Mad About Maida

Chocolate Date Nut Cake Source: Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 76. A moist cake that is similar to a brownie. This doesn't require icing so it is a good candidate to take to a function which is what I did. People were intrigued by what was in it - they could see and taste the dates but most were guessing prunes or cherries. The dates give the cake a very moist texture. I have become very fond of dates and often eat them as snacks.  If you have been making Maida Heatter recipes for some time now, I'm sure you've noticed the many different sizes of pans that she advocates. Sometimes the cake pan size is essential but not always. My 8" inch square pan was purchased many moons ago when I began this adventure. It has now become my favorite cake pan. It is a pleasure to use and I don't believe I've had a failure in it yet.  6 oz. (3/4 cup) pitted dates 1/3 tsp. baking soda 1/4 cu...

Greenwich Village Brownies   Source:  Maida Heatter's Cookies (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.) , pg. 123 . Maida Heatter has many brownie recipes and looking at my index, it looks like I've made five of them (counting this one). My favorite so far were the Santa Fe Brownies - so decadent. I would rank these as second - they are just as moist and chewy as I remember the Santa Fe. I used walnuts instead of pecans because that is what I had on hand. I actually prefer pecans though and it seems that most of Maida's recipes call for walnuts. I noticed recently that almost all of her recipes call for nuts which I find interesting. The recipe makes 32 large brownies. 2 cups unsifted all-purpose flour 1/4 tsp. salt 6 oz. unsweetened chocolate 8 oz. unsalted butter (softened) 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups granulated sugar 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 2/3 cup light corn syrup 6 eggs 3 cups pecan halves or large pieces Preheat the oven...