More From the Farm Cookbook and Helen Marie’s Breakfast Buttercream Coffee Cake

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Maybe it’s the frequent dusting of snow that doesn’t add up to much, the general boredom setting in due to roads and sidewalks being too slippery for daily walks, or something in the air that makes me feel compelled to bake coffee cake. Whatever it is, I’m on a roll. Not that anyone in this family is complaining.

I dove into my cookbook collection to see what coffee cake recipe would jump out at me next. I figured I should have some sort of idea in mind of what I wanted to do before the morning.

Since I knew I’d wake up hours before everyone anyway, I would even have plenty of time before the first kid walked in, ravenous and looking for food.

Skip to the recipe using the Table of Contents below or keep on reading for a little cookbook talk.

Table of Contents

1. I Forgot to Read Through the Recipe First
2. What Is Ermine Frosting and Filling?
3. Want to See Inside “More From the Farm: Family Recipes and Memories of a Lifetime by Philip Potempa?”
4. Recipe for Coffee Cake with Ermine Frosting Filling
5. What Are All of Philip Potempa’s Cookbooks?
6. Related Recipes

I Forgot to Read Through the Recipe First

I didn’t find anything that spoke to me right then … until I happened to grab More From the Farm: Family Recipes and Memories of a Lifetime by Philip Potempa. That’s when I found “Helen Marie’s Breakfast Buttercream Coffeecake.” It was the “buttercream” that did me in.

You complete me, too, coffee cake…until I realized something very big about this recipe, after I was already a few steps in. #1. This isn’t buttercream, but ermine frosting and #2. Ermine frosting is a cooked frosting (delicious and less sweet than buttercream).

Okay, I broke basically the #1 rule of every Big Stuff Fancy Baker out there. I did not READ the recipe steps, I only SKIMMED them.

Confession time: Honestly, I’m not sure I even did that. Why didn’t I do that? *shrug* It was somewhere after the topping and before the baking that I realized that making this coffee cake was a little more work than I had expected.

What Is Ermine Frosting and Filling?

I don’t want to let that throw you off. Break it down into manageable tasks. Don’t just look at the whole thing or you might back away. It isn’t hard to bake or anything. You begin by making the topping, then setting it aside.

You’ll work on the batter, creaming butter and granulated sugar, while you measure and separate the dry ingredients from the wet — before adding them into the batter in parts.

When the coffee cake bakes, you’ll prepare the cooked frosting. It’s not a buttercream, rather, it’s what I would call “ermine frosting,” the same type that traditionally appears on red velvet cakes. That frosting is the filling and will need to cool.

After the cake bakes, and then sits for a bit, you’ll slice it in half, topping with the ermine frosting filling, before replacing the top. I used a large turner to help me get under the coffee cake, to slide it over to a second cooling rack, and to keep it from breaking.

I was mostly successful, except for a small corner I managed to snap off. I still consider it a “win.”

Um, I did not wait for two hours to slice and fill this coffee cake. I didn’t even wait one. Bad! Bad, Jessy! I waited until the coffee cake was warm, but the ermine frosting filling was cooled. I kept stirring it occasionally to help speed along that process.

Of course, the result is a NOT as beautiful coffee cake — not that anyone seemed to care. The oldest ate his weight in it, I swear.

Now, let’s take a look at the cookbook where I found this homemade frosting-filled coffee cake recipe.

Want to See Inside “More From the Farm: Family Recipes and Memories of a Lifetime by Philip Potempa?”

My parents moved from a Chicago suburb to a small Northwest Indiana town when I was headed into Kindergarten, so Chicago papers were a staple in my parents’ house.

Although I never read much more than the comics section and sought out the “Can You Tell a Difference?” puzzles, regular readers might recall Philip Potempa. After all, Philip Potempa worked for twenty years as a writer at The Times, with features and daily entertainment coverage, and his regular column, From the Farm.

That’s also the name of Philip’s first cookbook. More From the Farm picks up where his first cookbook left off, with three more years of Philip’s columns and recipes, including images, sketches, and previously unpublished columns, packed inside.

My mom sent me this book in a box a year or two ago. Isn’t that fun? There’s nothing better than getting mail and my mom is so good at picking out cookbooks I’ll enjoy.

Chapters inside “More From the Farm” cookbook include:

• A Note from My Editor
• Foreword
• Introduction
• Breads and Biscuits
• Soups, Stews, and Chili
• Pastries and Dessert Favorites
• Breakfast Greats
• Meats and Main Dishes
• Salads and Side Dishes
• From Jim Nabors’ Kitchen
• A Thank You Note from Phil’s Mother.

Recipes that appeal to me include Annie’s Easy Baseball Bars, Alice’s Maraschino Cherry Cake, Judy’s Rhubarb Custard Pie, and St. Katherine’s Greek Lemon Rice Soup.

If you are a cookbook reader, you’ll enjoy this one. Many of these are family, area celebrity, or reader-submitted recipes. In many cases, there is a story to go along with the recipe — which should keep all of you cookbook readers happy.

The majority of recipes are homemade, with easy-to-find ingredients. With more than 200 recipes, you’ll stay busy, but be warned that the font is small. The pages can be busy, with a recipe (or two), sometimes an illustration, a call-out ingredient sidebar, and bullet point steps all squeezed onto the same page.

But it is charming, with local stories and restaurants and events all around the areas where I grew up.

Recipe for Coffee Cake with Ermine Frosting Filling

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What Are All of Philip Potempa’s Cookbooks?

If you enjoy a mix of story and recipe, do check these books out. From long ago movie stars and other celebrities to Philip’s own family members, it’s an entertaining read. Add in family-tested recipes you’ll actually use for a great combination that ticks several boxes.

Related Recipes