Nana's Sour Cream Cake

I spent my senior year of college enjoying every last bit of my time at Syracuse University, while planning a wedding. In May 2007, I graduated from college and got married two weeks later. As my days of dining halls and meal plans were running out, my excitement for learning how to cook and trying new recipes grew. I had always loved to cook, but my hours of watching the Food Network suddenly had new meaning. It was about to get real and I wasn't sure where to start. I started my cookbook collection, practiced on my hungry fiance and gathered recipes from family and friends. It was so special to get a cookbook from my Nagymama filled with recipes straight from her kitchen, recipes that mark my entire life. Every time I had dinner at someone's house, I asked for the recipe and ran home to make it myself. But, some of my favorite recipes to collect were the ones that marked Joe's childhood and his memories. With just months to go until our wedding, I got this sweet handwritten recipe in the mail from my future grandmother-in-law and it remains a special recipe in my collection eight years later. 
 

Recipes that tell stories with their history are the best kind! With friends coming over for coffee last month, I pulled out my recipe, whipped up Nana's Sour Cream Cake and added one more memory to this tried and true favorite. 

Nana's Sour Cream Cake

2 cups sifted flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar 
2 eggs, well beaten 
1/2 pint sour cream 
1/4 pound butter 

Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda together. Cream sugar and butter. Add eggs and beat well. Add (alternating) sour cream and dry ingredients. 

Topping: 
1/2 cup brown sugar 
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts 

Thoroughly mix all ingredients. Butter tube (or bundt) pan. Put half of the batter in the tube pan. Then, half of the topping. Repeat with the rest of the batter and topping.

Bake for 40 minutes at 350.