Grandma Piggyback's Broiled Coffee Cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease or line one 8-inch square pan with parchment.
2. Whisk together the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add egg and cream mixture, plus vanilla. Beat until smooth. Pour it all in pan and bake for 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, make the topping. Mix together sugar, butter, and cream until smooth. Add nuts, and combine.
4. When cake is golden and springy to the touch, remove from oven. Let the cake cool for about 10 minutes, until it stops being too hot, but warm enough to spread a topping over without it breaking. Using an offset spatula, gently dollop topping evenly over cake. It’s important to make sure these dollops are evenly spread out, so you can cover the cake more evenly with the spatula / it can melt enough to cover the whole cake. Try to leave as little space as possible between the blobs.
5. Put under broiler until it is melted and gorgeous, about 30 seconds!
6. Cool in pan on a rack, then cut in squares and serve warm, preferably atop a china plate spray-painted in gold (that's how Grandma Piggyback did it). Adding a touch more cream on top completes this surprisingly elegant dish.