Baking Fun - Cinnamon Sour Cream Coffee Cake

So last night, after making some wonderful pasta sauce from a recipe I saw on Smitten Kitchen (a great food blog), which consisted only of a can of San Marzano tomatoes, an onion and butter, I started thinking about what else I could make before the night was over.

Liza, my colleague, friend and fellow foodie at the Honors College, brought in some cookbooks last week that she was putting up for adoption. A wonderful variety, there was a little something for everyone. Of course, I immediately gravitated to the vintage Betty Crocker and Better Homes and Gardens books. The illustrations and photos alone were to die for - not to mention the casseroles galore!

One of the books I gave a good home to was a Reader's Digest cookbook of "great recipes" - and last night after dinner I was leafing through the pages. A recipe for a sour cream coffee cake caught my eye. When running through the ingredients, I knew I had them all on hand and could whip this little number up before bedtime (what good Polish boy doesn't always have sour cream and butter in the house?).

I really should post these recipes, but I always forget. Basically, it's flour, eggs, butter, sugar, sour cream, vanilla, baking powder and soda and cinnamon. The book was from 1971, and this cake was a real transport to a simpler time. Light, moist, a subtle cinnamon flavor and great with a cup of hot coffee.

Don't these photos make you want some? Liza, who not only made our Honors College morning treat possible by providing me the recipe, also takes breathtakingly beautiful (almost pornographic) food photos. She snapped these in the Honors kitchen this morning - and had to make fast work of it because this coffee cake was not long for this world!

Sure, it's easy to pick up an Entenmann's cake - but in just an hour's time you can really create something special to share with those in your world who deserve something special.