Chocolate Bar Coffee Cake

Anyone who knows me knows that I have never met a coffee cake I didn't like. Partly it is because I associate coffee cake with old school visiting - the idea that someone would drop by in the middle of the afternoon for a cup of coffee and a gab session. I love the idea of sitting around with a girlfriend, a cup of something warm and a piece of crumbly cake in front of us. It conjures up images of effortless lazy days, something that is hard to do in our overly scheduled, multi-tasking lifestyles.

With that in mind I decided to bake a coffee cake and and invite a friend over. I used a recipe from my beloved Bite Me cookbook by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat. It is one of those magical cookbooks where everything turns out - no adjustments necessary. Everything is yummy on the first try.

Chocolate Bar Coffee Cake (How can you go wrong with a name like that?!)
from Bite Me, by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat

• In a food processor combine 1 cup sugar, 6 tbsp margarine, 2 eggs and 1 tsp vanilla. Process for 2 minutes.
• Mix 1 cup sour cream with 1 tsp baking soda and let it sit for 30 seconds (the sour cream gets all bubbly, very neat!) Then add it to the food processor and mix 3 seconds.
• Add 1 1/3 cup flour and 11/2 tsp baking powder to the mix and pulse until the flour disappears.
• Pour half the batter into a 9 inch square baking pan coated with cooking spray. Cover with half of a topping made with 2 cups chopped chocolate (I used a mix of milk and semi sweet chocolate) 1 cup brown sugar, 2 tbsp cocoa and 1 tbsp cinnamon. (I also added some coconut just because I had a handful to use up)
• Top with remaining batter and then remaining topping.
• Bake for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Pat yourself on the back for being a Baking Beauty and wait for a friend to come for a visit.