Young woman cleaning her kitchen counters getting ready to prepare favorite recipeMany of us have been trying new things to keep busy while we’re stuck at home during the pandemic. For some, that includes testing out new recipes in the kitchen and savoring family favorites.
 
It’s safe to say that most of us have (at least) one great tried-and-true recipe in the family. We thought it would be fun to share them and so that your recipe takes center stage. It’s like opening up each other’s cookbooks! So, we recently asked Lifetime’s hopeful adoptive parents: what’s cooking in your kitchen?
 
Kaitlin from Oregon shared a delicious recipe for sour cream coffee cake. Kaitlin and her husband Brian are one of Lifetime’s adoptive parents-in-waiting. You can view their adoption website right here.
 

Hopeful adoptive parents Brian and Kaitlin share their recipe with us

Hopeful adoptive mom Kaitlin and her husband Brian

Kaitlin says, “It was always special when my mom would bake us sour cream coffee cake. The process and bake time would take two hours, so she would have to plan for it and get up early. My sisters and I loved the moistness and cinnamon sugar.”
 
“We would laugh about how each of us ate it differently. My oldest sister, Rebekah, would eat it “normally,” bite by bite. But not Amy and I. Amy would eat the entire outside first so as to leave the inside for last. I was opposite her. My favorite part was the crust, so I would carefully carve out the inside first and save the crust for last! We do not have an old recipe. As a child it was written on a weathered index card. Today, when I want to bake it, I find it online. Like this one on FoodNetwork.com from Ina Garten.”

 

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

Makes 8 to 10 servings
 

Ingredients

  • 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
  • 3 extra-large eggs at room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1 1/4 cups sour cream
  • 2 1/2 cups cake flour (not self-rising)
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the streusel:

  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts, optional

For the glaze:

  • 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
  • 2 tablespoons real maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tube pan.
 
2. Cream the butter and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment for 4 to 5 minutes, until light. Add the eggs 1 at a time, then add the vanilla and sour cream. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined. Finish stirring with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.
 
3. For the streusel, place the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, and butter in a bowl and pinch together with your fingers until it forms a crumble. Mix in the walnuts, if desired.
 
4. Spoon half the batter into the pan and spread it out with a knife. Sprinkle with 3/4 cup streusel. Spoon the rest of the batter in the pan, spread it out, and scatter the remaining streusel on top. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.
 
5. Let cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the cake, streusel side up, onto a serving plate. Whisk the confectioners’ sugar and maple syrup together, adding a few drops of water if necessary, to make the glaze runny. Drizzle as much as you like over the cake with a fork or spoon.

 

Share Your Favorite Recipe

So now, we want to know — what’s cooking in your kitchen? It’s time to open up those family recipe boxes and dig out your favorite recipe. Anything goes; it could be your mom’s best pasta salad, Great Grandma’s sugar cookies, or the New York Cheesecake you make every year from The Joy of Cooking. The only rule is that it be a recipe that you love.
 
You can email your recipe to Lifetime Adoption. We’re interested in where the recipe came from, how long it’s been in your family, and any stories behind it. Please let us know if it’s from a cookbook, blog, or another source. Feel free to share a pic of your food if you have one!
 
We can’t wait to try your recipes – thanks for taking the time to send them in!

Heather Featherston

Written by Heather Featherston

As the Vice President (VP) of Lifetime Adoption, Heather Featherston holds an MBA and is passionate about working with those facing adoption, pregnancy, and parenting issues. Heather has conducted training for birth parent advocates, spoken to professional groups, and has appeared on television and radio to discuss the multiple aspects of adoption. She has provided one-on-one support to women and hopeful adoptive parents working through adoption decisions.

Since 2002, she has been helping pregnant women and others in crisis to learn more about adoption. Heather also trains and speaks nationwide to pregnancy clinics to effectively meet the needs of women who want to explore adoption for their child. Today, she continues to address the concerns women have about adoption and supports the needs of women who choose adoption for their child.

As a published author of the book Called to Adoption, Featherston loves to see God’s hand at work every day as she helps children and families come together through adoption.