If you’re from Detroit, I hope this column brings you many happy and delicious memories! If you know someone from that area, just ask them about the iconic, fun and fabulous-tasting Bumpy Cake and then sit back and watch them smile. Once you’ve heard of Sanders Bumpy Cake, you may become as obsessed as I am over this decadent chocolate cake with white icing “speed bumps” piped along the top and then covered in a rich and creamy pourable chocolate ganache. Think Hostess Cupcakes, only much more fun and just as tasty. Sanders Bumpy Cake has been around since 1875. Ask anyone from Detroit and they will tell you that this is the go to cake often purchased for special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries and holidays. So get the electric mixer out, and see why this is the ultimate treat for Michiganders, and have a blast going over the speed bumps!
heavy whipping cream
Pumpkin Tiramisu
There’s always room for another dessert with pumpkin spice around this time of the year, right? If you love pumpkin pie or tiramisu, this is a fun and delicious recipe to try! My favorite part of the process was making the lady fingers. (They’re also a tasty snack and great for dunking in your pumpkin-spiced latte!) If you’re looking to change up your tradition Thanksgiving feast or just want to celebrate the season, Pumpkin Tiramisu will be a fun way to spend time filling your kitchen with delicious aromas and flavors of fall!
Lemon Angel Dessert
It’s kind of like the cowboy who swaps out his black hat worn in fall and winter for a lighter color or straw hat for warmer seasons. So it is with desserts. As we approach summer we tend to move away from heavier, chocolaty desserts to lighter, brighter treats, and lemon is right there on top of the list. Recipes for Lemon Meringue Pie, Lemon Chiffon Cake, Lemon Squares, Lemon Tarts, Lemon Mousse and Lemon Cookies seem to come out of hibernation this time of year and appear regularly at Easter buffets, picnics and pool parties. Then there’s the luscious Lemon Angel Dessert with alternating layers of homemade lemon custard, angel food cake pieces and whipped cream. Light yet rich, it’s the perfect make-ahead dessert that can sit in the refrigerator for several days and it just gets better as it sits. There are tons of old-timey recipes for Lemon Angel Dessert where the egg yolks are cooked and the raw egg whites are folded in, which is a concern to many people. So, I was delighted to find this recipe for Lemon Angel Dessert that replaces the eggs whites with whipping cream. (The egg yolks are cooked with sugar and lemon juice.) By itself, the flavor and texture of angel food cake is unmistakable, but when layered and soaked with lemon custard and whipping cream, Lemon Angel Dessert is just pure heaven!
Strawberry Pie
What a delicious way to combine Mother’s Day with a delicious Spring Pie! This Heart Shaped Strawberry Pie has a sweet history that’s worth remembering! In 1949 if you had wanted to know about rural life in Iowa, you would have looked to Evelyn Birkby, the newspaper columnist, author, and radio personality who for almost 60 years shared stories of farm life, recipes and tales from her own country kitchen. Evelyn was also one of the famed “Radio Homemakers” who, for 40 years broadcast across a five-state area on radio station KMA in Shenandoah, Iowa. (In the 1950s, domesticity dominated the lives of most rural Iowa women. Somewhat isolated on the farm, many relied on the radio to hear a friendly voice. The KMA Radio Homemakers were the ones they turned to for advice and information about cooking, gardening, household hints and beauty tips.) Evelyn Birkby was by far the most popular of the “neighbors on the air,” helping women with everything from menu planning to child rearing. For more than a quarter century Evelyn was a regular monthly columnist for Kitchen-Klatter Magazine, and broadcast on the syndicated Kitchen-Klatter radio program. Birkby is the author of ten books radio homemakers. Her book Up a Country Lane stitches together stories, photographs and recipes from Iowa farm life in the 1940s and 1950s. The Strawberry Pie in Up a Country Lane is reflective of all of the recipes in the cookbook. They are fun, simple, and were often sent in to Evelyn from her adoring radio fans and newspaper readers. While so many recipes for Strawberry Pie use a strawberry gelatin as a thickener, the
natural pureed strawberries in this version really gives this pie a through and through fresh strawberry flavor. I think you Mom will enjoy a little neighborly Iowa hospitality with Evelyn Birkby’s summertime favorite!
Momma’s Risotto
My quest for Rescued Recipes this week led me back to my own Italian roots. From my mother, born and raised in Venice, Italy, I learned how to prepare the quintessential one pot Italian wonder, Risotto. If you’re lucky enough to have left-over’s, you might try Arancini, delicious deep fried risotto rice balls with a melted cheese filling, a very popular street food of Sicily where my father’s side of the family is from. So from the canals of Venice to the southernmost “tip of the boot”, Sicily, I hope you enjoy two of my favorite family heirloom recipes that are without question, delicioso!
Watch my How to Video for Risotto here!
Double Chocolate Raspberry Dream Pie
The combination of chocolate and raspberries, for many, is a match made in heaven. A search of the internet reveals dozens of desserts paring the two ingredients, but this recipe came right from the American Pie Council which chooses the first place winner every year during National Pie Week. This Double Chocolate Raspberry Dream Pie took the prize in the Classic Chocolate Category, and I can see why. To say that it got thumbs up in my test kitchen this week is an understatement. The Double Chocolate Raspberry Dream Pie was a runaway favorite. The original recipe gives the ingredients for a homemade pie crust, but I used store bought deep dish pie shells to save time. (*Note: I had plenty of filling ingredients for two 8-inch pies.) Fresh raspberries are readily available, and if you’re a chocolate lover, this fruit and chocolate combination is rich, luscious, smooth and creamy. This might just be the day to dive into a deliciously dreamy pie!
