In the 80’s, when I was a kid, my mom was worried that I would be abducted. Who can blame her, I was very cute. Just kidding, that probably isn’t what motivates abductors. Missing children were big news back then and the media helped fuel a general paranoia among parents. Local police stations ran programs where you could bring your kids in to be photographed and finger-printed so that if someone took us we’d be easier to find (I still have the mugshot-like photos, and the residual anxiety this process caused). Parents were also advised to come up with passwords that could be used in cases of emergency. They were imagining a situation where your parents were hospitalized (and presumably unconscious because otherwise why wouldn’t they just talk to you on the phone?) and someone else needed to pick you up at school. That person would be instructed to say the password so you knew it was safe to go with them. Even as a child this didn’t make sense to me. If my mom was unconscious, how would she give the password to someone? Why wouldn’t a family member just come get me or someone at school? But we came up with a password together and I was instructed to never tell it to anyone. It was: Raspberry Coffee Cake.
The raspberry coffee cake in question was my favorite thing my mom baked. A dense and buttery cake with raspberry jam and a buttery glaze. She made it for special occasions or if I begged sufficiently.It was also her favorite thing, and as I got older she would ask me to make it for her. The threat of abduction long passed, we could now laugh together imagining a stranger coming up to child me and saying: your mom was in a horrible accident! raspberry coffee cake! It became one of our longest running jokes.
My mom died in March after a long illness. It has been three months and I don’t have anything profound to say about her death. I miss her. Illness is terrible. Our healthcare system is rotten. People can be wonderful. Grief is weird.
But I now feel comfortable sharing the password, and the recipe. The cake is easy to put together and keeps well on the counter for a few days. She and I both felt strongly that raspberry jam was the only choice here, though theoretically you could use anything. My mom would have doubled the glaze recipe, so feel free.
This can easily be doubled and baked in a 9×13, which is what we did growing up. The cake freezes well, so if you do that and aren’t going to get through it all, feel free to freeze a few slices.
Raspberry Coffee Cake (thanks, mom)
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1/2 cup (4oz) unsalted butter, softened
- 3/4 cup, plus 2 tablespoons, granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/3-1/2 cup raspberry jam (I tend toward the lower end, my mom used a lot)
Grease the bottom and sides of an 8 x 8-inch square baking pan, and then line with parchment. The parchment is optional, but nice if you want to get the cake out of the pan easily. Preheat your oven to 350°F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fit with the paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar on medium/high speed until light and fluffy (3 minutes?). Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well between each addition. Add the vanilla extract and beat for 30 seconds. (It is okay if the mixture looks a little curdled at this point, it is a pretty forgiving cake.) Add the dry ingredients and mix on low speed just until combined. Use a rubber spatula to give the dough a few stirs and make sure it is evenly mixed.
Spread 3/4 of the dough into the bottom of the prepared pan. It will be a relatively thin layer, and an offset spatula makes this easier. Carefully spread the jam on top of the dough in a thinish layer leaving a 1/2-inch gap along the edges (to prevent the jam from burning against the sides of the pan). Dot the remaining dough over the top of the jam layer.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, until golden and a tester comes out clean.
Allow to cool before topping with glaze.
Basic butter glaze: In a medium/small sauce pan melt 3 tablespoons of unsalted butter. Once melted, add 1 1/2 cups of confectioners sugar, a tablespoon of milk, and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Whisk to combine. You can thin glaze with more milk or thicken it with more confectioners sugar. You want it pour-able, but thick and opaque. Honestly, every time I make this is works out differently and I need to adjust. It will be fine whatever it is.