481552 Mon Jan 21 09:59:50 -0800 2008 29 31 Home Cooking 0 3311462 [Note: this post was split from the LA board at: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/480684#3310691 -- The Chowhound Team]. Memories! Yes, the coffee cake from LAUSD schools is the best, though truth be old, it's been many years since high school. Here's the recipe from the LAUSD Food Services site. It's the only recipe posted so I suspect there are many Angelenos out there who hold this coffee cake in high regard: http://cafe-la.lausd.k12.ca.us/Coffee_ck.htm ~Suebee Sat Jan 19 08:33:59 -0800 2008 11379 Suebee 1 3311662 I love you Suebee! I haven't thought about the coffee cake in...30 years! I loved the coffee cake at school...even the chocolate cakes and brownies! I can't wait to make some. Thanks so much! Sat Jan 19 09:51:11 -0800 2008 3311462 93485 tatertotsrock 2 3314247 School coffee cakes are now made from a pre-prepared mix. Schools don't actually do any cooking from scratch anymore. The original recipe is much better than what is now served, I make it fairly frequently for my family. Sun Jan 20 10:39:56 -0800 2008 3311662 63062 Saucey 3 3314296 Good Morning Saucey, If you can find the good ol' skool brownie and choclate cake recipe too, I'd love it!! I can't wait to make the coffee cake!!! Sun Jan 20 10:58:26 -0800 2008 3314247 93485 tatertotsrock 3 4032629 Which recipe do you use from this site, I see 3 different coffe cake recipes? I do know that the topping was crumbled sugar, brown sugar and cinammon, I do not remember any peanuts, walnuts, nuts at all inside the cake or on top. Please email me the original recipe or which ever one is close to the coffee cake we use to eat back in the early 80"s. When I lived in Los Angeles in which I grew up there, this lady use to make the coffee cakes for me and I take them to work. But she became older and weaker not being able to make them any longer. I live now in Arizona and you know they don't have no O.G. coofee cake with the crumbled top. Please reply mrymoorehead@yahoo.com Sat Sep 13 15:19:08 -0700 2008 3314247 225961 Tosha38 1 3317293 My heart still belongs to those yeasty cinnamon nutrition rolls with the white icing! Mon Jan 21 11:51:55 -0800 2008 3311462 10926 mnosyne 1 3317900 That may be a new recipe, I can not imagine them using oil back then. Butter was the fat of choice. Here is the recipe from the LA Times, years ago. Los Angeles Unified School District Coffee Cake 1/2 cup butter (1 Stick) 4 oz room temperature 1/2 cup all purpose flour 1 1/2 cup cake flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup sugar 1 egg slightly beaten 1 tsp vanilla 1 cup sour cream Heat oven to 350 Butter & flour a 9x9 pan Mix flours and baking soda & baking powder in bowl, set aside Beat Butter & sugar until light & fluffy, add the egg, and vanilla & mix well. Add half the flour mixture, mixing until flour is blended. Blend in the sour cream, then the remaining flour misture. Spread half the carefully in the pan, sprinkle with half the topping and spread with the reamaining batter. Sprinkle the top of the cake with the remaining topping. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 40-50 minutes. Topping 1/4 cup flour 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup chopped walnuts 1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick) 2oz Mix together the flour, sugar, salt and walnuts. Add the butter in small pieces. Rub the butter in by hand until the mixture is crumbly. Be careful not to over mix! Mon Jan 21 14:33:19 -0800 2008 3311462 11279 Burger Boy 2 3318824 I don't think this is it. The school coffee cake had a definite nutmeg flavor. I have made the OPs recipe many times and it is spot on. Only problem is that it is a huge recipe so I always halve it. Mon Jan 21 19:12:13 -0800 2008 3317900 63062 Saucey 3 3319262 That was from the Times years ago, from culinary SOS section. Go Figure. Mon Jan 21 22:07:05 -0800 2008 3318824 11279 Burger Boy 2 3334442 I remember the LA Times printing a sour cream coffee cake that they attributed to LAUSD, but they also printed a long long time ago something called Los Angeles City Schools Old-Fashioned Crumb Cake. It's different from the OPs recipe. I did a search on LA Times & it didn't come up (my clipping is pretty old), so I'm going to assume that we won't run into recipe copyright issues here: 2 1/2 cups flour 1 cup brown sugar, packed 1 cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon nutmeg 3/4 C oil 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 egg 1 cup buttermilk Combine flour, brown sugar, granulated sugar, salt, nutmeg and oil. Remove 1/2 cup of mixture from bowl, add 1 teaspoon cinnamon and set aside for topping. Combine remaining 1 teaspoon cinnamon, baking soda, egg and buttermilk and blend well. Add to flour mixture. Do not over-mix. Spoon batter into greased 13x9 baking pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup reserved topping. Bake at 375 degrees 30 to 40 minutes. I've made this recipe countless number of times over the years, and have always gotten rave reviews. I tend to double the topping to 1 cup & 2 tsp of cinnamon & it doesn't seem to affect the cake part of it. I would also say that in a 13x9 pan, it seems a little thinner than the coffee cake I used to buy from my high school, so I'd do this in a 9x9 pan instead. It's a tad easier than the other recipes here (no nuts, no dry milk, no sour cream, no cake flour, etc). The most 'exotic' ingredient is buttermilk, which sometimes I replace with 1 cup of milk + 1 tbl. vinegar without a big change in taste. Fri Jan 25 22:36:36 -0800 2008 3317900 124851 empfam 3 5061734 Im wondering if the sour cream/buttermilk makes a different in the cake? I made your recipe and found that the cake was darker then what I remembered? Sun Sep 27 09:32:55 -0700 2009 3334442 1112305 manupopo 2 4017986 This recipe is very similar( minus the topping) to my mom's sour cream coffee cake recipe. In her recipe, the soda is mixed with the sourcream( it gets bubbly). Dont know if that makes a difference. Mon Sep 08 12:40:00 -0700 2008 3317900 190009 Calipoutine 1 3320253 It was the best coffee cake. I also remember a peanut butter roll that I'd like to get the recipe for. Tue Jan 22 09:05:39 -0800 2008 3311462 19121 tlegray 1 3320501 You got coffee cake in school??? Tue Jan 22 10:04:28 -0800 2008 3311462 10625 Missyme 2 3322510 Not in elementary. In middle and high school in Los Angeles we could buy coffee cake, the incredible sweet rolls mentioned above, and does anyone remember the french bread with melted butter? I loved that bread! Tue Jan 22 18:36:06 -0800 2008 3320501 63062 Saucey 3 3329174 How cute that someone (actually multiple someones) liked the coffee cake enough to not only remember it and then go out of their way to recreate it! As for oil vs. butter -- I find it hard to believe that LAUSD would have sprung for butter. Rumor was at my school that the meat of choice was horse. Of course, I was a student when there was no money for pencils or tissues, just for metal detectors. I did like the chocolate chip cookies (which went from 25c to 35c to 50c each, in successive years) but what hot chocolate chip cookie isn't good. I also suspect it was all pre-made and just reheated. My school was mostly about some outsourced pizza on Wednesdays and a bunch of vending machines with soda and candies, not to mention the candy we were required to sell. Suffice it to say that I always brought my own food. Thu Jan 24 14:20:29 -0800 2008 3322510 122457 willownt 3 3453661 Palms Jr. High in the 60's. I loved that French bread! That and the cinnamon rolls. I'm looking for the chocolate flying saucer cookies and the Ranger Cookies of elementary school. Sun Mar 02 21:21:26 -0800 2008 3322510 12418 mar52 1 3452844 Hi, I just baked this recipe and am disappointed, but not surprised. It didn't sound like the recipe I have been searching for. This coffee cake recipe is reminiscent of Amish Friendship Bread (spice cake). It is a very tasty coffee cake, just not at all like the one I am still searching for.... The coffee cake we enjoyed at Nutrition for .10 a slice was a large 4"- 6" square x 1" high, yeasty, soft, and buttery light colored cake with a gold buttery crumb topping, served on the waxed paper. It was more like a Sara Lee All-Butter coffee cake in appearance, but softer. It possibly had white icing drizzled on top. Does anyone remember this cake and what it was called? It was served at LAUSD schools in the San Fernando Valley in the 1960's-1970's. Nobel Jr. High in Northridge, Hughes Jr. High in Woodland Hills, and Canoga Park High School. I would LOVE to find the recipe for the cake I just described. Any ideas? Thanks! Sun Mar 02 15:56:19 -0800 2008 3311462 171219 hautecook 2 3453066 The coffee cake we had was cake like with a crumb topping, maybe with a drizzle, huh, now I am not sure. Which recipe did you try, the one on the LA Unified website Sun Mar 02 17:20:06 -0800 2008 3452844 11279 Burger Boy 3 3453606 Hi, I made the recipe that is posted on the LAUSD website via Sueebee's post at the top of the page. I posted 2 pics of my version. I just scanned the recipes on Uncle Phaedrus and the "coffee cake" that was served at my schools was definitely not a roll, but a square of cut cake. They were amazing! I will look at Uncle Phaedrus's posts more closely and continue my search if needed. I also fondly remember the scoops of rice / mashed potatoes with gravy too! I am glad I found this website, it's great! Regards, hautecook Sun Mar 02 20:49:17 -0800 2008 3453066 171219 hautecook 4 3453791 I might have to make that soon, it looks spot on for what I remember. Sun Mar 02 23:00:44 -0800 2008 3453606 11279 Burger Boy 2 3659100 Thrilled you too remember the yeasty sweet roll! Were you able to locate the recipe? I have desperately searched for this recipe. I would love to make it for my kids and me too :) Thanks!!! Mon May 05 15:14:46 -0700 2008 3452844 189792 xzager8 1 3453029 Ha! Thanks for reminding me why I saved this website: http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0422F05.htm#4 Sun Mar 02 17:07:39 -0800 2008 3311462 10926 mnosyne 2 3453610 Hi, I just posted to the previous person instead of you, sorry. See above for my reply. Thanks for the link! hautecook Sun Mar 02 20:51:59 -0800 2008 3453029 171219 hautecook 1 3464915 My parents, my grandparents and I all grew up in the Glendale Unified School District which is adjacent. However, SAME COFFEE CAKE! I cannot tell you how many times over the years my father has mentioned it. When I started at Rosemont Jr. High (maaaaaannnnnny years ago) his only advice to me was to try to coffee cake. My family and I now live in Colorado. However, as soon as a friend (from Alaska of all places) sent me the link I whiped it up in the kitchen. The sense memory is unbelievable. It's the EXACT same stuff! It's absolutly delicious. Of course the first person I called was my dad. Thank you so much! Thu Mar 06 00:16:04 -0800 2008 3311462 172303 Emafer 2 4011514 Hello Emafer! Which recipe did you try? There are like three on here! Thanks for your help. Yes, best coffee cake ever!!! I personally had some at Chester W. Nimitz Middle School in Huntington Park, CA! Woohooo!! Delicious, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Okay, I'm only 17 but whatever..haha! Thanks for the recipe help Emafer! Thanks- Sally Fri Sep 05 12:26:33 -0700 2008 3464915 224035 sally92375 2 4027152 Emafer - which one of the recipes posted above did you make? Dying to know. Thanks very much! Thu Sep 11 12:56:01 -0700 2008 3464915 213837 apple342 1 4448909 The Los Angeles City Schools Old-Fashioned Crumb Cake posted by empfam with the oil and the 21/2 cups flour comes closest. The recipe at the schools site is scaled down from the original foodservice recipe, but the beating times are way too long for the reduced amount of batter and you wind up with a very rubbery coffee cake. Stick with the one above and you'll be pretty amazed how close you come. Tue Feb 24 15:30:16 -0800 2009 3311462 143500 Big Eater 2 4602030 Thanks, Big Eater! Going to give that one a try! Thu Apr 16 12:55:30 -0700 2009 4448909 213837 apple342 3 5061740 how did your coffee cake come out? dying to know, Sun Sep 27 09:35:11 -0700 2009 4602030 1112305 manupopo