Time Travel Kitchen
A Guest In The Kitchen
This week it’s my pleasure to have writer Ruth Stroud as my virtual guest in the kitchen. She shares an absolutely delicious Sour Cream Coffee Cake recipe with us along with memories of a notebook her mother started over 60 years ago. Thank you, Ruth!
Both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are in the next few days and I wish you and your loved ones precious time together, sweet thoughts of those not with us and of course, lots of delicious food.
See you Friday.
Jolene
Flora’s Notebook
by Ruth Stroud
My Mother kept an ancient marble notebook which I inherited when she passed away in November of 1999. Her name was Flora Stroud. She was born in Glasgow, Scotland (née Flora Gordon) and always had a sweet tooth, especially for Cadbury’s Chocolate. She loved to bake, and was also a great home cook and entertained frequently.
Her notebook was filled with recipes she gleaned from friends and relatives or cut from newspapers and magazines. Also included were records of what was served at the many family meals and parties we attended.
There are several sour cream coffee cake recipes in my mother’s notebook. Most of her recipes are handwritten on pages that have yellowed with age. I believe she started writing down the recipes in the late ‘50’s or early 60’s and continued into the 1990’s.
The recipe below is a classic sour cream coffee cake recipe adapted from the 1975 Edition of The Joy of Cooking and the 1976 Edition of The Settlement Cookbook.
It’s very close to a recipe in my mother’s notebook and was a popular dessert at family gatherings. I hope you’ll enjoy it.
Topping
Instructions
For the Blueberry version
For more about Ruth, sign up for her wonderful newsletter ‘Ruth Talks Food’ at the link below. Thanks again, Ruth!
What an incredible gift this notebook was. WOW. I would do quite a lot to have a family record like this. Thanks so much for sharing (both Ruth and Jolene)!
I'm honored and touched that you decided to feature my mother in your post. She was a special person and wonderful home cook and baker. I think she would be astonished and pleased (hopefully!) that her humble notebook and cake recipe have gotten so much attention. I know that I am. Thanks, Jolene. This means a lot.