Editors Letter
IF YOU’RE LIKE ME, THE HOLIDAY SEASON IS PRIME TIME FOR BAKING. The celebratory period seems ideal for icing cookies, frosting cakes, and rolling out dough. Maybe it’s the holiday state of mind or maybe it’s just the cold snap, but eitherway, I can’t wait to preheat my oven. Around this time last year, I was celebrating with an annual tradition: eggnog cocktails at Highlands Bar & Grill, one of my favorite restaurants in Birmingham, Alabama. There, I encountered one of their new pastry creations, a gâteau Basque pound cake. To my surprise, when I cut into it, no custard center oozed out. Instead, the cake had been made with the custard acting as its liquid base, meaning the batter baked into a solid, tender-crumbed cake that tasted of pure custard…