Q: About 55 years ago in Memphis, Tenn., there was a department store called Goldsmith's that had a wonderful canasta cake in the bakery department. It was chocolate with white filling. I have looked for this cake for years and haven't been able to find the recipe. Hope you can locate it for me.

Charlene Breazeale,

Huntsville, Ala.

A: The Memphis Commercial Appeal reports that this is one of its most-requested recipes. Canasta cake, for those of us who don't know the term, is a deep chocolate cake with a pastry cream filling that is frosted with a dark, nutty chocolate ganache. It is rich beyond belief, and so it is customary to cut it into tiny slices.

Q: Years ago I used a recipe from The Miami Herald that was a hit whenever I made it. It was a cannelloni with liver added to the filling as well as spinach. I have torn up my home looking for it.

S. Fernandez

A: The recipe, created by Mimi Mendoza, won second prize in the 1988 Calle Ocho cooking contest. Readers who, like me, aren't liver fans, can simply add another half-cup of meat.

Q: I've got more zucchini than I know what to do with and am hoping you've got something besides pickles to make to use up the crop.

Lizbeth Shore

A: Alas, my zucchini succumbed to drought before I got even one -- though I was overwhelmed by cucumbers. When I do have more zucchini than I can give away, I always make the muffin recipe here, shared by the Beverly Hills Cafe in 1987. The muffins are moist, sweet and nicely spiced. They freeze well, so I always make a full batch.

SLEUTH'S CORNER

Q: My mother lived in Coral Gables for years but due to poor health is now with me in Tennessee. She doesn't have a good appetite but has repeatedly said she wished she had some coleslaw from Pumpernik's on South Dixie Highway. I know it closed many years ago, but does anyone have the recipe so I can prepare some for her?

Alma Shaffer

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