The Cottage Buttermilk Coffee Cake

A old summer roommate shared this buttermilk coffee cake recipe from The Cottage, a restaurant in San Diego on facebook. In all honesty, coffee cake is a bit too dry for me, so I have never been a huge fan of it. I’m not sure how to more moisture without losing the coffee cake-ness (whatever that definition is).

I told her I’d check it out, but it’d be “a long while” since I’d be busy in clinics.

I lied. I baked it a day and a half later. B says I really do have an obsessive cooking disorder.

Ironically, I did see a true OCD patient that day. While the name of the blog is of course a play on words, the seriousness of these psychiatric disorders is truly sobering. It’s incredible how difficult it is to function when your mind isn’t right.

As one classmate succinctly stated, “The more I learn, the more I wonder how I’m alive.” More specifically, I wonder how so many of us managed to come out somewhat normal.

I think having mental illnesses is tougher than any other type of illness. As long as I have the ability to think, have meaningful relationships with friends and family, and keep a sense of humor, life just seems more manageable.

Ingredients

1 cup canola oil
3 1/3 cups flour
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 egg
1 1/4 cup buttermilk (1 cup buttermilk = 1 cup milk + 1 tablespoon white vinegar)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease 13 x 9-inch baking dish. In a large mixing bowl combine the oil, flour, sugars, cinnamon, and ginger. The mixture should be crumbly. Remove 1 1/3 cups and set aside. Add eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix it using a whip. To the remaining topping batter add the walnuts and spread the topping evenly over the batter. Bake for 25 minutes or until cake springs back to the touch.

Makes 12 pieces of coffee cake.