Happy Birthday Maida Heatter

[JeanneCake]

Because I have all of Maida Heatter's books and in some cases, have worn through several copies of some of those titles, I happen to know that today, Sept 7, is Maida Heatter's birthday. She lists a "Sept 7 Cake" and in the front story of the recipe, says she created it for her birthday. She's been an inspiration to a lot of other pastry professionals (Rose Levy Beranbaum comes to mind) as well as legions of home cooks.

The first book (of hers) I bought was "New Book of Great Desserts" and the first thing I made from it was the Lemon Mousse, which was fabulous. Then I made the Paris Brest, and The Best Damn Lemon Cake (she's not kidding either on that one) and it launched me as the best neighbor because I made almost everything and gave it away People I worked with years ago still ask me about the Oreo Cookie Cake and the Sour Cream Almond Cake is hands down the best cake ever. I use some of her recipes for my current product list, in fact: the Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies, the California Fruit Bars, Chocolate Gobs, her Hamentaschen and the Queen Mother's Cake.

I used to look forward to the new books she came out with, it was a thrill to start cooking my way through a new book. This was long before the web and blogs and people documenting their experiences in cooking their way through an entire book. It was sad to read in the liner notes when her husband and daughter had passed away.

I wonder how she is doing and what's she's up to. We need a category for "celebrity chef gossip" like the way they have entertainment news ! I posted this here in P&B because I couldn't think of another category that fit better but I'm really just curious about what she's up to lately? Enjoying retirement? Working on another book? She doesn't have a web site as far as I can tell. Anyone know?

In any case, Happy Birthday Maida Heatter, hope it was a sweet one!

[nibor]

I don't know what she is doing, but also wish her the best. I love her cookies.