It was the 1920’s. The place, Chicago, Illinois. Francois and Antoinette Pope made they mark on the culinary scene first with the Antoinette Pope School of Fancy Cookery. Then came the television show hosted by the couple. Finally, their cookbook, The Antoinette Pope School Cookbook. I would never have known about any of this had one of the Pope family members not presented me with a copy of the cookbook. The more I read about the Pope’s, (on line there are even blogs about the cooking duo with comments by the many people who graduated from their school or who have called the cookbook their “go-to” cooking bible), the more fascinated I became with their story. The Crunchy Top Butter Cake is one of the many delightful recipes from an American heritage cookbook that elevated the art of cooking to “Fancy Cookery.”
| Servings |
- 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups pecans or walnuts, chopped fine
- 1/2 cup butter, room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 1 cup milk or buttermilk
- 2 cups cake flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
- 1/2 cup half and half or heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
- 2 cups powdered sugar
Ingredients For the Crunchy Top:
For the Cake:
For the Caramel Icing:
| Rate this recipe! |
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9” x 9” baking pan (glass preferred) with cooking spray. Line the coated pan with parchment paper, leaving a 2-3 inch overhang for easy lift out. Lightly spray the parchment paper. Make the crunchy top. In a bowl, combine the butter, sugar, cinnamon and nuts. Using a pastry blender or fork, cut the ingredients together to the consistency of course meal. Spoon the crunchy top mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly over the bottom. Make the cake. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or using electric beaters, mix together the butter, and sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add adds, vanilla, milk or buttermilk and mix well. Add the cake flour, baking powder and salt and mix for about 3-4 minutes. Pour batter evenly over the crunchy top. Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes up clean. While cake is baking, make the caramel icing. In a medium saucepot, combing the brown sugar, half and half or heavy cream, butter and salt. Stir well and cook until mixture begins to boil, stirring often. Pour into a large bowl. Add vanilla and powdered sugar, and mix by hand or with electric beaters. (Consistency should be thick but pourable. If too thick, add a small amount of cream. If too runny, add more powdered sugar.) When cake is done, let cool for 10 minutes, and then drizzle caramel icing over top.
