In my family, we call it Magic Chocolate Cake, even though this is an old recipe that has gone by many names. Why magic? Well, what would YOU call it? This is a chocolate cake that tastes great, is dead simple to make, and uses NO eggs, NO milk, NO cream,
In my family it is a tradition to make some treat on Tax Day, the 15th of April, to “sweeten the bite”. This year I made a simple yogurt cake with fudge icing: a simple but fabulous cake. Yogurt cakes are, in general, easy to make and quite delicious. The yogurt
Let’s say you love chocolate (I do!) but you have no self-control. Or you have a small family (I do!) and don’t like eating the same dessert three nights in a row. Or you’re looking for a gluten-free treat to share with one lucky friend. (Jason, I’m thinking of you!) Readers, I am here
In My Kitchen Year, Ruth Reichl published a recipe for an enormous cake which she called “The Cake That Cures Everything”. What a cake! Made of two gigantic 9×13 layers, it could serve 36 chocolate lovers(!) Her original recipe may be found on her own website, as well as among
I grew up in Michigan, and my mom was an A&P shopper. Sure, there were other grocery stores in town, but it was the A&P for staples. Every so often a little treat would find its way home in the grocery bags, and my favorite was a little snack cake
What’s a magic lemon cake? I’m so glad you asked. I wanted to tweak my family’s favorite snack cake – Magic Chocolate Cake – and make a lemon version. What’s magical about it? This is a cake that tastes great, is dead simple to make, uses pantry ingredients, and only one bowl. There
Green tomato spice cake: if you didn’t tell people what was in there, they’d never guess. This is a simple spice cake, that ordinarily would be stuffed with nuts and various dried fruit, including citron. I substituted raisins and green tomatoes, and found a new keeper! Preheat oven to 350˚F
This is an unusual cake: it’s baked with the frosting right in the pan! Chocolate upside-down cake is not only odd, it’s delicious, and has become a family favorite. Equipment is important here. I use a contour pan, which is rounded at the bottom edge. That pan makes the cake easy to
This blog focuses on what’s local and in season. I do make some exceptions, though: my wheat and flour do not come from local growers. I like bananas, avocados, and ginger, none of which grow anywhere nearby. And I love peaches from the Peach Truck – glorious peaches, trucked from
Sometimes you want a small cake: just enough to serve one or two friends. Make a small-batch vanilla cake! I use a 6-inch round cake pan, and the finished cake fits perfectly on a luncheon plate. This cake can be ‘dressed up’ in a lot of ways: split and layered with whipped
This is a treat: it takes a bit of time, but it’s all simple steps. It’s just the kind of thing I like on a weekend morning. I make pots of tea and coffee, putter around in the kitchen for a bit, clean up while the pancake is in the oven,
When you want to bake fast, use self-rising flour. This is flour that’s already mixed with baking powder and salt, and I like to keep it on hand. These quick tea cakes with jam show you how fast baking can be: it took 57 minutes from the time I turned on the oven and began
I’m Maurita Plouff, and I write about cooking and preserving the local harvest in Southeast Michigan. Any recipe you find here is something I have cooked myself, and enjoyed, and think you might like too. I invite you to try the recipes, and leave comments.
