yield: At least 12 squares of delicious, fruit-filled coffee cake that both adults and kids will enjoy.
Hannah’s 4th Note: Several people have told me that they made this coffee cake the easy way by simply opening a can of fruit pie filling and using that, straight out of the can, for the coffee cake filling. I told them that Edna Fergusson, the queen of shortcuts, would be proud of them. Lisa told me that Aunt Nancy is going to try to make this coffee cake with a mincemeat filling at Thanksgiving. I’m not quite that adventuresome, but I have made it with lemon pie filling and it was scrumptious.
Chapter Twelve
“Hi, Sally!” An attractive young woman walked into the bar and hurried over to Sally, who was standing by Hannah at a table.
“I didn’t expect to see you today!” Sally said, looking surprised. “I thought you left this morning. Oh my gosh, where are my manners? Lily, this is Hannah Swensen, she’s been helping bake this week. And Hannah? This is Lily Wallace, Wally’s daughter.”
Lily turned to Hannah. “How nice to meet you, Hannah.” Then she turned back to Sally. “I did leave this morning. I drove straight up to help my dad with the new store, but he already had everything under control. I came back here to see if I could help the situation with Sonny. Dad said he’d been acting up again, and I saw that with my own two eyes.”
Sally shot Hannah a panicked glance, and then she drew a deep breath. “Lily is engaged to our fishing star, Sonny Bowman. Will you be staying the night, Lily?”
“I thought I would if you have a single room. There’s no way I’m staying in Sonny’s suite. He had one too many visitors in there last night!” Lily stopped and looked around the bar. “And there she is right now. At least she’s not with Sonny!”
Sally shot Hannah another desperate glance, and Hannah shoved back her chair. It was clear that Sally was out of her depth when it came to making conversation with Lily. “Please come with me, Lily,” Hannah said, extending her hand to Lily. “There’s some people I’d like you to meet.”
Sally’s sigh of relief was almost audible as Hannah ushered Lily over to Mike and Lonnie’s table; it was time for Mike to take over.
“Lily?” she said, tapping Mike on the shoulder. “This is Mike Kingston and one of his deputies, Lonnie Murphy.” She turned to Mike. “And guys? This is Lily Wallace, Wally’s daughter and Sonny Bowman’s fiancée. Lily was here at the Inn last night.”
“Glad to meet you,” Lily said, smiling politely but looking a bit puzzled about why Hannah had brought her to Mike and Lonnie’s table.
“Hello, Lily,” Mike said, and both men stood up. Mike pulled out Lily’s chair, and Lonnie pulled out Hannah’s.
“Please join us,” Mike said. “We have something we need to discuss with you, Lily.”
“Of course,” Lily agreed, taking her chair. “Is it about the fishing tournament? Dad told me that you two were a big help in keeping his tournament running smoothly.” She frowned slightly. “Dad filled me in on a couple of things, and I’m sorry that Sonny caused you some problems last night.”
“That’s okay,” Mike said, smiling at her. “We took care of it.”
“Dad was sure you would, but he called me and told me to drive up here and try to talk some sense into Sonny.”
“And did you succeed?” Lonnie asked her.