Measurements [metric]
Cake
- 3/4 c butter, softened
- 1 to 2 c sugar
- 2 eggs
- 3 c flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 c milk
Topping
- 2 Tbs butter, softened
- 1/2 to 1 c sugar
- 1 tsp cocoa
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 4 oz nuts, chopped
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Either mix the cake ingredients together all at once into a smooth batter (that's the blitz), or mix more traditionally (cream the butter, add the sugar, add the eggs, add the remaining wet and dry ingredients alternately).
Pour into a 10-inch by 15-inch pan and smooth the top. Dot with softened butter (about 1/2-teaspoon per dot). Mix sugar, cocoa, cinnamon, and nuts together, and spread over the top, being sure to get all the way to the pan edges.
Bake 20 to 25 minutes.
When my mother discovered her copy of this recipe, she was very happy, and mailed me a photocopy with a note to make it for her. This is one of her favorites of the cakes my grandmother baked, although I don't remember it. Perhaps I was too busy eating Jewish apple cake.
When she next came to visit six months later I'd made _two_ cakes, because I'd nearly burnt the first one. The sugar seemed too much, for both the cake and the topping, and my mother agreed that even with a quarter less sugar in the cake and the topping, the cake was sweeter and moister than she remembered. I've reduced the sugar even further.
Despite the "Blitz" in the name, this is an American recipe, one of a number of variations of quickly mixed cakes.