Ben Lippen School Coffee Cake (Mrs. Hathaway's recipe)

Very good! This recipe peaked my interest as my dad attended the same high school. The cake lives up to its reputation--very moist after letting it set overnight. I used brown sugar instead of white in the crumb topping because of personal preference, and would suggest doubling the topping recipe if you like a lot of crumbs; it doesn't make a whole lot. Overall a very nice coffee cake and easy to make with ingredients everyone has on hand!

I accidentally added twice as much butter as I was supposed to, and didn't realize it until the next day. I was wondering why the cake was so moist! It was fabulous. Next time, I might not add so much butter -- maybe just a little extra for good measure. I also doubled the crumb topping, since my husband and I like it. Great recipe!

This is a wonderful coffee cake recipe, very moist! I already had a favorite coffee cake recipe, but I couldn't resist trying this because of the history of it. I am glad that I did. It is quick and easy and uses basic ingredients that most of us already have in our cupboards and refrigerator. I reduced the oven temperature to 350 (375 seems too hot for such a small cake) and baked for the recommended time of 25 minutes. I added a sprinkle of cinnamon to the batter. I also topped the cake with a glaze made from powder sugar, almond extract, and a little bit of milk. No need to cool the cake before topping with glaze since there is no butter in it. This has earned a page in my favorite recipes collection! Thank you for sharing such a special recipe and the history of it.

I love this recipe! I found it on this site at least 4 years ago and it has become a family favorite! It is a simple classic and very "forgiving". I have 5 children home during the day and they gobble this up when I make it. It is a good "standby" esp when you are in a "pinch": short on time or short on ingredients. This has just a few simple ingredients that most of us always have on hand. It does make quite a "small" coffee cake so I usually double it or at least 1 1/2 times the recipe. By "forgiving" I mean you can be pretty creative with this recipe and still come out with a simple delicious breakfast or snack cake. I have substituted oat flour, or ground flax meal for part of the flour. I have added a dab of sour cream to make it more rich. I have added sugar cinnamon to the batter. I have added nuts. I get creative w/ whatever I happen to have on hand. We almost always double the topping too. I think you could add a little apple sauce or pumpkin puree to this recipe for variation. It is just a great BASIC coffee cake and I love the history behind it. I know nothing about the Ben Lippen school but when I make this recipe I always get curious to know more about it. We had this coffee cake for breakfast this morning. Just delicious!

Outstanding! The other review talk about it being a bit bland, but that works for my kids. I did double the topping and used brown sugar just because it's a family favorite . . . just like this recipe will be. Thank you very much for posting a coffee cake that I have all the ingredients IN THE CUPBOARD!

I went to Ben Lippen for 4 years and had this coffee cake every Thursday! (if memory serves me right!) Love it and love Mrs. Hathaway!!! We always ate it in a bowl with milk poured over it! My kids to this day eat their coffeecake that way too!

The cake had good flavor, but the topping was "lackluster". Doubling the topping is recommended and use brown sugar instead of white. Also, I drizzled some almond flavored icing over the top and since I had fresh sliced strawberries, added those too!

Yummy and mild. Kids loved it. I used brown sugar for the topping instead of white and reduced the amount of butter to 1 T. to make it less gloppy.

Excellent, I used whole wheat flour and it turned out great

This is a cake for simple tast people.. its quick easy and pritty much fool proof..however i think it is lacking in tast the crumbs are great but the actual tast needs more.. i think add more vanilla or cinnimin next time.

Followed the recipe exactly, except I added a few tablespoons of brown sugar to the topping so it would cover the cake a bit better. Very delish... it ended up being the best coffee cake I've ever had.

This caught my eye as I live in Columbia and have many friends who graduated from Ben Lippen. The coffee cake itself is indeed moist and delicious, however it is not something I would INSIST you try at some time in your life, it didn't change my life or anything but never-the-less, if you are looking for a good coffee cake recipe, look no further!

I was one of those thousands who enjoyed this as a sophomore at the Asheville campus. We'd take a big slice of this cake, set it in a cereal bowl and pour in some milk. Great way to start the day.

This is the most moist and delicious coffee cake I have ever tasted. I made the recipe as written with the exception of subbing 1 3/4 c of spelt flour for the all purpose stated. I also doubled the topping. Delicious!

I was looking for a simple coffee cake recipe, and found this one. It is easy, but I think adding a little more vanilla extract in the wet mixture would be better. For the crumb topping, I added some pecans. This really helped with the flavor. You can pretty much add anything to this recipe. I will make this again, only with improvements.

I don't bake much at all so of course i looked for a quick and easy recipe to satisfy my sweet tooth. This recipe is now my favorite dessert! I read some of the other reviews before i started and they were very helpful. I doubled the topping and watched my cooking time and it turned out perfect! Cant wait make this for my friends! O, and i wouldve never missed a day at this school! haha!Thanks for the recipe

This was quick and easy to put together for breakfast with ingredients I already had on hand. My whole family loved it so much, it was gone by the afternoon!

Pretty good. I doubled the topping as advised by other reviewers. It was too much topping, but still tasty.

It's a good cake, but I did take the advice of other reviewers by adding cinnamon and doubling the vanilla in the batter. I also like brown sugar instead of white for added flavor. A singe batch of topping would be too light for us, but doubling made too much, maybe just 1.5 next time. It was very tasty and I will make it again.

This was just okay ... given all the coffee cake recipes I have made or have yet to try, I wouldn't do this one again. I used brown sugar for the topping. There just isn't anything in this to elevate it above two stars. The ingredients are similar to a sour cream coffee cake without the sour cream, so perhaps that's why I found it a bit on the dry side.

This was just OK. If I would have read the other reviews I would have changed the topping to brown sugar and doubled it. This was more cake-like than coffee cake texture.

I found this on the site because I attended Ben Lippen, and I served this while I worked in the kitchen as a student. We all looked forward to Thursdays because of this recipe. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it, and it took me right back to high school! It is a very moist cake with a wonderfully crumbly topping. I don't like things too cloyingly sweet, and this fits the bill perfectly for me. I did like Cheyenne's suggestion for brown sugar, and the second time I made it, I added 5 Tbsp brown sugar and 2 additional Tbsp butter. My daughter, the sugar fiend, fell in love, and it's now a favorite at our house- just not every Thursday.

This cake is just ok. I made it as is. As far as flavor goes the title says it all "school coffee cake." I recommend this only for its simplicity and bare cupboard ingredients. Definitely make your own version of this with different toppings. I wish mine had butterscotch chips and pecans, or almonds and dried cranberries. Lastly, the cake came out fine without greasing the pan.

Yummy crumb cake!

Delicious!

I made this for my family this morning and they loved it. It has very good texture and taste. I will be keeping this recipe in my file.