{{Short description|American food writer (1916–2019)}} {{Infobox person | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|9|7}} | birth_place = Baldwin, New York, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|2019|6|6|1916|9|7}} | death_place = Miami Beach, Florida, U.S. | death_cause = | education = | spouse = {{Plainlist| * David E. Evins * Ellis Gimbel Jr. * Ralph Daniels (until his death) }} | occupation = Cookbook author | children = 1 | parents = {{Plainlist| * Sadie Hermalin Heatter *Gabriel Heatter }} | family = Merrill Heatter (cousin) }}
'''Maida Heatter''' (September 7, 1916 – June 6, 2019) was an American pastry chef and cookbook author who specialized in baking and desserts.
==Biography== Heatter was born in Baldwin, New York, the daughter of radio commentator Gabriel Heatter and Saidie Heatter (née Hermalin).<ref>{{cite news|url = https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/07/obituaries/maida-heatter-dead.html|title = Maida Heatter, Cookbook Writer and the 'Queen of Cake,' Dies at 102|last = Genzlinger|first = Neil|date = June 7, 2019|accessdate = June 8, 2019|work = The New York Times}}</ref> She graduated from New York's Pratt Institute in fashion design and began a career as an illustrator of merchandising, then subsequently switching to jewellery design, and then finally becoming a baker and baking instructor.<ref name=sav>{{citation |title=The Queen of Cake |first=Christy |last=Hobart |publisher=Saveur |url=http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=4291&typeID=100 |access-date=2010-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110613035951/http://www.saveur.com/article.jsp?ID=4291&typeID=100 |archive-date=2011-06-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Her career as a professional cookbook author began when her skills in dessert making caught the attention of Craig Claiborne, a former food section editor of the New York Times.<ref name=sav /> In part through his numerous endorsements for her<ref>{{citation |title=1966: Maida Heatter's Popovers |first=Amanda |last=Hesser |date=11 March 2009 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15food-t-000.html?_r=2&ref=magazine}}</ref> and his suggestion to her to write her own cookbook, Heatter began her decades-long career in teaching baking and writing cookbooks.<ref name=sav/>
The quality of her recipes caught the attention of many prominent figures in the trade of cooking and baking,<ref name=sav/> garnering praise from numerous celebrity and media sources.<ref>{{citation |title=The Maida Heatter Classic Library |publisher=Cader Books |url=http://www.caderbooks.com/maida.html}}</ref> Heatter's cookbooks have been the recipient of three James Beard Foundation Awards, and she herself was inducted into the Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America in 1988. She was also inducted into the Chocolatier Magazine Hall of Fame.<ref>{{citation |publisher=starchefs.com |title= Maida Heatter's Biography |url=http://www.starchefs.com/features/women/html/bio_heatter.shtml}}</ref>
==Personal life== Heatter was married three times. In 1940, she married shoe designer David E. Evins, who was also Jewish; they had one daughter before divorcing.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nottingham |first=Leslie L. |author-link= |title=Well Heeled Lifestyles: The Shoes of David Evins and the Women Who Wore Them, 1947-1991 |publisher=The Smithsonian Associates and Corcoran College of Art + Design|date=2009|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/17150/Corcoran_Nottingham_2009_WellHeeled.pdf}}</ref> In 1949, she married Ellis Gimbel Jr., grandson of Adam Gimbel and brother of Richard Gimbel.<ref>{{Cite web|last= |first= |author-link= |title=Ellis Gimbel Jr., Stock Broker, 66|work=The New York Times|date=January 5, 1964|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/05/ellis-gimbel-jr-stock-broker-66.html }}</ref><ref name=Hamlin>{{Cite web|last=Hamlin |first=Suzanne |author-link= |title=Cookies A Hallmark For Heatter|work=Sun Sentinel|date=December 7, 1995|url=https://www.sun-sentinel.com/1995/12/07/cookies-a-hallmark-for-heatter/|quote=Before her 29-year marriage to Daniels, she was married to Ellis Gimbel, a scion of the department store family, and to David Evins, the shoe designer...Daniels died of cancer three months later.}}</ref> In 1966, she married Ralph Daniels (died 1994).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sullivan |first=Barbara |author-link= |title=Dessert Still Plays Vital Role in Life of Maida Heatter|publisher=Orlando Sentinel|date=May 2, 1985|url=http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1985-05-02/lifestyle/0290320089_1_maida-heatter-great-desserts-chocolate-desserts|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150353/http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/1985-05-02/lifestyle/0290320089_1_maida-heatter-great-desserts-chocolate-desserts|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 13, 2018}}</ref> Her only child, daughter Toni Evins, died in a glider accident in 1989.<ref>{{Cite web|title=1 teacher killed, 1 injured in Buena Vista glider crash |publisher=Associated Press|date=September 17, 1989|url= https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-sentinel/32755337/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Beggs |first=Alex |author-link= |title=The Long and Happy Life of Maida Heatter|publisher=Bon Appétit|date=June 7, 2019|url= https://www.bonappetit.com/story/maida-heatter-died}}</ref> She turned 100 in September 2016<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.marthastewart.com/1513348/queen-cakes-maida-heatter-desserts|title=The Queen of Cakes, That's Maida Heatter|publisher=marthastewart.com|author=Ellen Morrissey|date=2017-03-20|access-date=2018-10-11}}</ref> and died in June 2019 at the age of 102.<ref>{{cite news|title=Maida Heatter, the queen of chocolate desserts, dies at 102|url=https://www.latimes.com/food/la-fo-maida-heatter-dies-pastry-chef-obituary-20190606-story.html|first=Amy|last=Scattergood|date=June 6, 2019|access-date=June 6, 2019|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref>
==Awards== *'''James Beard Foundation Awards'''<ref>{{citation |publisher=James Beard Foundation |title=JBF Awards |url=http://www.jamesbeard.org/index.php?q=james_beard_past_award}}</ref> **1998 Cookbook Hall of Fame ''Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts'' **1988 Who's Who of Food & Beverage in America **1981 Single Subject Book ''Maida Heatter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts'' **1978 Specialty Book ''Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies''
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heatter, Maida}} Category:1916 births Category:2019 deaths Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers Category:20th-century American women writers Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American cookbook writers Category:American women centenarians Category:American food writers Category:American women food writers Category:James Beard Foundation Award winners Category:Jewish American non-fiction writers Category:Jewish centenarians Category:Jewish American women writers Category:Pastry chefs Category:People from Baldwin, Nassau County, New York Category:Writers from New York (state)