Recipephany Turns 10

Ten years ago I started this little blog with Black Magic Cake, a recipe that touched my life as it has probably touched the lives of countless other chocolate lovers. An easy recipe with simple ingredients produced a confection that, after one bite, dethroned our family’s long-revered celebration cake. I dubbed it a “halleluyum moment.” This was a recipe epiphany I wanted to share with everybody.

At the time, I didn’t realize how much of a life-changer Black Magic Cake would become. It turned into a wedding cake—twice. As if the joy of their marriages weren’t enough, our son and daughter asked me to make the cakes that they would ceremonially smear over their spouses’ faces. As I said at the time, I couldn’t have been happier if they had proclaimed “I love you, Mom” on the Fenway Park Jumbotron. (Black Magic Wedding Cake and Black Magic Wedding Cake, One More Time)

But let’s get back to that first post, which in my blogging naiveté I didn’t even dress up with a picture. Family and dear friends who know how much I enjoy swapping recipes jumped in with encouragement. They posted enthusiastic comments and piled on Facebook likes. They may not have been able to spell “recipephany,” but they readily accepted it as a term for a life-altering recipe with an engaging story. Thankfully, many heeded my pleas and contributed their own amazing recipephanies.

It is said that nostalgia is the best seasoning. And here at Recipephany, a good story is the special sauce. Consider these:

• A classic Jewish dumpling that escaped the Nazis and made its way to the historic mill town of Lowell, Massachusetts. (Sally Birke’s Kreplach)
• The humble union of Kraft slices and Wonder Bread that freed a mom to spend more time singing with her family. (Nancy Osborn’s Cheese Dreams)
• The tea cake from the family vacation that inspired Elinor Lipman to write her novel, The Inn at Lake Devine. (Julia Lipman’s Cinnamon Tea Cake)
• My mom’s prize-winner that’s more than just a clever name. (Olympic Seoul Chicken, Or How My Mom Met Frank Perdue)
• A Cuban love story and a daughter-in-law’s tribute. (Anne’s Irresistible Cuban Black Beans and Rice—Frijoles Negros)
  
• And the perfect recipe for these stuck-at-home times (except Passover). (Raegan’s No-Knead Focaccia)

The list goes on. I am indebted to all who have provided recipephanies that fuel this blog, and to all who have posted comments—particularly contributors I haven’t had the pleasure of meeting. Forgive me if my email replies gush as if I had just made a new best friend.

And thank you to everyone who drops by, takes in a recipephany or two, and tries them out. This blog is a labor of love, and I will continue to hunt down and relate recipephanies that I hope will strike a chord with you as they have with me.

I will also continue this work without subjecting you to pop-up ads or messing with your data. And as odd as it might sound coming from an MBA, Recipephany remains happily unmonetized.

What I would like, though, are more of your wonderful recipes and stories. Don’t make me have to beg.

Thanks for celebrating with me. And please help yourself to some Black Magic Cake.