Babcia’s Tea Cake

I can’t believe that it’s already the holiday season. As I started thinking about this blog, I was also making grocery lists of everything that I need for Thanksgiving. I usually bake a pie or cake for my family and this year I’m thinking of making one of my grandma’s tea cakes. Growing up I would always help my grandma and mom cook and bake. They don’t use measurements, if anything is written down it usually says something like add a little bit of flour and some eggs. When I would ask what a little means, they would say you have to see it and feel it. When I was little I took that a fact, that someday I would also just know that the dough didn’t look right and then know exactly what to add to make it better. Sadly, as an adult I never developed their skill – maybe it’s because of the lab background but I need all the measurements precisely written out. It’s been a lot of trial and error over the years, but I’ve slowly started compiling measurements for my grandma’s recipes. I thought this holiday season I would share one. Below is what she called her cream cheese tea cake. Hope you enjoy!

Cake:

1 egg

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ cup butter

1 cup sugar

3 cups flour

Filling:

½ cup sugar

1 egg

16 ounces cream cheese (soften) – can use 8 ounces cream cheese and 8 ounces ricotta cheese for a lighter cake.

Topping:

½ cup brown sugar

1/3 cup flour

1/3 cup butter

½ cup chopped pecans (optional)

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350F. Grease pan – I usually use the standard 9×13 inch baking pan

Step 2: Mix ½ cup butter, 1 egg and 1 cup sugar. After it’s smooth add 1 cup sour cream and 1 tsp vanilla extract.

Step 3: Slowly stir in 3 cups of flour, 1 tsp baking soda and 1 tsp baking powder. Mix until it becomes a dough.

Step 4: Cut the dough in half and spread half of it evenly into the baking pan.

Step 5: Mix the filling together – 16 ounces of cream cheese, ½ cup sugar and 1 egg until it’s smooth. Pour filling over the dough in the baking dish.

Step 6: Tear remaining dough and drop it in over the filling. I usually do this by the spoonful. It should cover the top without the filling showing.

Step 7: Mix the topping together – 1/3 cup flour, 1/3 cup butter, ½ cup brown sugar and pecans. Crumble it on top of the dough. The reason we tear the dough in step 6 is so some of the topping goes in between the dough pieces.

Step 8: Bake for 40 mins. My grandma always used the toothpick tick to see if it was done.