I baked a Vander-family coffee cake recipe that has been passed onto us from an old neighbor, Mrs. Needleman. I never met her, but I am 100% sure she knew how to make a mean coffee cake. Still, I’ve made a few edits of my own: reduced whipping time; added vanilla, nutmeg, and molasses (for homemade brown sugar); substituted mango-oj glaze.

Rana pointed out that coffee cake actually has zero coffee in it; it is meant to be eaten alongside coffee, and was probably termed as such because of its sweetness. That “coffee cake does not actually have coffee in it” seems like one of those things that you learned later in life than you’d care to admit.