Best Recipes to Share

Produced by Diana McMillen. Written by Jane Snow. Photographs by Blaine Moats

All avid cooks have it: A signature dish that's always in demand. Seven Midwest cooks share the recipes that people clamor for.

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Fresh Apple Cake

This nutty comfort cake from Sharon Buckner of Rhineland, Missouri, gets a sugary top and caramelized gooey bottom as it bakes.

Sharon often serves her cake at Ronald McDonald House Charities of St. Louis. On her first visit, she met families of ill kids in nearby hospitals, and saw a generosity and courage she wanted to support. The quick visit has stretched to 15 years, with Sharon coming at least every other month, laden with roast beef, pies and her signature apple cake.

After passing the cake, Sharon and her helpers sometimes sit at the table with visiting families. "They like to talk,'' Sharon says. "Then we cry all the way home."

Fresh Apple Cake >>