Okie Legacy

 

Breads, Cake & Pastry

• Vada Paris McGill -- 6 Recipe(s)
• 1930s Home Comfort Cookbook -- 3 Recipe(s)
• McG-Wagner Cookbook -- 2 Recipe(s)
• Stan Paris via Grandma Paris -- 1 Recipe(s)
• old handwritten recipe -- 1 Recipe(s)
• Linda Hurt & Dineal Olsen -- 1 Recipe(s)
• Aunt Donnie Paris Franklin, Oxford, KS -- 1 Recipe(s)

Bread Making Hints -- From 1930s Home Comfort Cookbook

Vegetarian: Yes

These Bread baking hints came from the Wrought Iron Range Home Comfort Cookbook that came with the Model CB Range

Bread is divided in two general classifications: Yeast bread and Quick bread.

Flour from Spring wheat, bread flour

Salt

shortening

liquid

rising agent.

For plain, white bread, four from Spring wheat called bread flour is best. While usually spoken of as white flour, it has a slightly cream tinge, but produces a fine, practically white loaf.

Shortening gives to bread a tender texture, rendering it not only more palatable, but more readily digestible. Therefore, a small amount is used in all the better breads.

Water, as the liquid in bread, is in universal use, for not only is it cheaper, but bread willhold its moisture longer if made with water. Milk, however, is more nutritious, since it contains practically all the food values. Also, milk gives bread a more spongy texture. A half-and-half mixture of the two liquids is often used.

The purpose of a rising agent in bread(also most cake and some pastries) is to render the product light and porous, making it more palatable and digestible. Flour, shortening, and liquid, form an elastic paste which may be formed into a multitude of small air-cells by laboriously beating air into it. When heated, the air expands the cell-walls, rendering the product porous. Rising agents, such as yeast, baking powder, or soda with sour milk or molasses, take the place of the air process by forming gas (carbonic acid gas, the same as in soda water), which, when heated, expands and inflates the cells, causing the bread to rise. The cell walls are then baked in thsi condition and retain their shape and volume.

Besides perfectin the taste of bread, salt strengthens the elasticity of the dough, and also aids in holding the moisture and keeping it fresh.

Yeast is composed of living cells or plant life. Provided with moisture, warmth and the food on which it thrives, such as the flours of grains, the yeast plant will grow and multiply. Robbed of these, the living plant will remain in a state of rest awaiting the proper conditions. Yeast, as in general use, is of three kinds: Liquid, or simple yeast; Compressed, or fresh compact; and Dry Cake, or foam. The two latter are the ordinary forms of commercial yeast, or a collection of yeast plants in a state of rest, and may be obtained at almost any grocer.

General Rules to Observe in Making Yeast Bread...

In preparing yeast for bread, cold or lukewarm water should always be used, as extremely hot or boiling water will kill the yeast plant.

Yeast should first be softened in a small quantity of water, and this stirred into the bulk of the liquid.

Always add the flour to the liquid, remembering that the liquid determines the quantity of the dough, while the amount of flour determines the texture or quality.

Bread may be mixed at night, covered with a cloth, and set on the top of the warm reservoir of your Model CB Wrought Iron Range to rise. By morning, the fermentation should be complete, and soon made ready for early baking.

Bread should be mixed in a bowl of earthenware or crockery, as it holds the warmth more evenly. Since dough is too heavy for beating, it should be mixed with a stiff mixing knife, or spatula.

It is necessary to knead bread twice, before and after the first rising. The first, to thoroughly distribute the ingredients. The second, to break up the larger air cells and make firm.

Do not hurry the second rising. Let it be slow and natural. This will result in a finer texture.

It is best to bake bread in small loaves, as this gives a larger proportion of crust, thus giving it a higher food value.

It is necessary in baking bread, to kill the yeast plant quickly and thoroughly, since it has accomplished its work of supplying the necessary gas, and must be prevented from further spreading. This is done by placing in a very hot oven for a few moments, and the baking completed in a moderate oven.

The term Quick Bread is used to cover that classification in which baking powder, or other simlar rising agent, is used instead of Yeast, and from the fact that the principal object is the saving of both time and energy in the making of it. Many of the same general rules applying to Yeast Bread may also be applied to Quick Bread, since the principles of mixing and baking are the same.

Submitted on 6/25/2002 by: LindaWagner

Basic Recipe White Butter Cake -- From 1930s Home Comfort Cookbook

Vegetarian: No

The following cake recipe is for a basic cake taken from the Wrought Iron Range Cookbook printed in mid-1930s for the Model CB Range. With a Basic Recipe you can remove and add ingredients for other kinds of cakes.

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter
3 cups flour
1 cup milk
3 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. flavoring
3 egg whites

Thoroughly cream the butter, then gradually add the sugar, beating to a smooth mixture. Sift and measure the flour, add baking powder and salt, and re-sift two or three times to completely and evenly mix. With a wire whisk, beat the egg whites until light and fairly stiff. Into the sugar butter, stir in alternately the milk and the flour; add the flavoring extract, and vigorously beat whole to a smooth mixture. Now, carefully fold in the beaten egg whites, handling lightly to prevent tearing down the air cells that have been beaten into them.

If for loaf cake, use a square baking pan about 8 inches square and 2 inches deep; or round pan about 9 inches in diameter and 2 to 2 1/2 inches deep; or a standard round, center tube cake pan of medum size.

If for layer cake, use 2 shallow cake pans about 7 inches square; or 2 small deep pie tins. dividing the mixture evenly between them.

Baking... Butter the pan, or pans, and dust with fine flour, shaking out the flour that does not adhere. Fit well buttered paper into the pans. Pour in the cake mixture, spreading evenly. Have ready a moderate oven. One in which white paper will turn a light brown in five minutes; place the cakes in the oven, and do not disturb for for the first five or six minutes. Now increase the heat for the next ten or twelve mintes, or until the top begins to turn a delicate golden brown. Necessary inspection or careful turning of the pans will not distrub the baking during this period. Do not allow to brown too quickly. Then, diminish the heat for the next five or six minutes, or until the cake is completely baked. Do not jar or disturb it during this period, at the end of which time the cake will be found to have slightly pulled away from the sides of the pan. Turn out on a board covered with cloth, and remove the paper. Double recipe for large cake; or three large layers.

Submitted on 6/24/2002 by: LindaWagner

Cake Making Hints -- From 1930s Home Comfort Cookbook

Vegetarian: No

The Cake baking hints came from the 1930s Home Comfort Cookbook that Wrought Iron Range put out with their Model CB Range in the mid-1930s.

Butter Cakes, Sponge Cake, Basic Recipe, flour, shortening, sweetening, rising agent, liquid, eggs and flavoring.

Cake is divided into two distinct classes... Butter Cake and Sponge Cake, with or without shortening. In their plain form, they constitute Basic Recipes, from which many variations are had by adding, or withholding, of ingredients, varying proportions, manner of mixing, time of baking, etc.

Cake is composed of flour, shortening, sweetening, a rising agent, liquid, eggs and flavoring. The use of the best and freshest materials is essential in fine cake making.

A fine, white flour made from winter wheat, called Cake Flour, is best. It should be free from mold, and have a faintly pure, fresh odor; also, when a small quantity is pressed in the palm of the hand, it should hold together, carrying the imprint of the lines of the hand. Such flour gives the cake a delicate, desirable texture.

Flour should always be perfectly dry, and should be sifted before measuring. When used with baking powder, it should be sifted again after the powder has been added. Flour should always be stirred lightly into a cake mixture; i.e., sifted in, and stirred into the mixture a little at a time.

Bread Flour may, if necessary, be used as a substitute for cake flour by removing a tablespoon from each cupful called for in the recipe; being heavier and coarser than cake flour, it makes coarser cake.

Potato Flour is best for Sponge Cake, but when used as a substitute for wheat flour, only half the quantity called for in the wheat flour recipe should be used.

None but the best Baking Powder, as a rising agent, should be used in cake making. The cheaper powders are usually made from cheap and inferior materials.

Butter is the universal shortening used in the finest cake; however, very good results are had with vegetable shortening, especially that made from the oil of nuts. It is cheaper.

Sweetening for Cake is in the form of sugar, syrup, or molasses. Finely granulated sugar makes the finest cake; coarsely granulated sugar makes a coarse-grained cake; powdered or confectioners sugar makes a dry cake.

Creaming of butter, or shortening, is more easily done when the material is at room temperature, about 70 degrees Fahrenheit. First, the butter should be well creamed, then the sugar thoroughly creamed into it. This saves about half the work. Time and effort are also saved by using a crockery bowl and a large slitted wooden spoon for creaming and mixing.

Temperatures of ingredients being mixed is an important item in good cake making. In cold weather, rinse the mixing bowl in hot water, being cautious to thoroughly dry it before placing the materials into it. The sugar should be warmed to about the temperature of the creamed butter before adding it. One of the big secrets in mixing cake materials is to have them all about the same temperature, unless otherwise directed by the recipe.

None but the finest fresh eggs should be used in cake making. Weak, watery, or undersized eggs are the cause of many failures, and should be avoided.

Whites and yolks of eggs should always be beaten separately, unless otherwise directed by the recipe, care being taken to thoroughly clean the beater when transferring it from one to the other. An egg beater should always be clean and absolutely dry before a rotary beater using.

If whites of eggs are desired dry and of close texture,commonly termed frothy, they should be whipped with a woven wire whisk.

Yolks of eggs should always, unless otherwise directed by the recipe, be beaten with a rotary beater.

When eggs and sugar are to be beaten together as for some cake, this is best done over hot water, care being taken to remove immediately when beating is complete.

In all cake baking, the proper regulation of the oven-heat is of most vital importance to success; therefore, study the control of your oven, as well as the effect of various temperatures.

One frequent cause of failure is the sudden jarring of the cake at certain periods of the baking process. The oven door should be opened and closed carefully. Open it as often as necessary for the regulation of the heat, or for observing the progress, but do not jar the cake, or open the door for the first fifteen or twenty minutes of baking.

The oven heat should never be above moderate when the cake mixture is placed into it. The air, or gas, in the mixture should be given a chance to be heated and expand before the process of cooking begins. Otherwise the cake will be flat and heavy.

Never move, or jar, a cake during the first or last quarter of the period required for baking. In the second or third quarter, it may be moved or turned around if necessary, without serious results. Divide the time required for the particular cake into four quarters, and guard the above rule carefully.

After the cake has risen in moderate heat, stronger heat should be applied during the second quarter, to give a firm, well baked texture; the browning should be done in the third quarter. For the fourth quarter, the oven heat may be gradually lessened, as the baking is practically complete. During this last period, the cake will settle firmly and lose its surface moisture, and settle away from the sides of the pan.

Butter Cake should be baked in a greased pan. Lining the pan with buttered paper is best. Sponge Cake is uaually baked in an ungreased pan. This helps to hold up the cell walls by adhering to the sides. The cake should not be removed immediately from the pan, but should be turned upside down and the cake allowed to dry and partially cool in this position before removing with a thin knife.

Cake should not be hurried, but the oven heat should be steady and slow, or slightly moderate. If a very light cake rises too quickly, the result is that it bakes rapidly on the sides and is sunken in the center.

Submitted on 6/23/2002 by: LindaWagner

Aunt Donnies Bubble Bread -- From Aunt Donnie Paris Franklin, Oxford, KS

Vegetarian: Yes

I remember the holidays at the PARIS when I was a young child. I can smell the fresh baked aromas filling the house and making it a warm, festive gathering of aunts, uncles, and cousins at my maternal PARIS grandparents home in Hopeton, Oklahoma, Woods County. My grandmother Mary Barbara Hurt Paris was known for her homemade bohemian noodles, breads, kolaches, and fresh fruit pies. Aunt Donnie married Kenneth Paris, one of the younger sons of Ernest Claude Paris and Mary Barbara Hurt Paris. Siblings were: Leslie, Alvin, Vernon, Vada, Zella, Sammy, Kenneth, Geneva and EJ.

favorite hot roll recipe
madarin orange
juice of mandarin orange
sugar cubes dipped in orange flavoring
melted butter
powdered sugar

Use your favorite hot roll recipe and when you are ready to make it into rolls pinch off dough about the size of a walnut and wrap it around a section of mandarin orange and a sugar cube that has been dipped in orange flavoring. Dip the whole thing in melted butter and arrange the bubbles in a ring mold or angel food cake pan. Let rise. Bake until done in a 350 degree oven. Turn out of pan when cool and frost with powdered sugar and the juice from the mandarin oranges.

Submitted on by: MichaelWagner

Grandmother Hurt's Kolaches -- From Linda Hurt & Dineal Olsen

Vegetarian: no

Several areas are vague. The size of the square was approx. 4 inches. The pinch together meant to bring all four corners to the enter overlapping the filling and pinch, ending up with a square. The filling was (in our generation) from a can: poppy seed, apricot, prune. Each family member has their personal favorite. Mine is poppy seed. The filling is for pastry specifically. -- Your Missouri Cousin, Linda Hurt

My mom, Betty McCracken, used Solo brand filling. The old Hurt's would take poppy seeds, mash and cook them with sugar, etc… and make their own filling. Too much work. Solo is a very good substitute. Grandma Hurt made cottage cheese Kolaches too, but left the raisins out. She always made a crumbly mixture of sugar, flour and maybe butter and sprinkled some on top of all her kolaches. She was very particular about how they looked, never to brown. -- Your Nebraska Cousin, Dineal

2 envelopes of yeast
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup lukewarm water
1/3 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup shortening
few drops lemon extract
3/4 cup sugar
7 cups sifted flour
1 tsp. salt
1 cup milk, scalded and cooled

Dissolve yeast in water. Cream shortening, sugar and salt. Add eggs, nutmeg, flavoring and lukewarm milk. Add to yeast. Add 3 cups flour and beat. Add remaining flour. Turn out on floured board and knead lightly until smooth and elastic. Place in greased bowl. Cover and set in warm place about 2 hours. Turn out on floured board and roll out. Cut into squares and fill. Pinch together, then let raise about 15 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Submitted on by: Linda McGillWagner

Mocha Cocoa Frosting -- From McG-Wagner Cookbook

Vegetarian: No

I found this on the world wide web from a Southern Oklahoma Friends newsletter. If you like a bit of coffee in your chocolate, you might like this one.

1/3 cupful butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cupfuls sugar, confectioners
1/2 cupful Hersheys Cocoa
1/4 tsp salt
About 1/3 cupful black coffee

Cream butter thoroughly. Add Vanilla. Sift sugar, cocoa and salt together. Add alternately with coffee to butter mixture, beating to spreading consistency. Spread on warm cake. Yield... 1 3/4 cupfuls icing or enough for an 8 or 9 inch layer cake.

Submitted on 9/6/2003 by: Linda McGillWagner

Old Fashioned Chocolate Cake -- From McG-Wagner Cookbook

Vegetarian: No

Since this is an Old Fashioned chocolate cake, let us try doing it the way our great grandparents might have done it back in the days when there was NO electric mixers. So... If you need stiffly beaten egg whites, beat like crazy and use those arm muscles. I cook this in a flat 1 inch cookie sheet type pan. When it is cool, I spread on a layer of chopped pecans & sliced almonds. Then spread on a layer of cream cheese & cool whip mixture. Then I roll up into a jelly roll and wrap in saran wrap and place in refrigerator for a few hours. Or overnight. Take out next morning and sprinkle with powdered sugar and more nuts is desired and slice into individual servings. Serve with fresh raspberries, blackberries, or your favorite fresh berries.

3 squares Hershey Baking Chocolate
5 Tbsp Hot water
1/2 cupful butter
1 1/2 cupfuls granulated sugar
4 eggs separated
1 3/4 cupfuls sifted cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cupful milk
1 tsp vanilla

First... Melt the baking chocolate, cut into small pieces, with the hot water in top of double boiler over simmering water. If you like, add a 4 oz baking bar of Ghirardelli Premium Semi-Sweet Chocolate.

Second... Cream the butter and sugar together well. Add the well beaten egg yolks and whip thoroughly.

Third... Add the slightly cooled melted chocolate mixture, the flour sifted with the baking powder and salt, and the milk.

Fourth... Fold in the stiffly whipped egg whites and vanilla. Pour into a well greased and floured pan. Bake in a moderate oven at 350 degrees, 40 to 45 minutes or until done.

Submitted on 9/6/2003 by: Linda McGillWagner

Oatmeal Cake -- From old handwritten recipe

Vegetarian: Yes

Here is another old handwritten recipe that I found in my Home Comfort Cook Book. It was handwritten in pencil on pages 5 & 6 of the cook book.

1 1/4 Cup Water
1 cup Oatmeal
1 stick of Oleo
2 Eggs
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Soda
1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon
1 1/2 Cup Flour
Dash fo Salt

Icing....
1 cup Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp. Vanilla
1 Cup Coconut
1 cup Nuts
2 Tbsp. Water
6 Tsp. Oleo

Add 1/ 1/4 Cup boiling water to 1 cup oatmeal and 1 stick of oleo. Let stand 20 minutes. Mix together 2 eggs, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup brown sugar, 1 Tbsp. soda, 1/2 Tsp. Cinnamon, 1 1/2 cup flour, dash salt. Bake 30 minutes in 350 degree oven.

Mix Icing ingredidnts and spread on top and boil until done.

Submitted on 4/29/2004 by: LindaWagner

Grandma Paris Apple Pie -- From Stan Paris via Grandma Paris

Vegetarian: No

This is Grandmother Paris apple pie recipe, which Dad (Alvin Paris) was still making up to a year or so before he died. It includes the famous, flaky crust that the Bohemian HURT/PARIS are known for making.

CRUST:
3 Cups sifted flour
1 Cup Crisco (Butter flavor or can mix with butter)
Pinch of salt
1 T. Vegetable oil
Ice Water (APPROX. 6 T.)


FILLING:
16 Apples peeled and sliced.
1 cup sugar
1/2 Cup Flour (4 OR 5 T.)
1 T. Cinnamon – Heaping

CRUST: 3 Cups sifted flour
1 Cup Crisco (Butter flavor or can mix with butter)
Pinch of salt(NOT TOO MUCH)
Blend flour, salt and crisco
Put in icebox while peeling apples
1 T. Vegetable oil
Ice Water (APPROX. 6 T.)


Mix with above and roll as thin as possible. Roll rom middle out.


FILLING:
16 Apples peeled and sliced. (Add Lemon juice to apples before putting in pie)
1 cup sugar – or whatever it takes to generously layer the apples.
1/2 Cup Flour (4 OR 5 T.)
1 T. Cinnamon – Heaping, with each cup of sugar. For the layering speck of salt (NOT EVEN A PINCH)


Put three layers of apples sprinkled with flour and cinnamon and butter in between layers. Sprinkle with flour and cinnamon on top. Bake at 425 Degrees for 15 minutes then turn down to 350 Degrees for 1 hour.

Submitted on 1/25/2004 by: StanParis

MWag's Old Fashioned Buttery, Flakey Crust -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: No

I remember making this for the first time with Grandma Vada while I was still in grade school in Alva, OK. Things I remember picking up on include keeping the butter chilled as you make the crust which helped keep it flakey. Also, Try and not use your hands which warms up the butter.

1 1/2 Cups of All Purpose Flour
1 1/2 Sticks of unsalted butter
1/4 tsp of Kosher salt 1/4 Cup of ice water

Combine salt and Flour in a bowl. Cut in cold butter sliced into 1/4 inch pieces. Once the mixture starts to have pea-sized clumps, slowly add and mix in the ice water.

Roll into a ball and slightly flatten. Cover in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

Remove from refridgerator and plastic. With a rolling pin, roll out in into circle big enough to fit within a 8 inch pie pan (including bottom, sides, and about 2 inches overlapping.

Place and form into the pie pan. Hint: Fold into half twice and lift and unfold in pie pan.

Roll the overlapping edge up until it is sitting on the rim of the pie pan. With your fore finger and thumb, crimp the edges and go all the way around the rim.

Freeze the crust until ready to use. This also helps keep the crust firm as you pour filling. To keep your edges from burning. Wrap with aluminum foil. Remove foile 5-10 minutes before its done.

Submitted on 5/4/2002 by: MichaelWagner

English Muffin Bread -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: Yes

Here is one of mothers English muffin bread recipes.

3 to 4 cup enriched flour
2 pkgs dry yeast
1/4 cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
1 3/4 cup hot water (115 to 120 degree)
1/2 cup oil
cornmeal

combine 1 1/2 cup flour, yeast, sugar and salt. Add hot tap water, mix until dry ingredients are mointened. Beat until smooth (about 2 minutes) on electric beater or 300 strokes by hand. Blend in oil.

Add flour to make a stiff batter. Beat until smooth elastic. (1 minute electric or 150 strokes by hand). Cover and let rise in warm place (80 to 85 degrees) until light and bubbly, about one hour Stir down.

Divide into 3 well greased and cornmeal dusted 1 pound coffee cans. Cover and let rise until doubled. Bake in preheated oven 375 degree for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool completely in cans. To serve -- slice and toast.

Submitted on 4/28/2002 by: LindaMcGill Wagner

Wilmas Mexican Cornbread -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: Yes

Need a different kind of spicy cornbread for a change? Mother received this recipe from Wilma Coffman Lee. Wilma Coffman was my 5th and 6th grade elementary teacher at Washington school in Alva, Oklahoma.

1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. soda
2 eggs
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup oil or butter
1 cup creamed corn
1 cup dried hot peppers

Mix all ingredients together. Pour 1/2 batter in pan. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated cheese. Add remaining batter. Another layer of grated American cheese. Bake 40 minutes at 350 degree. Serve hot.

Submitted on 4/28/2002 by: LindaMcGill Wagner

French Bread -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: Yes

This is one of my mothers recipes for French bread. Hope you like it.

2 1/2 cup tepid water
2 pkgs dry yeast
4 cups flour (or more), 2 lb. 3 oz
1 tsp. salt

Mix together 2 1/2 cup tepid water; 2 pkgs dy yeast. Add 4 cups of the flour. Mix 10 minutes. Mix together 1 tsp. salt. Add rest of the flour and mix 10 minutes. Rise 2 hours. Punch down. Rise again. Make into loaves. let rise 1 1/2 hours or more. Bake 450 degree oven 25 minutes with pan of hot water in the bottom of oven.

Submitted on 4/28/2002 by: LindaMcGill Wagner

All-Bran Muffins -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: Yes

Another one of mothers Bran muffins recipes she collected.

4 cups All-bran
2 cups 4% bran flakes
1 tsp. salt 3 cup sugar
1 cup shortening

Mix and let Cool -- 4 cup all-bran, 2 cups bran flakes, salt, boiling water, sugar. Cream in 1 cup shortening. Mix 5 cup flour with 5 tsp. baking soda. Add alternately with 1 quart buttermilk. Beat in 4 eggs separately. Keep in refrigerator.

Submitted on 4/28/2002 by: LindaMcGill Wagner

Bran Muffins -- From Vada Paris McGill

Vegetarian: Yes

This recipe was with some of my mothers recipes that she clipped and saved out of newspapers, magizines and from friends, family.

2 cups Bran buds
2 cup boiling water
5 cups All-purpose flour
5 tsp. soda
1 tsp. salt
1 qt. buttermilk
4 cup All-Bran
1 cup crisco
2 1/2 cup sugar
4 eggs

Mix together 2 cup Bran Buds and 2 cup boiling water. Sift together 5 cup All-purpose flour, 5 tsp. soda, 1 tsp. salt, 1 qt. buttermilk, and 4 cup All-Bran. Cream 1 cup crisco, 2 1/2 cup sugar, and 4 eggs. Cream shortening, sugar and eggs. Beat well. Add soaked buds alternately with buttermilk and dry ingredients. Stir in All-Bran. Mix well, store in refrigerator in covered container. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full. Bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes. NOTE -- Just dip from top of refrigerated batter, do not stir. This is large recipe. Will keep 2 months in refrigerator.

Submitted on 4/28/2002 by: LindaWagner