Memorial Day weekend flies by way too quickly. I lost my aunt Diann on Thursday, and it was such a shock that I baked away on Friday to distract myself. We left for family camp on Friday evening and just got back home on Monday afternoon, so it sank in slowly. She would have been 69 on Saturday, and she was always smiling. I miss her already! One of the last things she told me was that she loved my blog. Now every time I’m baking or blogging, I think of her and it makes me smile. It’ll be a long time of healing for my family, but we’ll get through it together as always.

One thing I made was this loaf of coffee cake. Once I sliced it up, it got attacked, and tasted good for several days, which is always nice when you’re on a long weekend holiday! I loved it. The original recipe called for sour cream, but I’m all about substitutions, especially when it equals more protein.  As this was baking, it smelled so good that immediately following the photo shoot, I ate two pieces. And I’m not even sorry. It was so good! The cake is moist and melts in your mouth, and the streusel layer in the middle packs in the flavor. Otherwise I just want to eat the top off the cake and leave it! You could use any kind of nuts you want. I used pecans and they blended really well with the other flavors.

Cake Ingredients:
½ c. butter, room temperature
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs
1 t. vanilla extract
½ c. greek yogurt
1¼ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
¼ t. baking soda

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350. Spray 9×5 loaf pan with non-stick cooking spray. In bowl of electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time and beat well. Add vanilla and greek yogurt. Mix well. Add flour, baking powder, and baking soda to wet ingredients all at once and mix just until combined. Pour half of the batter into prepared pan and sprinkle half the streusel mixture on top. Add remaining batter and top with remaining streusel mixture. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until a knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Streusel Topping Ingredients & Directions:
¼ c. brown sugar
½ c. flour
2 t. cinnamon
3 T. butter, chilled, cut into 1-inch cubes
½ c. chopped pecans

In medium bowl, combine all ingredients and cut in butter with pastry cutter or fork until well combined and butter is the size of small peas.

Source: Laughing Spatula