KitchenAid's mixer is the iconic silhouette of food preparation

A few years ago Aaron Betsky, a curator at San Francisco's Museum of Modern Art, organized an exhibition around a dozen everyday objects which she believes qualify as experience-shaping icons. Among those she included were the BMW 325i and the KitchenAid mixer. Now I can see why she'd select a sexy model with all that power and so many accessories, but, frankly, I can't understand why she picked the car.

The KitchenAid stand mixer, whose very silhouette is so iconic it has been trademarked, is celebrating its 85th anniversary. It remains the Cadillac, or BMW, of food preparation appliances. I can well remember the stirring experience of buying my first one. Actually, it's my only one. I fully expect it to outlast me. In fact, some of the first KitchenAid mixers produced in 1919 are still in use.

The mixer's iconic status notwithstanding, KitchenAid was not the first to market such an appliance for the home. That distinction belongs to the Hamilton Beach Co. which developed a motor that, with attachments, could not only mix cake batter, but run a sewing machine, sharpen knives and polish silver.

Nor was KitchenAid initially responsible for the popularity of the household mixer. Credit for that goes to the Sunbeam Corp. When it launched its "Mixmaster" a dozen years after the introduction of the KitchenAid, sales went through the roof, primarily because the machine was the first of its kind to be offered at under $20. The KitchenAid, by contrast, retailed for practically 10 times that amount.

What KitchenAid did, on the other hand, was perfect the home mixer. Their secret is a "revolutionary" approach to moving the beater around the bowl -- planetary action. Like a planet in the solar system, the beater rotates in one direction as it makes its revolution around the bowl in the opposite direction. Moreover, by offering a plethora of attachments, the company elevated the machine from mere mixer to food preparer. Today's attachments include a can opener, meat grinder, pasta roller, ravioli cutter, sausage stuffer, grain mill, juicer and even an ice cream maker.

The modern KitchenAid traces its lineage to Herbert Johnston, an engineer who, inspired by watching a baker struggle to mix bread dough by hand with a big iron spoon, developed the first commercial mixer in 1914. Before long his 80-quart device was standard equipment in food service operations, bakeries and on U.S. Navy ships.

A smaller home mixer was the next logical development, debuting in 1919. In 1937 the company commissioned the style guru of the day, Egmont Arens, to redesign the machine and the classic shape, still in vogue today, was born.

The mixer earned its name when wives of company executives tested the very first KitchenAid home mixer. One remarked, "I don't care what you call it, it's the best kitchen aid I've ever had." After 85 years, for countless cooks it still is.

Golden Genoise

The KitchenAid stand mixer is perfectly suited to making this classic recipe adapted from Rose Levy Beranbaum's "Cake Bible." You could use a hand mixer, but it will take you twice as long to beat the egg yolks and you'll be limited to only one step at a time.

Ingredients:

9 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

12 egg yolks

7/8 cup sugar

1 cup sifted cake flour

3 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup water

Directions:

Melt butter over medium heat and, when it looks clear, cook until it turns deep brown. Strain and add vanilla. Heat egg yolks and sugar over simmering water, stirring constantly, until almost hot to the touch. Using whisk attachment, beat at high speed for five minutes or until triple in volume. (If using a hand mixer, you will need to beat at least 10 minutes.) While the eggs are beating, sift together flour and cornstarch. Decrease mixer speed and beat water into yolk mixture. Sift half of flour mixture over yolk mixture and fold in with a spatula until almost all of the flour has disappeared. Repeat with remaining flour mixture until flour disappears completely. Fold in browned butter in two batches just until incorporated. Pour into greased and floured 9-cup fluted tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees until cake shrinks slightly from sides of pan. Unmold immediately and let cool. Sprinkle with liqueur if desired.

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