Olive Oil Cake by Giada De Laurentis with Almond and Citrus

Baking Cakes from Scratch and Coffee Klatches Make a Come-back

Simple get-togethers with friends and family at home can bring a whole dimension to your social life, and save money, too. If you've developed a socializing style that you'd like to cut back on, you can ease into the change by taking a cue from old-fashioned coffee klatches. It's easy, and delightful, to focus on making one special dish - such as baking a cake from scratch - and having friends over for coffee. One cake that's become especially popular to bake from scratch is Giada de Laurentis' Almond Citrus Olive Oil Cake. Not only does this cake deliver all the rich health benefits of olive oil, baking this cake from scratch is easy and rewarding!

What are coffee klatches?

A "coffee klatch" is a casual get-together for coffee and conversation, usually accompanied by a few light eats. Food for a coffee get-together is endlessly adaptable to your tastes, your guests, and your budget. From sweets to savories, store-bought to homemade, the only limit on what to serve at a coffee klatch is that the food should not overwhelm the coffee.

A good rule of thumb to keep coffee as the star of the show is: the sweeter the food, the smaller the individual portions should be. Coffee cakes typically are not overtly sweet. This subtlety serves to allow the flavor of the coffee to highlight the sweet finish in the cake and maximize its own robustness at the same time.

While no one need be dogged by tradition, food traditions often become established because, like mac-n-cheese and pork-n-beans, they just work out well the majority of the time. For coffee get-togethers, it usually turns out very nicely when a not-so-sweet, or delicately flavored, cake is served. For dazzle, add a drizzle of dark chocolate syrup, a splash of vanilla sauce, or whipped cream and fruit on the side.

A plate with a few small, maybe even fancy, cookies or chocolate bon-bons served with the cake will make your coffee klatch even more festive---without changing the casual atmosphere or adding a lot of extra work or worry on your part.

Baking cakes from scratch