hand and then spoon HALF of the batter in the cake pan and spread it out with a rubber spatula. Leave the rest of the batter in the bowl. You’ll use it later.
To Make the Filling:
In another bowl, mix the chopped apricots with the white sugar.
Sprinkle in the half teaspoon of cinnamon and mix it in.
Sprinkle the flour on top of the fruit and mix it in thoroughly.
Spoon the fruit mixture on top of the batter in your cake pan. Distribute it as evenly as you can.
Drop spoonfuls of the remaining batter on top of the fruit. Spread them carefully with a rubber spatula, but it won’t be enough to cover the apricots completely. That’s okay. This coffee cake will look pretty with the apricots peeking up through the batter.
To Make the Crumb Topping:
Use a fork from your silverware drawer to mix the brown sugar and the flour together.
Mix in the softened salted butter with the fork. Continue to mix until everything is crumbly.
Hannah’s 2nd Note: You can also make the Crumb Topping in a food processor if you use chilled butter. Process the ingredients in an on-and-off motion with the steel blade.
Hannah’s 3rd Note: If you’re using softened butter and the crumb topping becomes smooth and doesn’t crumble, simply stick it in the refrigerator for 10 to 15 minutes. Then, when you add it to your coffee cake, it will crumble on top.
Use your impeccably clean fingers to crumble the topping over your coffee cake as evenly as you can.
Bake your Apricot Coffee Cake at 350 degrees F. for 45 to 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown. (Mine took 50 minutes.)
Remove your Apricot Coffee Cake from the oven and set it on a cold stovetop burner or a wire rack. Let it cool until it is just barely warm.
Serve Apricot Coffee Cake by cutting it in squares that are the size of sweet rolls, removing the squares with a metal spatula, and placing them on breakfast plates. Make sure that there is plenty of softened, salted butter for those who want to use it with their square of coffee cake, and a large pot of strong black coffee served with cream and sugar for those who want it. If there are children at the breakfast table, pour tall glasses of icy cold milk to go with their squares of Apricot Coffee Cake.
Hannah’s 4th Note: Some people serve this Apricot Coffee Cake with powdered sugar icing drizzled on the top, but personally, I don’t think it needs icing. Recipe follows just in case you’d like to try it.
POWDERED SUGAR ICING
1 cup powdered (confectioners) sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
2 to 4 Tablespoons cream
Mix the powdered sugar with the vanilla extract and the salt. Make sure everything is thoroughly combined.
Mix in the cream gradually and whisk until the icing reaches the desired consistency to drizzle over your warm Apricot Coffee Cake.
Pour the icing into a cup or bowl with a spout and drizzle it over your Apricot Coffee Cake.
Let the icing cool and “set” before you cut squares and serve your coffee cake.
Chapter Thirteen
It was morning and Hannah had just finished taking the last pan of Molasses Walnut Drop Cookies out of the oven when Lisa hurried into the kitchen. “Doug just called you, Hannah. He’d like to see you and Mike down at the bank at nine.”
Hannah was surprised at the request. Had Ross somehow managed to intimidate Doug into giving him the money? “Did Doug tell you why he wanted to see me?”
“No, he just asked me to pass on the message and said he’d explain everything when he saw you.”
“I’ll call Doug and tell him you’ll be there,” Mike offered, getting up from his stool at the work station. “And I’ll ask him what this is about if you want me to.”
“Yes, please do that. Doug’s never asked me to come in before and I know my business account isn’t overdrawn. Neither is my personal account, so I know it can’t be anything like that. And since he wants to see you, too, it’s got to be about Ross.”
“I’ll see what more I can find out,” Mike promised, slipping into his parka and going out the back kitchen door to make the call.
“What did you bake, Hannah?” Lisa asked after Mike left.
“Molasses Walnut Drop Cookies. Mike tasted some from the first batch and told me that they were way too good to serve at The Cookie Jar.”
Lisa laughed. “Because Mike wanted them all for himself?”
“That’s