Of all my mother-in-law\u2019s signature recipes for cakes, breads, cookies and pies, her Sour Cream Coffee Cake elicits the most nostalgia. So much so, the family handed it out on printed cards at her memorial service.<\/p>\n
Dorothy, or Dick as we all called her, passed away three years ago at the age of 91. She started out with the usual nickname, Dot, until her baby brother mangled it so adorably that the mutation stuck. I don\u2019t know how much gender confusion it caused, but when she and my father-in-law Louis won a bridge tournament, the local newspaper reported their names as \u201cRichard and Louise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dick first baked this sour cream coffee cake in the late \u201850s. No one knows where she got the recipe. It didn\u2019t come from her Irish mother or her Italian inlaws. I\u2019d like to think that it has New England roots, since I never saw it when I lived in the South. My college roommate from Connecticut made an almost identical cake with grated baking chocolate in the filling. And Joe Kennedy likes to give away at Christmastime a pretty good version made by a local coffee cake company. But there are bloggers from all over claiming sour cream coffee cake as part of their heritage, so let’s just say it somehow materialized in her recipe box, ready to delight her family for decades and generations to come.<\/p>\n
Deliciously reproducible The recipe is flexible, too. Sometimes I substitute chopped apple for the raisins. And I rarely use sour cream\u2014usually yogurt or sour milk.<\/p>\n Best of all, it meets my three top criteria:<\/p>\n I transcribed Dick\u2019s recipe into a cookbook format so you can scan the ingredients. However, I also include below the old-style way she wrote it out, more as a narrative.<\/p>\n Bake at 350\u00b0 about 35-40 minutes.<\/p>\n Batter<\/strong><\/p>\n Topping<\/strong><\/p>\n Sour Cream Coffee Cake (Dick\u2019s narrative)<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n 350\u00b0\u00a0 35-40 min.<\/p>\n (1) Cream together:<\/p>\n (2) Mix and set aside:<\/p>\n (3) Sift together:<\/p>\n (4) Topping<\/p>\n Cream #1 \u2013 then by hand add your sour cream mix (#2) to the above (#1) stir well \u2013 add sifted dry ingredients \u2013 fold + stir in well \u2013 then put \u00bd mixture in tube pan + add \u00bd topping mix and also \u00bc c. raisins \u2013 then remaining half of mixture and rest of topping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Of all my mother-in-law\u2019s signature recipes for cakes, breads, cookies and pies, her Sour Cream Coffee Cake elicits the most nostalgia. So much so, the family handed it out on printed cards at her memorial service. Dorothy, or Dick as we all called her, passed away three years ago at the age of 91. She started out with the usual nickname, Dot, until her baby brother mangled it so adorably that the mutation stuck. I don\u2019t know how much gender confusion it caused, but when she and my father-in-law Louis won a bridge tournament, the local newspaper reported their names as \u201cRichard and Louise.\u201d Dick first baked this sour cream coffee cake in the late \u201850s. No one knows where she got the recipe. It didn\u2019t come from her Irish mother or her Italian inlaws. I\u2019d like to think that it has New England roots, since I never saw it when I lived in the South. My college roommate from Connecticut made an almost identical cake with grated baking chocolate in the filling. And Joe Kennedy likes to give away at Christmastime a pretty good version made by a local coffee cake company. But there are bloggers from all over claiming sour cream coffee cake as part of their heritage, so let’s just say it somehow materialized in her recipe box, ready to delight her family for decades and generations to come. Deliciously reproducible The aroma of the cinnamon-walnut topping as it toasts will grab you before you even get it out of the oven. The cake is light and moist with a soft crumb, and the contrasting sweet, spicy nuts and occasional raisin give it crunch and dimension. It\u2019s a classic company cake, perfect for overnight guests, and easy to make anytime since it calls for common pantry ingredients. The recipe is flexible, too. Sometimes I substitute chopped apple for the raisins. And I rarely use sour cream\u2014usually yogurt or sour milk. Best of all, it meets my three top criteria: Reproducibility. You can trust it will come out great every time. No fussing, yet it looks beautiful. The tube pan makes this possible. It freezes well. I transcribed Dick\u2019s recipe into a cookbook format so you can scan the ingredients. However, I also include below the old-style way she wrote it out, more as a narrative. Dick\u2019s Sour Cream Coffee Cake Bake at 350\u00b0 about 35-40 minutes. Batter \u00bd cup vegetable shortening 2 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup sour cream (or yogurt, or milk with 1 tablespoon vinegar) 1 teaspoon vanilla (I double to 2) 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda \u00bc teaspoon salt Topping \u00bd cup chopped nuts (walnuts) \u00bc cup sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon (double to 2) \u00bc cup raisins for inside batter only Grease a tube pan well and preheat oven to 350\u00b0. Cream together shortening, eggs, and sugar in a large bowl. Mix in sour cream (or sour milk or yogurt) and vanilla. Stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in another bowl. Fold into creamed mixture and stir to combine. Spoon half the batter in a tube pan. Sprinkle on it half of the topping plus \u00bc cup raisins. Cover with the rest of the batter, then sprinkle on the rest of the topping. Bake 35-40 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Or, as Dick used to say, \u201cWhen you can smell it, it\u2019s done.\u201d Sour Cream Coffee Cake (Dick\u2019s narrative) 350\u00b0\u00a0 35-40 min. (1) Cream together: \u00bd c. Crisco 2 eggs 1 c. sugar (2) Mix and set aside: \u00bd pt. sour cream (1 c) 1 tsp. vanilla (3) Sift together: 2 c. flour 1 tsp. Baking Powder 1 tsp. Baking Soda 1 tsp. salt (4) Topping \u00bd c. chopped nuts \u00bc c. sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon Cream #1 \u2013 then by hand add your sour cream mix (#2) to the above (#1) stir well \u2013 add sifted dry ingredients \u2013 fold + stir in well \u2013 then put \u00bd mixture in tube pan + add \u00bd topping mix and also \u00bc c. raisins \u2013 then remaining half of mixture and rest of topping.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":965,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,190,5,3],"tags":[138,135,136,137],"class_list":["post-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breakfast","category-cakes","category-desserts","category-recipes","tag-cinnamon-walnut-topping","tag-sour-cream-coffee-cake","tag-sour-milk-coffee-cake","tag-tube-pan"],"yoast_head":"\n
\n<\/span>The aroma of the cinnamon-walnut topping as it toasts will grab you before you even get it out of the oven. The cake is light and moist with a soft crumb, and the contrasting sweet, spicy nuts and occasional raisin give it crunch and dimension. It\u2019s a classic company cake, perfect for overnight guests, and easy to make anytime since it calls for common pantry ingredients.<\/p>\n\n
Dick\u2019s Sour Cream Coffee Cake<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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