Compiled by Polly Campbell
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Cake without tears

I'm a big believer in baking birthday cakes for my nearest and dearest, and though they always tasted good, they never looked perfect. I can't seem to get the hang of a decorating tube, and my frosting picks up cake crumbs.

But I've learned a trick or two, and I thought the cake my daughter and I made for my husband last week tasted and looked really good. It was a chocolate cake with a seven-minute icing (standard version, from Joy of Cooking), a whipped meringue creation that's easy to make, and goes on like a dream. It covers up crumbs, holes in the cake and all. (If meringue isn't rich enough, you can always frost between the layers with a chocolate buttercream).

I put three thin pieces of waxed paper under the cake, and then pulled them out after the icing went on. It leaves a perfect-looking edge between cake and plate.

We tried it

If you bake, you probably bake chocolate chip cookies. Once you have a favorite recipe, the right cookie sheet and your technique down pat, how else can you make your cookies closer to perfect?

Think about the chips. The traditional grocery store chips aren't bad, but I recently tried Ghiradelli double chocolate chips, a premium chocolate that's more expensive ($2.21 for an 11.5-ounce bar), but available in most grocery baking aisles.

The chips are larger with a deep, rich chocolate flavor and more melting consistency. They took my cookies up another level.

Uncommonly Good

Scalea's in Covington is under new ownership, and the deli now serves Italian deli sandwiches along with side dishes, salads and desserts.

The sweet potato salad is a wonderful variation on the usual. Diced sweet potatoes are mixed with a little onion, cilantro, smoked bacon and a slightly sweet mayonnaise dressing. I think it's the bacon that makes it, perfect with the sweetness of the potatoes. Pretty, too. It's $2.50 for a good-size side-dish portion, or $5 per pound. 320 Greenup St.; (859) 491-3334.

Required reading

The photos of cakes in Nick Malgieri's new book Perfect Cakes (Harper; $37.50) look simple and restrained. There is unadorned marble angel food cake, an undecorated fruit cake, a wedge of chocolate mousse cake with just a dollop of whipped cream and a few raspberries.

The recipes include many of the building blocks, such as genoise layers and classic buttercream, making this a book for those who love classic American and European cakes. But there are recipes for unusual and delicious-sounding variations, too: walnut chiffon cake, Armenian farina cake, chocolate layered cheesecake.

Mr. Malgieri is a well-known baking expert and author of many other books, including How to Bake and Cookies Unlimited.