How should I serve the coffee cake (See details)

I love love love coffee cake, as is. My personal vote is at naturel.

A homemade coffee cake with walnuts? Straight up!

On its own! Why ruin the perfect guilty pleasure?

Let’s have the coffee cake over here and the ice cream and berries over there, whipped cream topping optional. One of each for me, please.

Au naturel.
No ice cream needed.
Would you put a bumper sticker on a Lamborghini?

^ I’ll have what she’s having.

No ice cream or topping needed.

I do like @Jeruba‘s idea, though, about having the berries and whipped cream separately. Some people might choose to put them on the cake.

To me, sour cream coffee cake, homemade, is the best. Memories of my grandmother…..

With coffee?

You can’t lose, no matter the decision. Go ahead and gild the lily, Lay it all out there. But beware the likelihood that your place mysteriously winds up the preferential choice for future such affairs. In fact I have this sudden urge myself to show up for the discussion. I just love delicious literature. Only 1 coffee cake?

What’s the book? I can read it on the plane, i’ll be sitting between the window and the guacamole.

@zenvelo Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.

Since most people think the cake doesn’t need gilding and there’s plenty of other food, I think I’ll keep it simple and just serve the cake after the rest.

The toppings on the side. So they can decide for themselves.

First of all, kindly invite me.

Then, my thought is that you should leave your coffee cake as-is. It sounds rich and delicious, and I wouldn’t add anything to it.

I like some berries offered as well. This way, anyone who wants something healthy has the choice, and anyone who wants to pair it with some cake can do that too.

I wouldn’t bother with ice cream (hard to deal with since it melts) and the whipped cream is unnecessary in my opinion too, but you could always offer some ready whip (or whatever that stuff is called) if it’s something you will use if they don’t finish it off.

I’d probably have the cake and berries out at the same time as the other goodies. I don’t see a need to do it in courses, but it’s fine to do it that way too. I guess maybe you do the nosh, then the discussion, then the dessert?

It all sounds delicious.

I think coffee cake is absolutely delicious on it’s own. I wouldn’t add berries, ice cream, or whipped cream.

Well….yeah. what they all said. And would you post the recipie?

Sounds fine on its own, sometimes simple is best.

Unadulterated. The whipped cream and berries can be offered as dessert too, but curses on anyone who puts those on coffee cake!

I’m more wondering if the cake will be half stale, if you baked it on Saturday and are serving it Monday night.

@jca2 Aha! I didn’t bake it on Saturday. I baked it last weekend and froze it, slices individually wrapped. i am a baker, you know.

Update: People asked what they could bring and I asked someone to bring berries which I served in a bowl along with the cake. It went well. The evening was a success.

@janbb: I just made a really good King Arthur Flour recipe cake which used buttermilk and then had a pecan brown sugar topping.