| Twenty-three chefs who cooked for world | | | | which Edith's family had been enjoying long |
| royalty and heads of state (The Club des | | | | before that? Her daughter, Lorenelle Doll, |
| Chefs des Chefs) were, during their 1987 | | | | who gave me the recipe, says that it was a |
| visit to the U.S., wined and dined with the | | | | favorite of my father and Lorenelle's husband |
| best our finest chefs had to offer. What | | | | Arnie. (So far as I know, Edith didn't |
| impressed them most? Lunch at an Amish farm | | | | actually feed any to a French chef.) |
| in Pennsylvania, where they ate homegrown new | | | | |
| potatoes, string beans with cream sauce and | | | | I like to think Edith's version is better |
| corn, charcoal-grilled chicken, and baked | | | | than Betty Groff's, because that recipe says |
| ham, washed down with homemade root beer and | | | | to "frost with vanilla or chocolate frosting |
| peppermint tea, served by the family in a | | | | if desired." Whereas Edith's gives a recipe |
| barn lined with handmade quilts. | | | | for chocolate frosting MADE WITH BUTTER. And |
| | | | in my view the humblest frosting made with |
| They were stunned. Happily so, it seems. The | | | | butter is better than the fanciest frosting |
| chef for the president of France said, | | | | made without. I'm not implying that Edith's |
| "Cooking has evolved so much. Nobody presents | | | | frosting is humble. It isn't. It's purely |
| the true product as it is, and all of a | | | | wonderful, as is her cake. |
| sudden we were presented that." | | | | |
| | | | Edith Kennedy Glidewell went to be with her |
| But the desserts impressed them most. | | | | Lord in March 2002, but before that she |
| Especially one they couldn't name. One they | | | | gladdened many hearts in many ways, this |
| described as a light "pain d'epices" (spice | | | | applesauce cake not the least of them. |
| cake) with a layer of chocolate filling. | | | | |
| Gilles Brunner, chef to Prince Rainier of | | | | EDITH'S APPLESAUCE CAKE |
| Monaco, was so taken with the cake, which he | | | | |
| described as a chocolate gingerbread, that he | | | | Cream together 1/2 cup room temperature |
| tried to get the recipe. His request was | | | | butter or shortening and 1 cup sugar. Add 1 |
| refused. | | | | egg and beat together. Mix in 1-1/2 cups |
| | | | applesauce. |
| The Amish family did not want their identity | | | | |
| revealed, which refusal greatly hampered | | | | Sift together 2 cups flour, 1 tsp. baking |
| efforts to identify the cake as well. | | | | powder, 1 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. |
| Research by Phyllis Richman, then food editor | | | | cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. allspice, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, |
| of the Washington Post, seemed to show that | | | | and 1/4 tsp. cloves. Add to applesauce |
| the mystery dessert was Amish applesauce cake | | | | mixture, along with 1 cup raisins and 3/4 cup |
| with chocolate frosting, and the Post printed | | | | chopped walnuts. |
| a version of it contributed by Betty Groff, a | | | | |
| cookbook author from the Pennsylvania Dutch | | | | Lightly oil a 9" x 12" pan and dust with |
| country. | | | | flour. Add the cake mixture and bake at 350 |
| | | | degrees 50 to 60 minutes, until the top of |
| Which applesauce cake turned out to be pretty | | | | the cake's center springs back when touched. |
| much what our family had been enjoying since | | | | Frost with chocolate frosting when cool. |
| my father married Edith Kennedy in 1977, and | | | | |