2020 in recipes

In reviewing the year 2020, one anonymous wag has likened it to looking both ways before crossing the street and then getting hit by an airplane.

There's no question that last year, with all of its sadness, is not one we would wish to repeat. And yet, even in a bad year, there are some things we might be happy to have happen again. For me, not surprisingly, most of those things were recipes. Thus, as we begin a new year, it's time once again for my annual review of my favorite dishes from the year just completed.

ATK Chocolate Sheet Cake.Tom Harte ~ photos@semissourian.com

It probably won't escape your notice this time around all of my favorite recipes from last year are for desserts. This doesn't mean there weren't some wonderful main dishes I cooked last year, like the Bombay Chicken in an old New England cookbook loaned to me by my friend Ruth Schulte, or the white Chicken Lasagna which after many attempts I was able to recreate despite losing the original recipe from a magazine that for a while went out of print, or the Pork Marbella, a riff on the popular chicken dish from the classic Silver Palate cookbook. It's just that, for me, if ever there were a year when dessert was needed to raise our spirits, even, alas, at the expense of raising our blood sugar and cholesterol, last year was it. Besides, I readily confess to being one who routinely looks at the dessert menu first when visiting a restaurant, an experience I am eager to resume once that becomes safe.

So here are my favorite concoctions from last year. I hope some might become your favorites this year.

No flour-no problem cookies.Tom Harte ~ photos@semissourian.com

Cinnabon sconesTom Harte ~ photos@semissourian.com

• ATK Chocolate Sheet Cake. So-called Texas Sheet Cake may seem a bit pedestrian (nary a mention of it in Rose Levy Beranbaums' sacred text, the Cake Bible), but in the right hands it can be a patrician treat. The cooks at America's Test Kitchen are just the right hands. Typically, they've spared no effort in perfecting the recipe for both cake and luxurious frosting. www.splendidtable.org/story/2019/08/28/chocolate-sheet-cake-with-milk-chocolate-frosting
• "Meyer" Lemon Pie. I was first introduced to this pie by my Missourian colleague Susan McClanahan, who ran it in one of her columns a couple of years ago. Intriguingly, it calls for a whole lemon -- everything but the seeds -- thrown into a blender with the other ingredients. One day last year when we had some of those little fresh Mandarin oranges on hand, I remembered the Meyer lemon is a cross between a regular lemon and a Mandarin orange. So I decided to throw both into the blender. I think Susan would approve. www.semissourian.com/story/2491484.html
• No Flour-No Problem Cookies. During part of last year, because of the pandemic, plain flour was in short supply. As I observed then, flour substitutes tend to disappoint, so the best strategy for coping with the shortage was to find recipes that don't call for flour. Luckily I found one that is so good I still make it regularly, even though I now have plenty of flour in the cupboard. The secret ingredient is peanut butter, which is combined with copious amounts of oats, chocolate, and raisins. www.semissourian.com/story/2813354.html
• "Cinnabon" Scones. "Why didn't I think of that?" That was my first reaction when I spotted this recipe in Food & Wine magazine. Much easier to make than cinnamon rolls, you still get something of the same impact, though make no mistake about it, these cannot compare to the best cinnamon rolls ever, the ones made by my former university colleague Jim Dufek following his mother's recipe. But they'll more than do in a pinch. www.foodandwine.com/recipes/iced-cinnamon-bun-scones
• Fruitcake Shortbread. It was a cherry merry Christmas at our house this year, thanks to my friend Adelaide Parsons who once again feted me with a supersized package of Michigan dried cherries. They're really not dry at all, but plump and moist and extra large and a much better alternative to the dried cranberries called for in Elisabet der Nederlanden's clever take on fruitcake. www.sandiegouniontribune.com/lifestyle/food-and-cooking/sd-fo-recipe-of-week-20171211-story.html