It is the middle of winter in Oregon and the snow is falling here on the mountain today.  I had been sorting through some items my mom sent me last year and came across several old cookbooks.  I see they are not only from my hometown Finleyville, Pennsylvania, but also published the year I was born 1962.  As I was going through the book looking at the recipes I discovered old advertising ads and still remember some of the stores we shopped at as I was growing up.  It brings back a lot of memories of shopping at “Rosenberg’s Department Store” where we bought all of our clothes (No big shopping malls back then), if my mom did not make them.  Also one of our treats for the week was going to “Boyka Tavern” to have a Hot Hamburger sandwich, a meaty hamburger sandwiched between two pieces of thick white bread then covered with the “BEST” gravy and homemade french fries.  Old cookbooks have so much history and great memories.  As I was looking at many of the recipes the Apricot Coffee Cake caught my eye.  Today is “National Apricot Day” and what a great recipe to try from this vintage cookbook.  I did have to do a few adjustments.  It said to use a 6″x10″ pan but that is not a size I have ever seen.  I also wanted to bake this so I could display it out of the pan so I choose to used a 9-inch springform pan.  If you just want to leave it in the pan you can also use a 13×9 baking pan.  Since this pan is larger than the original size I multiplied the recipe by 1 1/2 times and added more time for baking.  Apricots are not fresh this time of the year in Oregon but I had several jars I canned last summer and they were perfect for this recipe.  I also increased the amount of apricots since this was a large cake and wanted a little more apricots in the center of the coffee cake.  This was an easy recipe to make and the batter was so silky and it tasted amazing.  With recipes all over the internet these cookbooks are long forgotten but have such amazing recipes.  So if you have some old cookbooks packed away in the basement or attic get them out and discover some of the recipes long lost and maybe they will bring back some memories for you!

Apricot Coffee Cake
2 1/4 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup shortening
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups canned apricots

Topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degree.  Spray a 9-inch springform pan or 13×9-inch baking pan with non-stick spray, set aside. In a mixer bowl combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt and mix to combine.  Add shortening and with a pastry blender or fork cut into the flour mixture.  Add the milk, eggs, and vanilla and beat until the batter is smooth, about 2 minutes.  Spread 1/2 the batter into the prepared pan.  You can mash up the apricots and spread over the batter or lay the apricot pieces over the batter. Top with the remaining batter.  Combine all the topping ingredients and sprinkle over the batter.  Bake for 30-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.