More on Swedish Crumb Coffeecake ~ page 262

After Carissa's 3 bakings of Aunt Ruth's Swedish Crumb Coffeecake last week...I had to check it out to try to figure out the problem she had with the pan size. It doesn't say this in the cookbook, but I have always made this in a 9-inch round cake pan--just because when Aunt Ruth made it for me many years ago, that is the pan size she used. Because of my fond remembrance of Aunt Ruth, I prefer this cake to be tall, like hers. If you make it in a rectangle pan, it will not be as high. However, as Carissa pointed out, with the smaller pan there is often a problem of getting the center cooked through without overcooking the edges. If you look close at this photo, you will see the point from the center is a bit soft still.

After giving the pan-size a lot of thought though, I still think a 9-inch square glass baking dish (mine actually measures 8 1/2-inches) or an 11 x 7-inch glass dish will work well (both hold the same amount). I think the 11 x 7-inch will have the least of troubles with the center cooking. Carissa found in her testing that she prefers the 13 x 9-inch, which for sure gets rid of the problem of the center cooking through, although she did have to decrease the cooking time.

Now, the 9-inch round cake pan (just one), my preference, holds a little less than all the other pans, hence, it makes a higher cake, which will be thicker in the middle, and a little more challenging to cook right. But the way I solve that problem and still get a high cake, is when I use the 9-inch round cake pan, I bake it on a lower temperature of 350 degrees, (and cook it the full 35 minutes) instead of the 375 degrrees that is called for in the recipe. I also checked it often for doneness toward the end. You really don't want to overcook the edges.

When writing up this recipe, I tried to simplify instructions, so omitted the tricker smaller cake pan from  suggestion of a pan size for this cake. If you feel you are still having trouble with getting the center cooked through, like Carissa did, then I suggest that you try lowering your oven temperature to 350 degrees and see if that works for you, (Sometimes I start at 375, then after 15 minutes lower the temperature to 350--but that takes a lot of watching and remembering!) or just go to the larger size pan, like she did.

I know this is a lot of conversation over a very simple recipe, but getting this cake to bake perfect is worth the effort--and eating up our "trial baking" has not been a problem! If you make this recipe, please let us know the size pan you used, and how it worked for you. ~Maybe we will take a vote on the best pan size, and cooking time and temperature!