By request, the recipe for Mrs. Judkins’ Czechoslovakian Sour Cream Cake

Filed under Hodgepodge

I got this recipe from my mother-in-law that was, and its origins are shrouded in mystery and intrigue. For example, it probably doesn’t have a lot to do with Mrs. Judkins, and it may not have come from Czechoslovakia, which doesn’t even exist any more. The whole thing was probably a plot of 1950’s spies, if you ask me. But it’s a really great cake. So, by request:

Mrs. Judkins’ Czechoslovakian Sour Cream Cake

• 1 cup butter
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups sifted cake flour

Topping:

• 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinammon
• (I recommend a handful of raisins, too.)

Preheat your cold war era oven to 350 degrees.

Do yourself a favor by making the topping first. It’s easy: just chop the nuts and mix all the ingredients together. I always make more topping than this; you may find that you will, too.

Cream the butter, sugar, and eggs. Add the baking powder and salt; cream it for a few more strokes.

Fold in the sour cream and vanilla very carefully. (Why so carefully? Here’s where the spies must have been adding their explosives. But just follow the instructions because who knows what might happen.)

Add flour, folding in carefully too. (ibid)

Spoon half the batter into a greased and floured bundt pan, about 10″ in size. Cover with half the topping. Add the rest of the batter, then the rest of the topping.

Bake at 350 for 50 to 55 minutes. This cake is deceptive, as you’d expect from the product of espionage; because of the sour cream it will not seem to be baked through when you poke it with a toothpick. Some experimentation is required (and recommended).

Cool the cake almost completely before removing it from the pan. Then sift powdered sugar on top. It’s all over but the eating.