Roxie’s Recipes (for the Lazy Cook)

The term “comfort food” came about for good reason. In times of stress, I think most of us turn to something familiar as a form of reassurance. As a cook used to a demanding employer, I have developed a habit of always having coffee ready to brew at short notice. This lovely cake, moistened with sour cream and half & half, and featuring a crumb topping, pairs well with that coffee and can be quickly reheated in a microwave to release that tempting cinnamon scent.

  • flour – 3/4 cup for filling, 1 cup for topping, and 3-2/3 cup for cake
  • sugar – 1 cup for topping, and 1 cup for cake
  • brown sugar – 3/4 cup for filling, 1 cup for topping, and 2/3 cup for cake
  • ground cinnamon – 2 tsp for filling, and 1-1/2 tbs for topping
  • butter – 6 tbs for topping, and 1 cup for cake
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tbs vanilla
  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 tsp baking powder
  • 1 cup half & half
  1. Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly coat a 9×13 baking pan with butter or cooking spray.
  2. Mix 3/4 cup flour, 3/4 cup brown sugar, and 2 tsp cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside for the filling.
  3. Melt 6 tps butter, then mix in 1 cup flour, 1 cup brown sugar, and 1-1/2 tbs cinnamon for the topping. You want this mixture to have a nice crumb texture, so leave the lumps in there!
  4. Mix 1 cup of softened butter with 1 cup of sugar and 2/3 cup of brown sugar until you get a nice smooth texture. Then add the eggs, sour cream, vanilla, and baking powder, mixing until once again you have a nice smooth texture.
  5. Gradually add the flour and half & half in turns, once again mixing until smooth.
  6. Spread half of the cake batter in your pan, then top with the filling mix. Carefully spread the remaining batter on top of this, and then finish with your prepared crumb topping.
  7. Bake for 40-45 minutes. Once cooled, cake can be topped with either powdered sugar or an icing made of powdered sugar and milk (ratio of 1 cup sugar to 2-3 tbs milk).

Now, Sunday at 9pm, tune your radio to KNVC 95.1 FM Carson City – or if you’re not in range, you can pull it up on their website: https://knvc.org. If you happen to miss it for some reason, they will re-air it next Friday at 8pm.

Need to catch up on previous episodes? You can now catch Secrets of Harridge House on https://www.imdb.com! Or go to https://anchor.fm/harridgehouse or your favorite podcast provider to stream previous episodes from Season 1 through Season 3.