Maida Heatter’s Budapest Coffee Cake
A few months back, I got to wondering about Maida Heatter and what had become of her. I mean, she’s authored many dessert cookbooks – ones I consider crucial reading (not just for following a recipe) and 4 of which sit on my shelves, even including one that’s a the New York Times best-seller and James Beard Award winner. She even used to be the baker that NPR’s Thanksgiving day show turned to yearly, for the dessert segment, and yet I hadn’t heard her name in good while. I was aware that she was a “middle-aged” woman, at least, as she wrote those many cookbooks, but I had never heard anything of her passing.
So I Googled her. Turns out Ms. Heatter is alive and well, at 100 years of age, and still receiving guests, like Nick Malgieri, renown pastry chef and instructor, in Miami Beach. I ran across an article at MarthaStewart.com which states she should be better known (I agree) – and another at Food52.com that rhapsodized about her Budapest Coffee Cake. Hmmm…. I love a good coffee cake, so I searched through the books of hers on my shelf to see if I had it. Sure enough, there it was, in Maida Heatter’s Book of Great Desserts
So I couldn’t let the opportunity go by, when I week or so later, I hosted a couple of guests for a Lundi Gras brunch. Never mind that the rest of New Orleans was getting in their last bites of King Cake. We were going to have a real cake, and I had just the pan for the cake, too.
Shortly before I left Los Angeles, a very special bundt cake pan caught my attention, and just wouldn’t let go. Now, I knew I really didn’t need another cake pan, nor another thing to pack. And I knew I would be baking a whole lot less in my new life and home, but I just had to have this beautifully, dramatic pan. You can see why in the above pic.
Budapest Coffee Cake – new bundt pan, neither disappointed. My guest from New York kept exclaiming throughout the week, “and you baked cake!”
I just know you’ll love this cake, too, and hopefully, you’ll develop an appreciation for Ms. Heatter, if you don’t already have one.
Oh, btw, the pan – the Nordic Ware Platinum Collection Heritage Bundt Pan
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2 Comments
I am also a big Maida Heatter fan myself and only found out about her through looking at her books in the now defunct Borders bookstore. I was amazed about the variety of recipes and the thorughness of the explanations, There was never a dud of a recipe in her books. I get the feeling, although I do not know her personally, that she did not seek the limelight. She was competent and as others say, she should be more well known. But those who know, know her. I am remembering her killer cream cheese brownie recipe that I made many years ago, After baking it, I shared some brownies with my then next door neighbor. He went over the top for these and claimed that these were the best that he had ever eaten. Thanks, Maida. I will have to revisit some of her books that I own since you brought them to mind, I am glad to know that she is still kicking. I think that she mentioned a husband in some of her books. I wonder if he is still here?
June 17, 2017
Hello Louise,
I, too, am a big fan of Ms. Heatter’s brownie recipes. I love the Raspberry Brownies, and often use it without the addition of the Raspberry Jam as my default brownie recipe. Yes, thanks, indeed, Maida.
June 28, 2017