A favorite cake from a favorite cookbook

By Rick Nelson

When Taste editor Lee Svitak Dean asked me to select my favorite cookbook, the assignment turned out to be a great deal more difficult than I'd imagined. For starters, the cookbook library in our kitchen at home has 174 titles. I'll admit: at least half of them have rarely been cracked, but on the other side of that spectrum, I'd say a good two dozen get a regular thumbing-through, and eight or 10 of them are my go-to cooking guides. For example: "Baking" by Dorie Greenspan, "Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook" by you-know-who, "Julie and Jacques Cook at Home" by Julia Child and Jacques Pepin, "Authentic Mexican Cooking" by Rick Bayless, "The Herbal Kitchen" by Jerry Traunfeld, "The Silver Palate Cookbook" by Julee Russo and Sheila Lukins, "Kitchen of LIght" by Andreas Vistad and "The Splendid Table's How to Eat Supper" by Lynne Rossetto Kasper and Sally Swift all bear the battle scars of my messy cooking adventures.

But if I have to pick just one, I'm going with "Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland" by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson. My well-worn hard-bound copy has been my constant cooking companion for nearly 15 years. It contains roughly 200 recipes inspired by Midwestern cooking traditions.

Dooley, a local food writer (her work often appears in Taste), and Watson, chef/owner of Lucia's Restaurant in Minneapolis, published the book in 1994, and after it fell out of print it was pretty much only available in used bookstores and at Watson's Uptown Minneapolis restaurant.

That's how I landed my cherished copy, picking it up in a dusty Dinkytown second-hand shop. An inside page, autographed by the authors, reads, "For Ede: Happy cooking!" and whenever I see it I say a little two-part prayer to this unknown Ede: One is in gratitude for selling her copy so that it might land in my kitchen; and two, for Ede herself, who must have a screw loose for unloading this marvelous book. But there's a happy ending: In 2004, the University of Minnesota Press came to the rescue, buying the title and reprinting it in an affordable ($19.95) paperback edition.

Christopher Kimball, the savvy founder of what has grown into the America's Test Kitchen empire, once gave me a sage piece of advice: Learn how to make 40 or 50 dishes really, really well, and let that repertoire rule your kitchen. I'd say a good dozen of my personal cooking arsenal's greatest hits originate with this beautifully written and scrupulously tested book (the formulas always, always work, a cookbook rarity).

Along with a killer chicken salad (the secret: a maple-mustard vinaigrette), a fresh corn pudding that's even better than nibbling the corn straight off the ear, an amazing day-after-Thanksgiving turkey pot pie and the tastiest borscht ever, what I have made, over and over, are the goodies in the "Come For Coffee" chapter: the "Best" sugar cookies (that's no exaggeration), the half-pound cake with blueberries and, when the farmers market is bursting with the key ingredient, the zucchini bread.

I made it yesterday, just for the heck of it, and you know what? It made my day. Correction: My week.

MINNESOTA FUDGE CAKE

Makes a 2-layer 10-inch cake.

Note: Adapted from "Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland" by Beth Dooley and Lucia Watson (University of Minnesota Press, $19.95). Leftover cake? Follow this advice: "Lucia's aunt, Elinor, claims that stale chocolate cake is the best, for it can be made into Coffee Grounds," write the authors. 'Up on Rainy Lake, we only went to town every other week,' she says. 'So when the supplies ran low, Lulu would take her stale leftover coffee cake, crumble it into a bowl, add some milk to soften it, and an egg or two, then a tablespoon of baking powder. She'd pour the mixture into a cake pan and bake it in a moderate oven for about a half hour. It looked a little like coffee grounds, and we ate it with whipped cream. Boy, was that ever good!'"

2 1/2 c. sugar, divided

1 3/4 c. milk, divided

5 eggs, divided

12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, plus extra for pans

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

3 c. cake flour, plus extra for pans

Directions

In a double boiler set over gently simmering water, stir together 1 cup of sugar with chocolate and 3/4 cup milk and 1 of the eggs. Keep stirring while chocolate melts and cook, stirring, until mixture becomes thick and glossy (this will take about 5 minutes). Remove from heat and allow mixture to cool at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour bottom and sides of 2 10-inch round cake pans. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter and remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar until creamy. Add remaining 4 eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition, and vanilla extract. In a medium bowl, sift together baking soda, salt and cake flour. Reduce speed to low and add flour to butter mixture in 2 parts, alternating with remaining 1 cup milk and beginning and ending with flour mixture, mixing until just combined. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Divide batter equally between baking pans and bake for 25 to 35 minutes, or until a sharp knife or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven to a wire rack and cool for about 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool thoroughly on a wire rack before frosting.

CHOCOLATE BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

Note: From "Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland."

1 1/2 c. chopped milk chocolate

1 1/2 c. chopped semisweet chocolate

12 tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions

MILK-CHOCOLATE SOUR CREAM ICING

Makes enough to frost a 2-layer cake.

Note: This recipe, from "Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland," also works well with Minnesota Fudge Cake.

6 oz. milk chocolate, cut into pieces

4 tbsp. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 c. sour cream

Directions