I found this fancy mesh cigarette case at an estate sale.
I don’t smoke — hardly anyone I know does. But when I was a kid, it seemed like everybody smoked — at least pretty much everyone I knew did.
Weekday mornings in my community, women used to gather at neighboring homes for coffee klatsches — “a social gathering for informal conversation at which coffee is served.” The phrase comes from the German kaffeeklatsch — kaffee (coffee) and klatsch (gossip or noise). These were the real housewives — stay-at-home moms, if you will — of Smithtown, New York. Make no mistake — these were not dainty tea parties. These coffee klatsches involved the 4Cs — coffee, conversation, cigarettes, and cake. Hot coffee, gossipy conversation, clouds of smoke, and cake. Delicious cake, to be specific.
Leisurely coffee klatsches are largely a thing of the past. I saw an article suggesting that they still exist today in the form of working women getting together for coffee at a nearby coffee shop. But it’s not the same thing — it’s a sterilized version.
Maybe when I retire I’ll try having a coffee klatsch at my house, without the cigarettes. But I can definitely have delicious cake. And the one that I will have is Sour Cream Coffee Cake. The recipe is from the original Silver Palate Cookbook, and although I hadn’t made it in probably 20 years, I remembered how good it was. Inspired by the fancy cigarette case, I made one, and my memory did not fail me — this cake, with its sweet cinnamon and pecan ribbon, is incredible. Easy, moist, and crazy good, everyone who’s tried it asks for the recipe. Give it a try, and invite some neighbors to your house to share it over coffee and conversation for a good old-fashioned coffee klatsch (minus the cigarettes).
- 2 sticks butter, softened to room temperature
- 2-3/4 cups sugar, divided use
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups sour cream
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 cups chopped pecans
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place butter and 2 cups of sugar in a large bowl, and using an electric beater, cream together. Beat in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla. Fold in flour, baking powder, and salt, just until combined.
- In a separate small bowl, combine ¾ cup sugar with the pecans and cinnamon.
- Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the nut mixture into a well-greased 10-inch bundt pan. Cover with half of the batter and sprinkle with half of the remaining nut mixture. Add the remaining batter and top with the remaining nut mixture. Bake for one hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool before removing from pan.
Ready for the oven
Hot out of the oven
It smells soooooo good
Coffee, cigarettes, and cake — all that’s missing is conversation