kitchen adventures
The first time I made this beet chocolate cake, my family was skeptical. However, when it came out of the oven, the first loaf disappeared within 20 minutes (I timed it). You can almost persuade yourself that it’s healthy. This may be the original Red Velvet cake; you can still
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 350ËšF
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,
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.