Luckily, Food & Wine has the best.

Add eggs to butter mixture, 1 at a time, beating on medium speed until combined and stopping to scrape sides of bowl as needed.Remove vanilla bean pod from milk mixture; discard.

With mixer running on low speed, gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture in 3 additions, alternating with milk mixture, beating until batter is smooth, about 2 minutes.Divide batter evenly among 8 prepared wells of muffin pan (about 1/4 cup per well); smooth tops with an offset spatula.. Bake in preheated oven until a wooden pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clean, 18 to 20 minutes.Let cool in pan 10 minutes.

Remove from pan; let cool completely on a wire rack, about 20 minutes.Using a serrated knife, remove and discard domed tops from cakes.

Invert cakes, cut sides down, on cutting board.

Halve cakes crosswise, creating 2 layers for each.. Make the icing.about us and our editorial process.The late Barbara Tropp was a chef, author, and scholar who introduced many Americans to Chinese gastronomy and received a 1989 James Beard Award for Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America.

In 2018, Tropp's Hakka Salt-Baked Chicken recipe was named one of F&W's best 40.Tropp owned San Francisco's China Moon restaurant.. About Food & Wine.

about us and our editorial process.Oxford, Mississippi.John T. Edge is a prolific author of books and magazine articles, the writer and host of the TV show TrueSouth, and served as founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance for over 20 years.