Right now the scent of Vietnamese cinnamon and baking blueberries fills my apartment. Freshly made baked goods are a perfect breakfast treat. Why buy coffee cake when you can easily prepare it and have it fresh from the oven in 45 minutes? This is a super simple and quick recipe that I got from my mom. I used fresh NJ blueberries, but I’m guessing you can use cherries, raspberries or blackberries. I love summer fruit!

Butter/grease a 9″ square pan and set aside

Mix:

• 3/4 C. Sugar
• 1/4 C. Vegetable Shortening
• 1 egg

Stir in:

• 1/2 C. Milk
• 2 C. AP Flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Then stir in well drained blueberries.

To make the streusel topping:

• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1/3 C. Flour
• 1/2 C. unsalted butter, (softened)
• 1/2 tsp. (or more if you like) Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Combine the streusel ingredients with clean bare hands until the mixture resembles pebbles. Add topping to coffee cake mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes, depending on how hot your oven is.

A few notes: I swapped unsweetened vanilla almond milk for regular cow’s milk (because sometimes it bothers me [lactose intolerant])–a little more than 1/2 a cup of almond milk. You can judge by the consistency of the mixture. and, I used Vietnamese cinnamon because it’s more flavorful and stronger than regular cinnamon.

it really was delicious. Trust me.