Orange Drop Cookies

For Christmas this year, I received a copy of the Betty Crocker Cooky Book. I was thrilled to unwrap it because it is a cookie bible of sorts. To be sure, it's obvious when you flip through it that it dates from the 1960s (1963 to be exact), but for that reason it contains a number of classic recipes for squares and drop cookies that were popular in the 1970s and 1980s (aka, my childhood).

The Cooky Book contains a wide variety of recipes, including those for the most popular cookies through the decades, beginning in 1890. It's interesting to see how tastes and circumstances have changed. It also includes large batch recipes for a church luncheon or similar event and helpful hints for how to package cookies for shipping. There are a few recipes that rely on Betty Crocker mixes that are no longer available, but that's a small segment of the book. 

I flipped through the book a few times and kept coming back to one of the first recipes -- orange drop cookies. A citrus lover, they sounded appealing particularly because they use orange zest and juice for flavour. I decided to try them. 

The recipe was relatively straightforward. But one element was confusing -- just how big were these cookies meant to be? The recipe said to drop the dough by teaspoons. Taken literally, that would be a very small cookie. I flipped through the cookbook again and found an illustration where teaspoons -- the kind you use to stir your tea -- were used. That suggested a cookie closer to a tablespoon or so. I decided to try portioning it with a small ice cream scoop (equivalent to two tablespoons). This resulted in the exact number of cookies outlined in the recipe. I had my answer.

The resulting cookies were cake-like. In fact, their texture reminded me of madeleines. Initially, I thought I would skip the orange icing, thinking it would be gilding the lily, but then decided to try it anyway. After all, who am I to question Betty Crocker? (Yes, I know she wasn't a real person.) For some I drizzled a zigzag over the top, for others I covered the entire surface. I quickly discovered that the icing took them over the top. A truly delicious bite!

Having made these, I can understand why drop cookies were recommended for shipping. They are sturdy cookies, for sure. But they also stay fresh for a surprisingly long time. After six days in an airtight container at room temperature, they were still just as good as the day they were made. The cake still moist, the icing still perfectly set. 

A solid start to my Cooky Book exploration. I can't wait to try the next one. 

Character Cakes

Back when I was a kid, character cakes were very popular. Wilton had an extensive line of cartoon- and muppet-inspired pans, including Winnie the Pooh and Cookie Monster. I don't remember ever having one for my birthday, but my sister remembers having two -- Mickey Mouse and Oscar the Grouch. In contrast, the cake that stands out in my memory is a snowman cake that came from the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library and was made from two rounds. 

It is still possible to buy character cake pans today and you actually are able to rent them from Bulk Barn -- Elmo is currently hanging on the wall of the location nearest to me. Over the past twenty years, however, novelty cakes have generally become more and more sophisticated. These days, they could be intricately carved or sculpted to look like something else, employ a comic book style with black outlines that make the cake appear two dimensional, or create the illusion of the cake floating or defying gravity. Particularly popular for a few years was "caking" the giant version of favourite candy bars, like KitKat or Mars. Entire YouTube channels -- like How to Cake It, MyCupcakeAddiction, and Man About Cake (to name only a few) -- have been devoted to the topic. 

When I took the Wilton cake decorating courses about ten or so years ago, we learned the technique used for the original character cakes, covering the surface with small piped stars to show the detail of the pan. We practiced this, however, on a flat 8" round. While I remember being capable of the piping technique, until about a year ago, it never really occurred to me to try it on an actual character cake. I watched a YouTube creator trying to make a 3D Garfield cake using a vintage Wilton pan set. Instantly, I had serious FOMO. As I recall, his cake was a bit of a disaster, but being a Garfield lover, I started wondering if I could find a pan online.

I looked at eBay, PoshMark, and Etsy. It wasn't difficult to find a Garfield pan and, in fact, there were several different designs to choose from. Knowing that the 3D pan was unlikely to bake correctly because of the volume of batter, I decided to purchase a more traditional character pan. About $40 and two weeks later, it arrived.

Now, originally, this cake pan would have included a plastic piece detailing Garfield's eyes, nose, and mouth that would be positioned on top of the iced cake. The pan I bought online didn't have this piece, but I was ok with that. I had already determined that if I ever used the pan, I would make the face out of fondant or modelling chocolate, since I prefer to have entirely edible components on my cakes if possible. I put the pan into my cake decorating cabinet until the right moment would come to use it. 

Until then, it's a piece of nostalgia that triggers memories of both the character cakes of my childhood and my favourite orange cat.  

 

Oven Porcupines

Recently, a friend loaned me her copy of the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library. This sparked discussion of a few of the well-known recipes, including "Oven Porcupines," which were known in my family as "Porcupine Meatballs." Naturally, I had to try making them. 

Now, I tend to think that I have a very well stocked larder and an impressive collection of herbs and spices. But this simple recipe nevertheless required a trip to Bulk Barn to get something I've only used once before in a tuna salad creation about two decades ago: celery salt. Fortunately, I was able to purchase a few tablespoons (aka a lifetime supply) for the low cost of $0.31. 

Armed with my ingredients, I set about preparing this dish. I immediately ran into a problem as I mixed the ingredients and attempted to form balls -- they just wouldn't hold together. I ended up adding an egg to bind the mixture. With all of the balls formed (about 25 in total), I was ready to put them in the oven. Following the instructions, I soon encountered a second problem: the rice wasn't cooking. After an hour, it was still crunchy. I added more water. I left the meatballs in the oven for additional cook time. I cursed under my breath. I cursed loudly. Eventually they were edible, but they definitely did not cook in the time outlined in the recipe. I ate them with some brown rice and broccoli.

If I were to make these again, I would probably ignore the instruction to use "regular" rice and instead swap it for converted (parboiled) rice to ensure that the rice cooked in a reasonable time. (It's worth noting that the new version of this recipe on the Betty Crocker website does just that -- more on that in a moment.) I'll admit that I was surprised to find that the half teaspoon of celery salt did make a difference and gave the meatballs a delicious, unexpected flavour. So, it's worth the trip to the store to buy it if you don't already have it. 

Now, if you're curious to try these yourself, here is the original recipe. Beware! The new version on the Betty Crocker website is nothing like the original (calling for Multi-Bran Chex cereal) and the reviews are not good. And definitely consider using converted rice to make your life easier. 

Cranberry Orange Muffins

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a YouTube channel called Cooking the Books. I quickly fell down the rabbit hole, watching episode after episode after episode. The premise is simple: Anna cooks a recipe (or a day of meals) from a vintage cook book each week. It's entertaining to see how food trends and preferences have changed, as well as gender roles and their representation through cook books. But it's most fun to spot well-loved cook books from the past and relive a moment from childhood.

It was because of this channel that I recently became obsessed with looking at the Betty Crocker Recipe Card Library again. My mother had this when I was a kid and I loved flipping through it, especially the cards devoted to children's parties and entertaining. I remember vividly a snowman cake that my mother made for my winter birthday. 

Now, you can buy these sets secondhand from online retailers, but the prices are high (ranging from $40 to $90+) and the shipping would be expensive because it's a weighty collection. I got lucky with my Facebook appeal, as a friend loaned me her set (which belonged to her mother). I spent a few hours this week rearranging the cards (with her permission) into the original order. 

As I sorted through cards, I stumbled upon one for "Favorite Muffins." One of the variations was for cranberry-orange muffins, which called for chopped cranberries and orange zest. I decided to try them. 

Ingredients:

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup salad oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

zest of one orange

1 cup cranberries, chopped

Method:

Heat oven to 400F. Grease bottoms of 12 medium muffin cups. Beat egg; stir in milk and oil. Mix in remaining dry ingredients just until flour is moistened. Batter should be lumpy. Fold in cranberries.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from muffin pan. Makes 12 muffins.

The recipe was quick and easy. And they baked up in only 18 minutes in my oven. The texture is nice and the orange flavour really punches through. They are perfect as a snack -- and at less than 100 calories each (according to MyFitnessPal), they are guilt-free. Top marks, Betty! (Yes, I know she isn't a real person.)

What is striking about this recipe, beyond the delicious flavour, is how small the muffins are. Compared to what we're used to today in bakeries and coffee shops, these look like miniature muffins, even though they bake in a standard muffin pan. I'm sure none of us are surprised that portion sizes have expanded over the last 50-60 years, but this really puts it in focus.

I suspect that within this recipe card set, there are a number of well-tested, reliable, quality recipes. And that is one reason to hold onto the set if you have it or buy it if you find it at a flea market. But as I've begun flipping through the cards, I've noticed one small issue with the set. A number of the recipes, at least in the baking sections, rely on Betty Crocker mixes as a foundational ingredient. (This muffin recipe was an outlier in that regard.) Unfortunately, many of those products aren't available anymore (at least not here in Canada). For example, one of the cards I reviewed started with a gingerbread cake mix. I'm not sure I have ever seen such a beast. Another uses a dry icing mix, which is also not available. All to say, it may not be possible to make some of the recipes in this set, because of the reliance on prepared mixes. Nevertheless, there's still a lot available that is made entirely from scratch. 

I'm thrilled to have delicious muffins for my lunch bag this week. And to stroll down memory lane with these recipe cards.