As we drove down Henderson Hwy. recently, we read a sign that went “Mennonite Girls Can Cook-262 sold”.  A cryptic message, but I understood it perfectly.  “Mennonite Girls Can Cook” is the title of a blog that I enjoy very much and the “girls” have now produced a cookbook by the same title.  Sales have started off modestly… 262 to be exact.

My favourite Mennonite recipe is Platz.  When I say the name out loud, I giggle because it sounds like something that has been deposited in a field by a range animal.  In fact, it is the German name for Coffee Cake.  I like the German take on coffee cake because it is not filled with carbs and sugar.  The cake is flat and the emphasis is on seasonal fruit and berries.  I made one recently and the Daughter #2’s Frenchman (who is half German) was very impressed.

Here’s the recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x13″ pan.

In the food processor, combine 1 c flour, 1/2 c sugar, 1 t baking powder, 1/4 c butter untill crumbly.  Or the cut the butter into the above ingredients with a plenty blender.  Add 1/2 c milk, 1 egg, 1 t vanilla.  Spread into the prepared pan.  Top with finely diced fresh or frozen fruit of your choice.  The “girls” prefere rhubarb or halved Italian plams.  On this day I combined rubarb, frozen strawberries, blueberries and a over ripe banana.

Combine the following for the crumb topping: 1 1/2 c of flour, 1/2 c melted butter and 1 1/2 c sugar (white or brown for a different taste).  Sprinkle over the fruit.  Bake in the top 1/3 of your oven until golden brown (about 30 minutes).  If you have overloaded the fruit (as I have a tendency to do), you may want to put a second baking sheet near the bottom of the oven to catch the drips.

A couple of weeks ago, Mom#2 picked a bucket of fresh local strawberries for me.  I froze them individually on cookie sheets before I bagged them.  Instead of turning into one frozen hunk, they come out individually frozen and are so easy to use.

 I may have posted this recipe before-who cares, it is so good that it deserves an encore. 

Kath’s quote: “You can tell when you have crossed the frontier into Germany because of the badness of the coffee.”-Edward VII

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