Sphere: Pumpkin Raisin Bread

Seasonal Specials: Pumpkin & Squash

Pumpkin Raisin Bread + Pumpkin Pie Spice Glaze

Sphere Magazine, October 1973

Pumpkin Raisin Bread, Pumpkin Butter & Pickled Pumpkin

This recipe sounds like a keeper!

Sphere: Small Wedding Cake

 Encore For A Great Cake

A smaller version of the wedding cake from the September 1972 issue

Sphere Magazine, October 1973

You guys, I was so psyched to receive this vintage issue of Betty Crocker's Sphere Magazine! This is probably the most coveted issues of Sphere. It sounds super delicious! I do not have the September 1972 issue; but if I ever find that issue one day, I'll definitely be sharing the large version of the wedding cake recipe.

*07/11/17: Click Americana has a 1971 Pillsbury date bar cake recipe. You could probably use it in place of the discontinued Betty Crocker mix. 

"Tender pound cake & moist date bar layers, conveniently made from mixes, layered with Coffee Buttercream Frosting & Apricot Filling and sprinkled with cherry liqueur, are worthy of the most significant celebration. Don't forget that the small meringue mushrooms you serve with the cake will bring good luck to grand occasions!"

If you're thinking "I have not seen a date bar mix in a grocery store", no worries. Even though Betty Crocker's Date Bar Mix was discontinued, Betty Crocker's Ask Betty suggests here that you try this date bar recipe.

Good Luck Meringue Mushrooms

If you're feeling especially ambitious & want to cobble together your own date bar recipe, check out this ShopWell listing of Betty Crocker's Date Bar Mix ingredients:

Sugar, Dried Dates, Enriched Flour Bleached (Wheat Flour, Malted Barley Flour, Niacin, Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), Partially Hydrogenated Soybean and/or Cottonseed Oil, Rolled Oats, Coconut, Nonfat Milk, Wheat Starch, Dried Honey, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Salt, Baking Soda, Corn Syrup, Mono and Diglycerides, Corn Starch, Color Added, Soy Flour, Artificial Flavor.
Contains milk, soy and wheat ingredients.

Sphere: Dinner For Two

Two's Company

Sphere Magazine, August 1974

• Dinner menu for two
• Hibachi Shrimp
• Lemon Peppered Steak
• Fresh Green Beans
• Parslied Potatoes
• Tomato Slices
• Tossed Salad
• Rolls & Butter
• Upside Down Pear Cake

"Elegant  - and easy - a simply splendid dinner for two. We provide the recipes, you add the atmosphere."

Upside Down Pear Cake

Hibachi Shrimp, Lemon Peppered Steak & Upside Down Pear Cake decorated with whipped cream rosettes

Sphere: Sprightly Lemon Recipes

The Sprightly Lemon

Sphere Magazine

August 1974

• Lemons Through History
• Cooking With Lemon Juice
• Zeste & Ziste
• Scallops Meuniere
• Veal Round Steak Piccata 
• Creamy Lemon Meringue Pie
• Citrus Freeze
• British Lemonade
• Lemon Glazed Pound Cake
• Sea Slaw (Crab salad)

Scallops Meuniere, Veal Round Steak Piccata, Creamy Lemon Meringue Pie, Citrus Freeze

British Lemonade, Lemon Glazed Pound Cake & Sea Slaw

Cooking With Lemons

Refreshing lemon recipes for spring & summer menus

Sphere: Easy Tips, August 1974

Easy Way Out time savers

Sphere Magazine, August 1974

Some of the tips from Sphere's readers are great, like the one about the cake frosting & the frozen pie crust. The pancake idea is one we've all done in a moment of laziness, after realizing "I'm the only eating this anyway." Other tips, though, are not so awesome. I don't think you want scalding hot safety pins on a turkey, metal baking sheets in a moving car or a waffle iron scrubbed with someone's old, used toothbrush. Really, Carol in California, what were you thinking ?

Sugar Free Carrot Cake

Today I had a bag of baby carrots that needed to be used ASAP. I baked the Sugar Free Carrot Cake recipe from Sugar Free Recipes. The cake came out amazingly moist, fluffy and flavorful, with just the right amount of sweetness. Here are my notes:
- Replaced the white flour with Hodgson Mill whole wheat flour
- Added cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I didn't have allspice
- Mixed in toasted coconut. I was out of walnuts but still wanted a nice nutty flavor
- Left off the cream cheese-apricot mix. It just didn't sound appetizing. That's not cake frosting, no matter how you spin it. And this is coming from someone who loves apricots mixed in creamy desserts.
- Grated carrots will blend into your batter and give you carrot cake. Shredded carrots will give you a great spice cake with carrot strips mixed in.

*ETA: Yes, I know the honey and shredded coconut have sugar in them.

Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookie Cake

"Temptingly moist vanilla cake is surrounded by chocolate buttercream icing and topped with real Milano cookie crumbles."

The ride home jostled the cake a bit. 

Today I bought a Pepperidge Farm Milano Cookie Cake from the Pepperidge Farm Thrift Store in Jacksonville. I've been interested in taste testing Pepperidge Farm's Milano cookie cake since August.There is also a chocolate chunk cookie cake available; I might buy that next time. 

The Milano cake was vanilla with chocolate buttercream icing. I enjoyed the moist and fluffy cake. The icing was thick, rich and broke off into chunks of fudge when I cut the cake. I think the buttercream was more solid and candy-like than other Pepperidge Farm frostings I've had in the past. However, I was disappointed by the Milano cookie chunks. There weren't many cookie pieces on top of the cake. The Milanos were too soft and crumbly to taste, unless I scraped a piece off. 

Would I buy this cake again ? You bet. The cookies didn't add to or take away from the cake; but other than that, it was a fabulous cake sure to satisfy one's chocolate cake cravings.

Lesson Of The Day: Black Friday

If you're like me and (1) have a huge sweet tooth and (2) usually refuse to venture out on Black Friday, learn from my mistakes. I really should have stocked up on sweets, drinks and junk food before today, which is Black Friday. I was down to a little bit of milk and a boxed cake mix with peppermint frosting that did not taste like the package promised (blech!). So I convinced myself that, yes, a carton of ice cream was worth a trip out. Bought the lowest price ice cream, took it home and went "Ugh, this tastes nasty. Why did I buy a cheapo brand ? I should have splurged on a better brand of ice cream." The only saving grace was that I'd also picked up decaff tea, a Fannie May Mint Meltaway and a Russell Stover Dark Chocolate & Coconut Cream Santa. Not gonna let this happen again next year.

Nestle Toll House Mini Morsel Toppers

In my email today was this ad from Nestle Toll House:



...which lead to this product page:



Premier White Mini Morsel Toppers
"These rich and creamy vanilla-flavored toppers are a delicious addition to a variety of mouth-watering recipes. NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Premier White Mini Morsel Toppers are a great addition to your cakes, cupcakes, ice cream and even pancakes. Shake on the Fun!"



Sweet Mini Morsel Toppers
"Made from real semi-sweet chocolate, these toppers are a delicious addition to a variety of mouth-watering recipes. Our NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE Semi-Sweet Mini Morsel Toppers are a great addition to your cakes, cupcakes, ice cream and even pancakes. Shake on the Fun!"

If you have a sweet tooth like mine, you probably thought "CHOCOLATE CHIPS IN A PORTABLE CONTAINER ?! DO NOT TOY WITH MY HEART, NESTLE." The rest of you are no doubt thinking "Okay. Chocolate chips. In a cup instead of a bag. Can't you just buy some Tupperware for your chocolate ?" Allow me to explain: What would happen if you brought out a bag of regular sized chocolate chips & snacked on a few of them ? Somebody would say "Umm, what are you doing ? Shouldn't you bake cookies with those ? Or put them into trail mix ?" But what if you instead take out those same chocolate chips, albeit in a smaller size, & in the new Nestle container ? You'll probably hear "Oooh, gimme a handful!"

Mini chocolate chips in a closeable container are more socially acceptable in the same sense as one taking 2+ cake slices & nobody batting an eye, but more than one cupcake is considered eating too much ; ) That's my logic today and I'm sticking to it.

Toys R Us, Part 2: Girl Gourmet Refill Pack

Continued from Review # 1





Girl Gourmet Ultimate Deco and Sprinkler Refill Kit. It included 3 frosting packs: chocolate, strawberry and vanilla. Just add water to the mix for frosting. Can I say how cute that cartoon baker is ? I would use that for my icon here if it wasn't trademarked.



This kit had 6 sprinkle packs. I'm saving those for another day.





Each pack made 1 shot glass of frosting.

The chocolate frosting smelled and tasted like a thinned Duncan Hines frosting. It tasted good, except for a mysterious metallic taste.

The vanilla frosting had a metallic taste and smell. It was sickly sweet. The second scent this frosting had was similar to the honey flavoring you find on granola bars.

The strawberry frosting had a very nice smell. Not artificial like I expected. Unfortunately, the strawberry frosting tasted like strawberry medicine laced with metal. Yuck!

I do not recommend purchasing the Girl Gourmet Ultimate Deco and Sprinkler Refill Kit. It tastes metallic and is a waste of money.

Toys R Us, Part 1: Easy Bake Super Pack

When life hands you a Toys R Us gift card, you do what ? Buy toys for the godkids ? Get something sensible for yourself ? Heck no. You grab an Easy Bake 12 Mix Super Pack and the Girl Gourmet Ultimate Deco & Sprinkler Refill.







The Easy Bake Super Pack had 3 packs of yellow cake flavored mix, 3 packs of chocolate chip cookie flavored mix, 3 packs of sugar cookie flavored mix and 3 packs of chocolate frosting flavored mix. Each mix required a dash of water. If you're wondered why I said "flavored" four times, that's Hasbro's wording, not mine.





Left to right: Chocolate frosting, yellow cake batter, sugar cookie mix and chocolate chip cookie mix. Each shot glasses holds three packets worth of mix or frosting. Yep, you're not getting a lot.

The chocolate frosting tasted & smelled like chocolate cake batter. The only reason it was better than Girl Gourmet (see review #2) is because Girl Gourmet frosting had a metallic taste.

The yellow cake batter had a sweet, buttery, pudding scent, just like other yellow cake mixes.

The sugar cookie mix smelled like Yogi Fresh Strawberry Crunch. I have no idea why.

The chocolate chip cookie mix smelled like a less buttery yellow cake mix. The chocolate chips were not solid. They were those little soft pieces that are precariously close to being labeled "chocolatey chips."



7 Chocolate chip cookies & 6 yellow cakes in a small muffin tin.



6 Sugar cookies in a small muffin tin

Yeah, I used a normal oven. I know you're supposed to buy the actual Easy Bake Oven. I couldn't justify buying it for a one time taste test.

I started off baking the treats for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, the cake tops and the cookies were both fluffy, but not done. So I put the tray back in for 20 more minutes. The cakes unfortunately started to get crisp, but again, still not done. I scooped the cookies and cakes out of the muffin tin, put them on a sheet of foil and baked for another 20 minutes. That only helped partially. I gave up after that. The comment over here was "Well, duh, of course they're not coming out right. They're supposed to cook under a light bulb, not in a regular oven."

I give this product a B for taste and a C- for over all usefulness. Unless you're a big fan of Easy Bake and definitely plan to buy the refills, this is not a great value for your money.

Dollar Store Recipe

Inspired by Caleb at Ramen Days and an NPR article, I gave myself a challenge. I would make a dish using only ingredients from the local dollar store. And I would limit the budget to five dollars.

The closest dollar stores to me were Dollar Tree (everything for $1) and Family Dollar (discounted prices, but not everything is $1). I decided to start at Family Dollar. I had never been in that particular store before today. So I was surprised to see (a) it was clearance sale day and (b)they had a big refrigerated case of milk, eggs, hot dogs,cheese, ice cream & appetizers.

I took a cart around the store to get ideas. At first, I thought I would make a casserole. I tossed canned, chopped ham & a packet of broccoli-cheese rice into the cart. Then I decided that would be boring. So back on the shelf those went. My next idea was homemade corn dogs, after spotting cornbread mix, hot dogs & cooking oil. I finally settled on making dessert when I saw cans of strawberries.

Here is what I bought:

Capitol Golden Pound Cake, 10 oz, $1


Family Pantry Strawberries In Light Syrup, 15 oz, $1
Velvet Evaporated Milk, 12 oz, 85 cents


Baron Dark Chocolate, 5.3 oz, $1

With tax, I ended up spending $3.99. I decided on the way home I'd make French toast with my groceries. I would top it with strawberry syrup & grated chocolate. Sounds easy, right ?

I started the recipe by heating a frying pan to medium high. I poured the evaporated milk into a small mixing bowl. Then I cut the pound cake into 8 thick slices. Half of the chocolate bar was put in the blender and chopped. I opened the can of strawberries & realized "crud, this is whole strawberries in light syrup. There goes the strawberry syrup idea."

I dipped four of the pound cake slices into the milk & placed them in the hot pan. That was not a good idea, in hindsight. The pound cake ended up crumbling very quickly when turned over. And it stuck to the pan. What a mess!

So it was time for plan #2. Thank goodness I had four other cake slices left. I heated the oven to 365 degrees. I put the remaining cakes on a baking sheet, sprinkled them with the chocolate gratings & toasted them for five minutes. After removing the tray from the oven, I smeared the chocolate with a knife.I placed the strawberries on the side of the plate. And that was dessert.

My dessert didn't turn out as creative and amazing as I'd hoped. But I've learned from this not to overthink a recipe. And people did like how it tasted. Sometimes you need to cut yourself a break and say "Okay, we're taking the Pillsbury cake mix + frosting from the dollar store and calling it a day."

POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine

Lately, I have been craving fruit. Not my usual assortment of bananas & apples, but richer, juicier fruits like kiwi. So I was very excited when I got to try POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine!

Normally I don't care for kiwi or nectarine drinks. Kiwi beverages I tasted in the past had strawberry-watermelon aftertastes. Prior nectarine drinks reminded me of orange hard candy : P The POM juices were a refreshing change from my past negative experiences. POM Kiwi definitely tasted like fresh kiwis, with a slightly tart pomegranate twist. POM Kiwi goes well with simple yet decadent meals, such as a dinner of steak salad & a small slice of cheesecake. POM nectarine had a natural, light flavor that reminded me of fresh squeezed juice from home. I would suggest the POM Kiwi for a Sunday brunch or a bridal shower. It would be delicious by itself or as part of a custom punch.

Try my POM Kiwi & POM Nectarine recipes. They're delicious & easy to make : )

POM Nectarine Cupcakes
1 - 18 oz white box cake mix
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
2 Tbsp honey
2 cups chopped peaches
1/2 cup POM Nectarine
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare cake batter according to package directions. Mix in pecans, honey, peaches & POM Nectarine to batter. Spoon cake mix into cupcake tins. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, until golden brown. After cupcakes have cooled, sprinkle with powdered sugar.

POM Kiwi Chicken Salad
For the crust, I used rice flour, sweet potato flakes, butter & POM Nectarine. You'll need to eyeball the amount of POM added to the crust, just as you'd do when using water. I baked the crust for a few minutes at 375 degrees, then allowed it to cool completely. For the filling, I added 1/4 cup POM Kiwi to chilled chicken salad.

Nabisco 100 Calorie: Oreo Mini Cakesters

"Experience the classic taste of Oreo in a soft snack cake – smooth, one-of-a-kind Oreo crème sandwiched between two luscious chocolate cakes."





Yesterday, I received a coupon for a free package of Oreo Mini Cakesters. You know how much I love chocolate cookies! So I headed over to Publix to buy a box.

Each Cakester pack came with three mini cookies. The crème tasted just like the original Oreo filling. The sandwich cookies were rather good, too. They reminded me of devil's food cake. Thumbs up for Oreo Mini Cakesters!

Weight Watchers Carrot Cake

"This portable, lightened-up version of a classic dessert is a treat that anyone will enjoy."







Last night, I bought a box of Weight Watchers Carrot Cake miniatures. The box had 6 individually wrapped cakes. Each piece was two inches long and about the size of a Matchbox car. The topping was cream cheese icing.

There was a yummy spice cake smell to the treats. However, that did not translate to the actual taste. The cake flavor was similar to dry banana bread, if you took out the banana and the spices. The icing posed a similar problem. It had a enticing cream cheese smell, but was rubbery and left a heavy chemical aftertaste. Also, each cake had twelve grams of sugar. Ouch.

A bad taste, too much sugar and tiny portions make this is a "never buy again" product. Thumbs down for Weight Watchers Carrot Cake.

Pumpkin Bread

Yay for pumpkin bread! My house smelled so good last night when I baked these loaves.

Pumpkin Bread
(two 9x5x3 inch loaves)

"A good bread - moist, spicy, with lots of pumpkin. This recipe makes two large loaves."

3 1/3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
2/3 cup vegetable shortening.
2 cups mashed or pureed pumpkin
4 eggs, slightly beaten
2 2/3 cups white sugar
2/3 cup milk
1 cup chopped pitted dates
1 cup chopped walnuts

Megan's note: I left out the dates and walnuts. Instead, I used Craisins and almonds.

Preheat the oven to 350. Grease and flour two 9x5x3 inch loaf pans.

Combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and stir and toss them together with a fork or whisk. In a large bowl, combine the shortening, pumpkin, eggs, sugar, milk, dates and walnuts. Add the combined dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir with a large mixing fork or mixing spoon just until the batter is blended; the flour should be incorporated so there are no lumps; but there will be small bits of shortening that will disappear in baking.

Divide the batter equally between the prepared pans and bake for about 1 hour, or until a broom straw or skewer inserted in the center of each loaf comes out clean. [Megan's note: Broom straw ? The heck ?] Remove the loaves from the oven, and cool in the pans for 5 minutes before turning out onto a rack to cool completely.

Source: The Fannie Farmer Baking Book, page 557, by Marion Cunningham, 1984, Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

Simply Indulgent Gourmet: Carrot Cake Cookies

"9 oz. of satisfying Big Carrot Cake cookies bottomed in White Chocolate"

I purchased a box of Simply Indulgent's cookies at the Cracker Barrel in Salisbury,NC. They looked so enticing, with a picture of fresh carrot cake and white chocolate bottomed cookies on the box.

When I opened the box, it smelled of spice cake. There were about ten large cookies in the package. They looked just as promised. The white chocolate was thick and creamy. The cookies were crisp and had a delicious spice cake flavor. The down side is that they sprinkled carrot strips on top. Stringy carrot strips are not what I want on a cookie. Every time I bit into one, it was like a bird yanking at a worm. Carrot cake requires grated carrots, not shredded carrots.

These cookies were decent, but not worth a repeat purchase.

Fresh Coconut Cake

This cake is best served after setting up overnight. Also, I made many substitutions. I didn't have coconut, orange liqueur, cake flour and mandarin oranges. Instead, I used lemon juice, all purpose flour and strawberries. I skipped the snow peak frosting since it's not popular in the AMW house. So I ended up with a custard & strawberries cake instead of coconut custard cake. Either way you make it, you won't be disappointed!

Fresh Coconut Cake

Cake:
1 fresh coconut, cut into pieces
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 eggs
3/4 cup butter or margarine, chilled
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups sifted cake flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Custard filling
Snow peak frosting
Mandarin orange sections

Position shredding disc in food processor bowl; cover with top. Peel brown skin from fresh coconut pieces; cut coconut to fit food chute and shred, using firm pressure. Remove the coconut,and set aside.

Combine sugar and eggs in processor bowl; process 1 minute. Cut butter into chunks, and add to processor bowl; process 1 minute, stopping once to scrape sides of bowl.

With processor running, pour milk and vanilla through food chute.

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add to processor bowl; top with cover, and pulse 4 to 6 times or just until blended.

Pour batter into 2 greased and floured 9 inch round cake pans. Bake at 375 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely.

Split cake layers in half horizontally to make 4 layers.

Spread custard filling between layers; spread top and sides with snow peak frosting, and sprinkle with coconut. Garnish with mandarin orange sections. Yield: one 4-layer cake.

Custard filling:
2 cups milk
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
3 Tbsp orange-flavored liqueur or 1 teaspoon orange flavoring
1 cup grated fresh coconut

Combine milk, egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch in a heavy saucepan; stir with a wire whisk until well blended. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Stir in liqueur. Chill thoroughly. Stir in coconut. Yield: about 2 1/4 cups.

Snow peak frosting:
1 1/4 cups light corn syrup
2 egg whites
Dash of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Bring corn syrup to a boil.

Combine egg whites (at room temperature) and salt in a large mixing bowl. Beat egg whites at high speed of an electric mixer until soft peaks form; continue to beat, slowly adding corn syrup. Add vanilla; beat until stiff peaks form and frosting is thick enough to spread. Yield: enough for one 9-inch layer cake.

Source: Southern Living 1985 Annual Recipes, Oxmoor House Inc. , page 281

Mrs. DuBois' Yummy Mandelbread (Biscotti)

Click the link in the title for the biscotti recipe. These were a hit with the AMW family last night. Instead of the cinnamon, sugar and nutmeg, I used the Vienna filling. Yeah, we're getting our money's worth from that recipe this week:

Pecan Vienna Dream Coffee Cake

Topping:
1 cup flour, shifted
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups pecans chopped (Megan's note: I used 2 cups Blue Diamond cinnamon brown sugar almonds)

Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter or margarine; blend until mixture is crumbly. Add pecans, mix well.

Cake and topping source: The Best of Mayberry Cookbook,copyright 1996, by Betty Conley Lyerly, page 60

Mandelbread source: Simmer Till Done Blog, 8/27/2008

Cinnamon Pineapple Babka

Babka
A Jewish Classic

Dough
3/4 cup lukewarm milk
2 Tbsp yeast
1 cup all purpose flour
4 eggs
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon mace (Megan's note: I didn't have any mace, so I left it out)
4 cups all purpose flour

In mixer bowl, mix milk, yeast and 1 cup flour; cover with plastic wrap and let stand 30 minutes, until spongy. Slowly beat in remaining ingredients. Beat on low speed for 2 minutes. Dough will be soft. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest 45 minutes before making up.

Babka:
1/2 recipe Babka dough
Cinnamon sugar, see Index
Streusel, see Index
Vegetable oil
Simple syrup, see Index

Roll out dough on floured surfaces to 8x16 inch rectangle. Brush with oil. Sprinkle all over with cinnamon sugar; press sugar into dough. Roll up and seal edges. Stretch out to about 20 inches, fold in half and twist twice. Place in a greased 9 1/4x5 1/4 inch bread pan and press down. Brush top with vegetable oil, sprinkle with streusel, cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until golden brown and hollow sounding when tapped. Cool on wire rack.

Megan's note: I skipped the streusel, syrup and cinnamon sugar. Instead, I used the topping from the Pecan Vienna Dream Coffee Cake and added 2 1/2 cups frozen pineapple I'd shredded in a blender:

Pecan Vienna Dream Coffee Cake

Topping:
1 cup flour, shifted
3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
4 teaspoons cinnamon, ground
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups pecans chopped (Megan's note: I used 2 cups Blue Diamond cinnamon brown sugar almonds)
Combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, and butter or margarine; blend until mixture is crumbly. Add pecans, mix well.

Credit for babka: Gottlieb's Bakery: 100 Years of Recipes,Compiled and Tested by Sarah Gaede with Irving and Isser Gottlieb, page 106, Copyright 1983

Credit for topping: The Best of Mayberry Cookbook,copyright 1996, by Betty Conley Lyerly, page 60