Big Daddy’s Cake

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Bake your father a "Big Daddy's Cake'' this holiday.
Bake your father a “Big Daddy’s Cake” this holiday.

Big cake?

Big yeah!

We’re talking three sticks of butter and six eggs in this baby.

Could there be a more apt treat for Father’s Day than “Big Daddy’s Cake”?

This substantial cake — full of nuts, a “tunnel” of chocolate inside, and glazed with still more chocolate — is from the new cookbook, “Chocolate Is Forever: Classic Cakes, Cookies, Pastries, Pies, Puddings, Candies, Confections, and More” (Little, Brown and Company), of which I received a review copy. It’s by the legendary self-taught baker Maida Heatter, who passed away in 2019, but not before inspiring a legion of bakers, both amateur and professional ones.

This collection of nearly 100 chocolate-centric recipes features everything from “Sour Cherry Chocolate Torte” and “Hungarian Seven-Layer Cake” to “Key West Chocolate Treasures,” “Viennese Chocolate Ice Box Cookies,” and “Chocolate-Chip-Cognac-Coffee Ice Cream.”

This particular cake will bake up to the very top of a regular Bundt pan, so be sure to use a large-sized classic one, not one of the smaller, more fancifully designed ones.

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Respect for Chipotles in Adobo

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Chipotles in adobo are the key ingredient that gives this sheet-pan chicken and sweet potatoes dish its big punch of flavor.
Chipotles in adobo are the key ingredient that gives this sheet-pan chicken and sweet potatoes dish its big punch of flavor.

Thankfully, I have not been that person who mistakes “1 chipotle in adobo” for one whole can of them. I think that person is still combusting.

But I have been that person who has frozen the leftover chipotles in adobo — and promptly forgotten about them in the back of the freezer.

Fortunately, they keep for a long time in the deep freeze. So, that when you do stumble upon them in surprise, you will be thankful because then you can make this effortless “Sheet Pan Honey-Chipotle Chicken and Sweet Potatoes.”

The recipe is by Sheela Prakash, senior contributing editor of the Kitchn.

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Tea Time If There Ever Was One

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Bai Hao Yin Zhen -- young, fuzzy tea leaves just harvested in April in Fujian, China.
Bai Hao Yin Zhen — young, fuzzy tea leaves just harvested in April in Fujian, China.

Some meditate. Others do yoga. I find tranquility in a great cup of tea.

And some of the best are now available, harvested just this spring by Adagio Teas. Its selection of Masters Teas by Adagio offers up the freshest specialty teas of the season.

If you’re used to sipping tea from bags that have sat on supermarket shelves for months, these will be eye and palate awakeners, as I found when I recently was sent samples to try.

If all you’re accustomed to is shriveled black tea leaves, you’ll be amazed at the appearance of these, which were just harvested in April. For instance, Bai Hao Yin Zhen from Fujian, China, are slender, pale green leaves that almost look like dried tarragon. When steeped, they create a tea with a gentle grassy taste.

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Claudia Fleming’s Honey Madeleines

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Dainty madeleines flavored with honey and browned butter.
Dainty madeleines flavored with honey and browned butter.

When my mom suffered a stroke years ago, the only thing she wanted to eat for a long time was — inexplicably — lemon meringue pie.

When my elderly aunt was hospitalized last year, the only food that could comfort her was — surprisingly — madeleines.

Say what you will about the women in my family, but there’s no denying they like their sweets.

I readily admit I take after them, too.

When I would visit my aunt in the hospital, I’d pick up madeleines from a French bakery to take to her for a real treat. Because believe it or not, even though I bake up a storm at home on a regular basis, madeleines were not something I’d ever made.

Wanting to surprise my aunt, I bought madeleine pans this year. I was going to bake her some fresh to deliver in person. But then COVID-19 crushed those plans mercilessly.

As I wait out shelter-in-place until it’s permissible to drive an hour to visit someone her age again, I decided to break in my pans with a madeleine test-run.

I found the perfect recipe in the newly reissued classic cookbook, “The Last Course: The Desserts of Gramercy Tavern” (Random House) of which I received a review copy. The cookbook is by the incomparable Claudia Fleming, the former pastry chef at New York’s landmark Gramercy Tavern.

Originally published in 2001, the book became coveted not only by home-cooks, but top pastry chefs. If the latter prize it so much, you know it’s got to be worth having in your collection, too.

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You Say “Potato,” I Say “Perfection”

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Crusty, crispy and divine -- who can resist these semolina-dusted potatoes?
Crusty, crispy and divine — who can resist these semolina-dusted potatoes?

When others shun potatoes, I welcome them with open mouth.

Yes, in this low-carb world, I am the outlier who lusts for spuds.

And when I find a recipe that does them proud, I am beside myself.

Such is the case with “Crispy Semolina Potatoes.”

This insanely good yet simple recipe is by Susan Spungen, a recipe developer, stylist and cookbook author, who is the former food editor at Martha Stewart Living. She was also the food stylist for the film, “Julie & Julia.”

It’s from her newest cookbook, “Open Kitchen: Inspired Food for Casual Gatherings” (Avery), of which I received a review copy. When Spungen cooks, she likes to break down the prep into stages so that it can be spread out over a day or two. That way, it’s less intimidating, especially if you’re cooking for company.

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