Mad About Maida

Rum Mocha Chocolate Sauce  (Source:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts   (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 2006 ed.), pg. 259.   At the moment, this is my new favorite chocolate sauce for ice cream. Wonderfully soft and rich with a pronounced mocha flavor. Delicious!  I've had some of this in a jar in my refrigerator for several days now and it remains very soft. It is soft enough to spoon out easily and pour over ice cream. But it is also great warmed as well. I did not have dark rum but did have light so I used that. I don't think it would make a great difference. 1/4 lb. (1 stick) butter 1 cup granulated sugar 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder 2 tbsp. dark rum (or light) 1 cup heavy cream 1/8 tsp. salt 1 tsp. dry instant coffee 1 tsp. vanilla extract Melt the butter over low heat in a medium-sized heavy saucepan (I used 3 quart size). Add the sugar, cocoa, rum, heavy cream and salt. Stir over medium heat until the mixture begins to boil. Add the...

Apple Tart Source:  Maida Heatter's Best Dessert Book Ever   (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.) , pg. 155 . This turned out to be a delicious dessert although I made blunders so the above photo of the final product is not that accurate. In other words, this is a very forgiving recipe!!! The tart was already in the oven and had been baking a while when I noticed 1/2 cup of sugar still sitting on the counter. I realized that I had forgotten to mix the sugar with the cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. So I had just sprinkled the spices over the apples without the sugar. That explained why the apples looked more like croutons and the tart looked rather dry in the oven. What to do? I was in the process of making the apricot glaze so, at the last minute, decided to add the sugar into the glaze and brandy mixture.  Another aspect of this recipe that I found confusing were the instructions on cutting the apple slices. On reading them now, they sound clear but I just cut the ap...

  Chocolate Raisin Cookies   (Source:  Maida Heatter's Cookies  (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg. 46 . Do you like your cookies crisp or soft? Well, I discovered that this one can be either depending on how long you bake them. Eighteen minutes worked fine for me although the cookies were very crisp. On the second bake, I took them out at seventeen minutes and that made a big difference - the cookies were much softer.  If you baking one pan at a time, use the upper rack in the oven. This is what I did after forgetting that we had a turkey to put in the oven.  This recipe makes 42 cookies. 1 3/4 cups sifted all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 1 cup raisins 5 1/3 oz. unsalted butter 1 tsp. vanilla extract 1 2/3 cups granulated sugar 1 egg 1/2 cup sour cream Boiling water (for the raisins) Preheat oven to 375. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour, b...