“Okay Auntie, but I won’t eat it because I don’t like coffee.”  So beautifully stated by my 9 year old nephew, Flynn, upon seeing what we were going to bake this morning.  Kids crack me up, they’re just so literal.

Flynn asked for a baking day with Auntie Anne which always makes me feel like a total rock star! He came over this morning and Paul, Flynn, and I all gathered in the kitchen to create this very simple yet delicious coffee cake.

I assigned Paul and Flynn all of the jobs I hate (I am evil that way) such as greasing the pan and cutting butter into small pieces (because of course I didn’t read the recipe ahead of time in order to know that I needed softened butter).  Then Flynn and I measured, mixed, and stirred this loveliness into creation.

Flynn learned a very valuable lesson this morning which is you can’t mess up in baking.  Well, you can (in fact I mess up all of the time), but those mistakes make it interesting and exciting.  Today’s mistakes entailed the following… I used a 10 inch pan instead of 9 inch – oops!  We barely had enough sugar for the batter (seriously, we used every last granule so Paul had to make a grocery store run) – oops!  I didn’t have softened butter – oops!

But with all these mistakes comes a relaxed feeling that settles into the kitchen.  And then ya kinda wanna see if it’s actually gonna turn out correctly.  It’s just fun!

This is a super quick and easy recipe that screams summer.  Enjoy!

Strawberry Coffee Cake (recipe care of allrecipes.com)

INGREDIENTS:  1/4 cup butter, 3/4 cup white sugar, 1 egg, 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced strawberries, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1/2 cup white sugar, 1/4 cup butter (softened), 1/4 cup flaked coconut

DIRECTIONS:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch baking pan. Beat 1/4 cup butter in a bowl until creamy; add 3/4 cup sugar and egg. Beat until fully incorporated. Mix 1 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, and salt together in a separate bowl. Stir flour mixture, alternating with milk, into butter mixture until combined. Pour batter into prepared baking pan. Arrange strawberries atop the batter. Mix 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/4 cup butter, and coconut together in a bowl. Sprinkle topping over strawberries. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes.