Mad About Maida

Peach Crisp (S ource:  Maida Heatter's Book of Great American Desserts  (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982, pg. 205). Also included in    Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts   (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg.145. Earlier this summer, we bought ten pounds of peaches from a local organization that sells fresh produce from local farms. We froze some of them, which means you can have peach desserts in the off-season. Although the recipe calls for fresh peaches, these worked fine for me.  This is very easy to make. 3 lbs. (about 9 medium peaches, preferably freestone 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour 3/4 cup granulated sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 1 egg, beaten 3 oz. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter Makes 6 portions Use the lower third oven rack. Preheat the oven to 400. Butter the baking dish - you will need a 2-quart capacity dish (such as an 11 x 8 x1.5). I used peaches that I had frozen...

Pumpkin Pie (S ource:  Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts  (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982, pg. 158). Also included in    Maida Heatter's Pies & Tarts   (Andrews & McMeel Publishing, 1997 ed.), pg.77. I will not be winning any awards for pie-making any time soon. I still find them difficult even after finding a crust recipe that I like. This recipe is fairly easy but my crust was not deep enough and it was close to over-flowing. For the filling, I used the combination of heavy cream and milk as I didn't have light cream. This pie is very light, almost like a mousse. Very mild flavor, perhaps a bit more spice would be good. 1 9-inch deep pie shell, frozen, unbaked 1 3/4 cups light cream (or 1 cup heavy cream and 3/4 cup milk) 3 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 3/4 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon finely ground black pepper 1/2 teaspoon ginger 1/4 teaspoon mace 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg 2 cups canned pumpkin (solid, not pumpkin...

The Robert Redford Cake (source:  Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts  (Alfred A. Knopf, 1982. pg. 178.) The recent death of Robert Redford reminded me that I had never made this cake. The cake has a confusing history. Maida herself first saw the recipe in the magazine Chocolate News . It was a recipe from Hisae restaurant in New York City and named for the actor who loved the cake. Later, Maida was in NYC and visited Hisae and ordered the cake. She knew immediately that it was different from the one in the magazine.  She got the recipe from the restaurant and it is the one in her book. She never solved the mystery as to why they were different. Flash forward some fifty years later, and when you do a search for "Robert Redford Cake", you get something very different from this recipe. Most likely, search results give you a popular layered dessert with a shortbread-like crust, a filling made with sweetened condensed milk, and a pudding layer sprinkled with a toffee/b...