It's The Great Pumpkin, Coffeecake

After we broke up, an ex-boyfriend called up a mutual friend to ask for . . . what do you think? Something he left at my apartment? No, he wanted my Sour Cream Pumpkin Coffeecake recipe.

I'm feeling more generous now and I'm in an autumn baking mood, so here it is.

Putting this coffeecake together is like layering a lasagne, down to the colors and textures. I double the streusel and why not? You're already over the reasonable calorie limit. Bring this to a party with confidence; it is guaranteed to please.

I claim this recipe as my very own because I've struggled to hang onto it. (And not just because the ex was after it.)

I originally clipped it from a Libby's, Libby's, Libby's magazine ad in the 1980s. I kept it on the refrigerator but the index card must have fallen behind the fridge. I didn't notice the greasy card missing until after I moved to a new apartment. A couple of years later, I got the recipe back, thanks to my good friend Denise.

She wrote to a "you-asked-for-it" recipe column in The Milwaukee Sentinel, back when there was a Milwaukee Sentinel and there was no Internet.

I later lost it again in one of my many moves. But no recipe is gone for good in this Internet age.

Click on the recipe card for a larger image.

Red Velvet Recipes

Cupcakes are hot and so is Miami.

I topped off a dinner of conch, truffled polenta and Florida Pompano at Michy's restaurant with their Red Velvet Cupcake.

The cream cheese frosting under red sugar sprinkles sat high on the little cake. The tiny glass of milk served with the cupcake, intended to inject the experience with down-home irony, was unnecessary.

Michy's is on Biscayne Boulevard, next to a creepy motel. Don't park there.

You're not venturing down to Miami soon? You shy away from Bates-like motels? But you love red velvet you say? Then click here for a full-size version of the recipe at the left. Don't forget the cream cheese frosting. And the red sugar sprinkles.