Lorraine's Coffee Cake

This recipe comes to us from Karan Bedell, who lives on the legendary Rogue River in southern Oregon with her husband Pete, who says this particular dish is "a meal unto itself, when properly prepared and baked." So do it up proper, folks.

The name of the dish is a bit more mysterious than you might think. When asked about who "Lorraine" is, Pete gave us a clue: A song about a "Not So Sweet Lorraine" by Country Joe and the Fish. You can listen to it here -- and draw your own conclusions.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour either two- layer cake pans or one rectangular cake pan.

[Recipe calls for sour milk: Pour 1 Tbsp. vinegar into measuring cup and fill the rest up with milk to 1 cup mark. Set aside.]

2 ½ cups flour
¾ cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup oil
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. salt

Combine in a large bowl (flour, sugars, oil, nutmeg, and salt). Mix well. Remove ¾ cup of mixture (packed) and reserve for topping.

Add 1 tsp. baking soda to the sour milk.

Sprinkle 1 tsp. baking powder over flour mixture. Mix in.


2 eggs, beaten
1 cup sour milk (to which the soda has been added)
½ tsp. – 1 tsp. Almond flavoring
¼- ½ cup chopped walnuts or almonds (sliced)

Combine the remaining flour mixture (to which the baking powder has been added) with the eggs, milk, and flavoring. Mix thoroughly. Pour into pans and sprinkle with reserved mixture and nuts.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.