Notes From a Franco-American Kitchen

By Marie-Christine Perry

There are few American culinary customs I like as much as I do a morning coffee meeting, where friends gather around the accoutrements of a well-made cup, and the table is laden with morning pastries, often brought along by the participants. This is very different from the traditional café français, which is often nothing more than a cup of espresso sipped with friends in the afternoon, rarely in a home, more often at a café.

When I joined the Norfolk writing group four years ago, I had no idea I was also joining a morning coffee meeting, and I started looking forward not only to the writing but also to the variety of coffee cakes, cookies and muffins Monday mornings brought. Arriving at the door, greeted by our hosts, Nels and Phyllis White, and the smell of a delicious brew, we would settle around the large table set with china cups and saucers, dessert plates, coffee pots, jugs of milk and cream, the sugar bowl and the offerings of the day. Whether filled with muffins, scones, coffee cake or delicate red currant jelly cookies, the serving platter is an invitation to conversation in a relaxed atmosphere.

The only French tradition resembling this would be afternoon tea, which, unlike its British cousin, never offers savory treats but only delicate pastries.

Being not only a wonderful hostess but also a great home baker, Phyllis always strives to surprise us, and we all usually go home after the meeting carrying goodies for a late tea.

We did not meet during Covid, and it was with much joy that we were able to resume our meetings recently. Here are a couple of recipes Phyllis gracefully shared with me, which I vow to try as soon as I can hold my own coffee meeting. What better way to start the day?

Red currant jelly cookies (often called thumbprint cookies)

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup sugar

2 large egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

red currant jelly

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cream butter and sugar, add egg yolks one at a time, mix well. Stir in vanilla, add flour 1/2 cup at a time. Pinch off walnut-sized pieces of dough, roll into balls in your palms and place on a lightly buttered cookie sheet, allowing room for the cookies to spread. Dip fingertip in flour and make an indentation in each cookie. Fill indentation with a teaspoon of red currant jelly. Bake about eight minutes, or until the edges turn slightly golden, cool on a rack.

Sour cream coffee cake
Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsalted butter

1 1/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

8 oz sour cream

3 tbsp sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Butter and flour a 10-inch tube pan.

Stir together in a medium-sized mixing bowl the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat together butter and the 1 1/4 cup sugar with a mixer until combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined, then add the flour mixture and sour cream alternately to the butter mixture, beating until just combined after each addition. Spread half of the mixture into the pan. Stir together the 3 tablespoons of sugar and the cinnamon, and sprinkle over the batter in the pan. Spread remaining batter over the sugar-cinnamon sprinkle. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes, cool for 15 minutes. Sprinkle cake with powdered sugar and serve warm. Makes 14 to 16 servings.

Invite a few friends for morning coffee and serve your baked treats with cups of hot and pungent French roast. Bon appétit!