Doing something special for people she cares about is at the heart of Lorna Kahn’s love of cooking—and it has been since her childhood in Brooklyn. She says her culinary prowess was sparked by her father who made wedding cakes for her and her siblings. To this day, he continues to bake for birthdays and community events. Growing up, Kahn and her four siblings would each be responsible for dinner one night of the week.
The family had a strong interest in cultural food, she says, and that influenced their home cooking. To celebrate her parents’ anniversary every year, Kahn and her siblings would prepare a meal themed around a different country. One memorable year, they prepared Peking duck. “You have to dry the duck out, so even though it was April, we had the fan going and the kitchen window open for 12 hours,” she says.
When Kahn moved to St. Louis to attend Washington University, she creatively incorporated cooking into her college life. “I had a toaster oven, and it was amazing the things I learned to cook in it,” she says. “Friends would come over Sunday mornings and I’d be rolling homemade biscuits out on my desktop. Someone would bring coffee, and someone else would bring the Sunday paper.”
Kahn, a Webster Groves resident, draws inspiration from her collection of cookbooks, including her grandmother’s old Betty Crocker cookbook, a risotto cookbook from Italy and online recipes. “I’m always looking for something new,” she says. She often tweaks recipes, making them healthier or substituting ingredients with those she has on hand.
Each year, Kahn hosts a big Thanksgiving bash. Friends and family, spread out over the East Coast, come to St. Louis to attend. “Even the older relatives who have trouble traveling don’t miss Thanksgiving,” Kahn says. “My friend and I share the cooking, so we make it a really special event. We have our standards, but we always try to add an unusual new vegetable or dessert.”
Cooking is a family tradition Kahn has passed down another generation. All three of her children can cook, and one daughter in particular has inherited her mother’s passion. “She’s as fascinated as I am and can prepare a five-course meal for her friends,” Kahn says. “I wasn’t feeling well one day when she was a teenager, and I came home to a pot of Tuscan soup and cornmeal muffins baking in the oven. It was just what I needed.”
[chocolate almond torte with chocolate buttercream]
torte
2 c. sliced almonds
½ c. butter, at room temperature
1 ¼ c. sugar
5 eggs
½ c. flour
1 t. baking powder
1 t. almond extract
1 c. dark chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semisweet or bittersweet chocolate)
>> Preheat the oven to 350° F. Place sliced almonds on a cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes or until almonds are a light golden brown. Let cool completely.
>> Grease a 10-inch springform pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper and grease again.
>> Place the butter and sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process for one minute until combined. Add the eggs one at a time, processing briefly after each addition.
>>Add the flour and baking powder and process. Add the almond extract and the cooled almonds and process for 2 minutes or until the nuts are finely ground. Add chocolate chips and process for 30 to 60 seconds.
>> Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30 to 55 minutes or until a cake tester, inserted in the center, comes out clean.
>>Allow to cool in the pan. Slide a knife around the edge to loosen and remove from the pan.
chocolate buttercream
¾ c. semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
4 ½ T. butter
½ t. vanilla
>> Microwave butter and chocolate for 30 seconds and stir until fully melted. Stir in the vanilla. Pour over the cooled cake and swirl on the top of the cake, allowing some to drop onto the sides. For extra decoration, spread the chocolate in a thin layer on the cake sides and press extra sliced almonds onto the sides of the cake.
Photos by Bill Barrett