Arlene Makes a Coffee Cake and Shares a Special Message

Well, hello family. We’re so glad that you joined us today. It’s always great when you come by. I tell you, I hope you’re enjoying summer. Isn’t it great after the winter we had? And after the — the weather — you know, it’s real nice and then it gets cold, then it gets nice, then it gets chilly, then it gets — finally, it’s summer. And we’re so glad. Today we’re going to do something a little different. I’m going to make a blueberry sour cream cheesecake. Oh! Can do it in a bundt cake pan or you can do it in a 13 by 9. It’s not a cheesecake. It’s a regular cake. Okay? It’s a coffee cake. Sorry about that. Several weeks ago I talked about depression. We had such a tremendous response. There’s so many people hurting because of situations that are in their lives. I want to share you one of the letters, and we’re going to talk some more later about that same program. It says, “Dear Arlene, I’m a big fan of your At Home show. You always have something inspiring at the beginning of your show, and I really appreciate that. I also love the recipes as they are simple, easy to prepare, and I almost always have ingredients called for in my cupboard. On your show Wednesday evening, I listened as you spoke about your bout with depression. My husband and daughter also battle with depression. Imagine — two people in her home. My husband was in a prolonged, major depression for about three years until his meds were switched and his mood improved. So I know where you are coming from when you talked about depression. It was very bad and I relied on prayer and the Lord to help me. I just wanted to let you know how much you are appreciated. We both love your show and hope it will continue. Take care and God bless.” Thanks, Dorothy. You know, there’s — that program demanded such a response because everybody is dealing with something. After we make our delicious blueberry coffee cake, we’re going to come back and we’re going to talk about loss — and another letter that I got about depression and about loss. We’ll be back just after the hint. Here’s today’s At Home Hint. Always check the bottom of blueberry containers to be sure that they are not stained from rotting berries or if they show any mold. Mold on berries spreads very quickly. Never leave a moldy berry next to a good one. This goes for all fruits. If you’ve got a helpful hint, we’d like to hear from you. Send your hint to At Home Hints, Cornerstone TeleVision, Wall, Pennsylvania, 15148-1499. Well, if you’ve just joined us, good for you because I’ve just creamed some butter and sugar. We have one cup of softened butter and we have two cups of sugar. And you want to cream that until it’s light and fluffy because we’re making our blueberry sour cream coffee cake. And this is the first step. And this is really important that you do that. Make sure the butter is soft — room temperature, not melted — just nice and soft. Okay? And then it’s supposed to look like this. See how that is? Light and fluffy. Now we’re going to add our eggs one at a time. Okay? And you want to beat them in one at a time. You say, can’t I just throw it all in there? Well, you can but I’m not going to guarantee that it’s going to be real good ’cause I’ve not done it that way. So we add — and you want to make sure that that’s completely dissolved in with the batter, the — the sugar and butter. That’s how you know when to put the second one in. When you can’t see where the egg is, time to do the second one. Okay? There goes the second one. Great. Now — we’re going to add — — some vanilla. A teaspoon of vanilla. This is a very, very, very moist cake — very moist. When you get that done, then I like to stop it because I don’t like to wear sour cream. I’d rather have it in what I’m making. We’re going to add a cup of sour cream. What I have found, when you’re making, like, any kind of a cake that has a fruit, like the blueberries, when you put sour cream, connect that with that fruit, that makes that cake so much more moist and doesn’t dry out the batter. That’s why I really, really like this. So we’re going to turn this on, let that incorporate. That’s one cup of sour cream. And then, here, I have one and five-eighths — that’s like one — one cup, another half a cup, and I just put, like, another two tablespoons, something — to give you one and five-eighths of flour. To that we’re going to add one teaspoon of baking powder, and a teaspoon of salt. Just like that. And I’m just going to mix that up. And you want to stop this because you want to scrape down — scrape it down. Make sure that sour cream gets blended in there really, really well. Important — very important. Okay? And we’ll start it up again. Wearing my batter already on my finger. Okay. Yeah. Makes it good. Now we’re just going to start — I’m going to turn it off and add my flour. You want to do this — be careful because you don’t want this all over the kitchen. Basically, you just want it in the bowl. There we go. And this doesn’t beat and beat and beat. You’re only going to put this on and let it mix — probably you could even do this by hand or a small mixer. But if you have a large mixer, do it. But you just want this to combine. We also have a cup of blueberries — fresh blueberries, great, full of all kind of goodies. These are full of antioxidants, one of the best fresh fruits you can get. Batter looks a little thick. That’s okay. But what we’re going to do now — — gonna give it a quick start and then stop it. Okay? I’m going to use this to clear this off because I’ve got a wimpy spatula here that doesn’t want to cooperate. Hate wimpy spatulas. Have to have a nice sturdy one or else it doesn’t clean it off well. And you want to make sure you get all that batter off. Okay? Somebody get that phone, huh? Hear it ringing. Somebody calling for Paul probably. Okay? Calling again? Gee! Okay. All right. We got it. Now — gonna take our paddle out. Now we’re going to just spoon these in. We don’t want to put them in with the mixer because, if you do that, they’ll get all mashed. And you don’t want that kind of a berry. You just want the berries like that. I’m going to see if I can find me another — here we go. This is a sturdier one, I think. And we’re just going to fold. How you do that — you just go down and over. You’re not stirring. You’re folding up and over. You get the berries in with the batter but you just fold. You’re not stirring, stirring, stirring. You’re down and up. Down and up until the berries are pretty much incorporated in the batter. Now let’s talk pans. I’m going to make this in a 13 by 9, but you could also do a bundt cake pan. I have to tell you, after two tries, the bundt cake pan tends to stick. We buttered, rebuttered. Just has — I don’t know why. Whether it’s the berries or the streusel topping. If I were you and I was a first-time tryer of this recipe, I would do it in a 13 by 9. It will be fine. Okay? So we’re just going to take half of this. We want to butter and flour the cake pan. Just put half of the batter into it like that. And then we’re just going to smooth it out. Those berries look great in there. Mm! And while this is baking, this bakes about 55 minutes to an hour. You’re going to want to put the coffee pot on. Oh, yeah. Because this demands coffee or a big glass of milk. Or whatever — cup of tea. It’s a great cake. When you bite into it, those berries are incredible. So good for you, too. Okay? Get it to the ends, to the corners. Make sure — all covers well. Yeah. Okay. Now we’re going to mix — in this bowl, we have about half a cup or more of walnuts chopped. We’re going to add three-fourths of a cup brown sugar. That’s just going to go in there like so. And two teaspoons of cinnamon and just want to mix those together — — just like that. And you’re going to take half of this mixture and you’re just going to sprinkle it right on top of the cake. But only half because you want to keep the other half for the top. Okay? And if you want to use pecans, you could change it out. But — that’s basically what you do with that layer. Now we’re going to spoon the rest of this on top. Might have a little trouble spreading that out, but be patient. It will work. Like that. You want to preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Don’t want to put this in on a cold oven — absolutely not. What I do is try to put some the whole way down the middle of the cake so that I’m sure it will all be covered. You can go back and move it around if you have to, but you don’t want to start out putting a big layer down there and then don’t have any for the bottom part of the cake. So try to distribute it evenly. I’m gonna take my spoon and do it — just like that. Okay? We’re going to take a break. When we come back, we’re going to put this in the oven and we’re going to have a wonderful cake. Stay with us. And we put that in the oven. That will go for — because we put it in the 13 by 9, for about 40 minutes. Check it after 40 minutes. If you’re doing the bundt, it goes about 55 to 60. And I have to tell you, you have to really be prepared that sometimes that bundt likes to stick on you. So really grease it up. Put a lot of butter on there, a lot of flour. Whatever you have to do. Have a well-tempered pan. Okay? We’re going to show you what that’s like when we come back in the last segment. But I just wanted — as I said before in the open of the program — that program we did on depression caused so much interest because so many people are hurting. And the letter that I got that touched me most deeply, I prayed for everyone that wrote, but this one just touched me to the quick, as they say. “Dear Arlene, I just finished watching the episode of At Home. You were talking about a time in your life when you felt as if you had no hope, when you were very depressed. Arlene, your words touched my heart. You see, my precious son was just killed in a car accident. The pain in my heart is so unbearable that it actually hurts to breathe. He was only 25 years old. So young and full of life. I trust in God with all my heart, as does my husband, but it’s so hard to understand why this has happened. I know that my Michael is in heaven where there is no pain or sadness. I just don’t know how to face each day without him. It’s getting harder to even get out of bed every day. My daughter is the only reason that I do. I have to take care of her, but I feel as if my heart is torn in half. Part of me died with Michael. Arlene, I have been watching you and your show for many years, and you have always been a source of comfort for me, like a member of my family. You always seem to know the right thing to say. Would you please pray for me, my family? We need God’s help so much right now. Thank you, and God bless.” We had an address, but we didn’t have a phone number, and I tried and pursued and tried and couldn’t get a phone number. So I dropped her a line and just said would you please — here’s my phone number. Call me if you want to or give me — send me your number. I want to talk with you. So just a few days ago, Julie and I hooked up. She’s a precious, precious, wonderful lady who is hurting so badly because of her loss. And I’m wondering — — are — have you had a tremendous loss in your life, either through death or because there’s a divorce, or your child has just gone away and said I don’t want anything to do with you, Mom — you, Dad? That loss is so heavy in your hearts and you think I can’t stand it. Stop and think about that kind of a loss if you’re not experiencing it. There’s a saying that no parent should ever have to bury their child, and I believe that. So Julie and I talked for a long time and I could feel the pain and the heaviness in her spirit and in her heart. And she shared many deep things and just the feeling that she had of no hope. She has a wonderful daughter, 27 years old. Told me stories about how Michael — how wonderful he was, and he lived five days after the accident. He had some — an operation and then he didn’t make it. She said that night when they came home from the hospital, her husband said — never questions God, but he said, “I don’t understand. Why?” Now I heard a preacher say one time that the root word for ‘why’ is ‘chaos.’ When you ask the question why, does it — it rarely brings an answer, especially when things we don’t understand that are totally in the sovereignty of God. Why did he take a young man in the prime of his life? I don’t know. But when we don’t have an answer, we can’t point to a reason, then we say God we trust. That’s what I talked with her about her son. We trust him. We trust that Michael is with the Lord. We believe he is. He had a relationship with God. And she will see him again. But when the loss gets such a hold of us that we can’t function, then there’s something wrong. You know, grieving is a part of healing. God created us that way, that when there’s a loss, we grieve and then we move on. But if you’re sitting there grieving at our loss, it could be for your mother, your father, your husband, a child, someone you cared about deeply, and they’re not there anymore. When you sit and grieve and grieve and grieve and think your life is over because of that loss, there — that’s not good. And you need prayer. I’m telling you. The Holy Spirit is the comforter. And when I think of a comforter, I think of that nice, big, wonderful comforter that we put on the bed on a cold winter night and we — we wrap ourselves in that and it blankets us. And it makes us warm. That’s what the Holy Spirit will do for you when you need comforting. He wants to wrap his arms around about you and comfort you in the situation that you’re in. And so the more that — that we talked, I said — she said I don’t know how to move past this loss. And I said, well, one thing — you have a daughter that needs your attention. She said yes she does. She said, you know, this not only happened to me, but it happened to my mom with my brother. She lost my brother at 21 years old. She said that’s the second generation. And she said my daughter now doesn’t ever want to have children because she’s afraid. Now, see, that — that is not acceptable. That is not acceptable that her daughter would live in fear that something like that would happen to her child, so we prayed. We prayed for her daughter. We prayed for those spirits that would torment her about that situation would be gone. We prayed, this precious woman and her wonderful husband, that — that they can move past this. That God give them the strength to move past it. And then I said — I believe that out of this can — some — some good can come. And I said — she — I said do you know other people that have losses in your area? She said, you know, I talked to a lady on the phone, but we’ve never met. And I said does she have a loss? She said yes, she lost someone very close to her. I said, you know, maybe through this you’re not understanding why it happened, but you’re trusting that the God that loves you loves Michael and knows what’s best. Maybe the good that would come out of this would be you would work with her and you’d have a support group for other people who have a loss. And I was reminded of the scripture in 2nd Corinthians, Chapter 1, Verses 3 and 4. Verse 3 said, “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;” Verse 4 — “who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” There’s a whole scripture full of comfort. God comforts us. We, in turn, receive his comfort and are able to go on in spite of everything. And then the comfort that we receive, we share with someone else who has had a loss. And the two of you become friends or join together as a support for many other people who have suffered loss. And so, by the — the loss that you have experienced, and another, and another, you’re able to support and help others that maybe don’t even know that Jesus can be their comfort. Think about it. Where are you? What are you doing about the loss in your life? We all experience loss. Are we sitting there licking our wounds and saying oh, woe is me. I don’t want to live anymore. I can’t — I can’t handle this. Oh, it’s so terrible. Yeah, it is terrible and we — and we, the human part of us, it’s hard for us to let it go. But you have to make a choice, and the choice is yours. Do you go on from there, or do you stay in that position and just live your life that way and not be valuable? I don’t think so. God would not want that. Michael would not want her to be that way. He’d want her to go on, be the wonderful mother that he knows her to be. If you’ve suffered loss, I want to pray with you. Just bow your heads right now as we pray. Heavenly Father, those that hear my voice today, I pray, Lord Jesus, that, one is grieving and hurting, it feels so heavy that they can’t even breathe, I ask you, Lord in Jesus’ name, that you would touch them and be the comforter. Help them, Lord, to look to you because you said your arms are ever open. You hear the faintest cry. If we call upon the name of the Lord, we shall be saved. So, Lord, today I pray that everyone that hears it, needs comforting, Lord, they will reach out to you. Father, I thank you. I praise you for — for just hearing our faintest cry today, Lord. In Jesus’ name, I pray. If you would like someone to pray with you, there’s a number at the bottom of the screen. 1-888-665-4483. That person will be more than happy to pray with you that the comfort of God will encourage and lift you above what you’ve been going through. Thank you and God bless you. We’ll be right back. Look at these blueberry sour cream coffee cakes. Here’s the one that we made in a bundt pan. Beautiful. And I have to tell you that that goes about 65 minutes if you’re going to bake it, and sometimes it’s difficult to get out of the pan, but it’s beautiful. Just do some dusting on top. This is the one we made on the show. We waited for it to be done. I wanted you to see. Look at the blueberries all along the side. This is a great cake — just a great cake. Cup of coffee, glass of milk, you’ve got it. What more could you want? I mean, this is — this is one of those that you make when somebody’s just going to drop by and you think, oh, what can I have? This bakes, like I said, in about an hour and it’s — it’s just delicious. Keep testing it, though, ’cause you want to make sure. This is a dense cake, so don’t expect it to come up and be real light and fluffy. It’s heavy. It’s got the walnuts. So be sure to join us the next time — we’re out of time — because it just wouldn’t be the same without you. We love you! Bye, bye.

Furnishings provided by Levin Furniture, featuring Lane’s Country Living Collection. Food provided by Jordan Banana Company, wholesalers of fresh fruit and vegetables in Dravosburg, Pennsylvania.

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