Growing up, our mom would always bake on Saturdays. She usually made some sort of cake that would sit on the counter ready to be packed for lunches or a sliced for a snack. One thing that she made often was platz, a Mennonite coffee cake with fruit and crumble on top.
Last week, I walked up to my parents’ house and their plum tree was absolutely loaded with fruit. I picked myself a bag full of plums because I knew that I had to made platz with them!
Now platz is tricky in that there are so many different variations. With some recipes, the cake is too thick, or it’s too dry. Some people even make it with a pie-like crust for a base. And there is the “vague” issue with so many Mennonite recipes…like add liquid to make a nice dough…what the heck does that mean??
I was telling my mom that I was going to make platz and she said you have to use this recipe here, which I did. Yup…she was right. Just the right cake to crumb ratio, which is key. The butter in this makes it so yummy. I cut up the plums and then added a few blueberries as they are unbelievable here in the valley right now! You can use other fruit too to make this. Apricot platz is one of my faves! Rhubarb is often used as well.
One thing I like to do is make the crumb topping first so it’s ready to add just before the cake goes in the oven.
This isn’t a fancy or complicated dessert…in fact it’s super simple to make. But sometimes oldies are goodies. In fact, I know that the way to my father-in-law’s heart is a warm piece of platz with ice cream and a cup of coffee.
