Back in the winter of 2009 I was lucky enough to have been able to fly over to Salt Lake City for a week. My oldest daughter was competing in the International Winter Special Olympics in Idaho, representing Canada.
I was so chuffed to be able to go and watch her compete. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ I was also very pleased to be able to spend some time in Salt Lake City. My daughter was competing in Idaho for only a few days.
My friend Lura and her husband John, and their family hosted me for that time and they made sure I got to see everything any Latter Day Saint visiting the city would want to see!
We went to all of the historical sights and it was pretty amazing. We also got to eat some pretty amazing food. I tasted my first sweet potato fries and fried pickles in the Roof Top Restaurant at the top of the Joseph Smith Building. (Delicious!)
I also got to eat in my first ever Brazilian grill, Tucanos. That was also pretty amazing. I still dream about their Cod Fish with Mango Sauce.
Another day we had lunch in The Lion House Pantry Restaurant, which is next to the Beehive House in SLC. The Lion House was originally the home of President Brigham Young.
Of course I came home with the cookbook. I did have to leave it behind in the UK when I moved back to Canada last autumn, but was able to buy a copy on my kindle.
I am not a person who is really fond of recipes on the Kindle, but one has to do what one has to do. I think in recent years they have become a lot easier to follow.
In any case the recipe for Lion House Rolls is in the book and that is the recipe I am sharing with you today, with a couple of changes. One I half batched the recipe. I simply did not need that many rolls.
Two, I made my Lion House Rolls recipe without powdered milk. I don't have any powdered milk in the house. It was very easily done by cutting back on the water needed and adding milk in it's place.
As you can see I ended up with some very delicious, soft, light as air, fluffy rolls. Roll perfection.
I inhaled one as soon as they came out of the oven and my sister happened by at that time and she inhaled one also. All of this before I took any photos!
At that point we were in danger of not having any to take photos of so we had to restrain ourselves. Yes, they ARE that good! I found myself thinking maybe I should have baked the full batch! (But then where would I have put them?)
WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE LION HOUSE ROLLS
Simple ordinary things. This is a simple ordinary recipe.
- water (blood warm)
- milk (I used whole milk)
- yeast (If you need to you can use instant yeast, you will need approximately 3/4 TBS)
- sugar (just plain granulated sugar)
- salt
- butter (I used unsalted)
- flour (you can use bread flour or all purpose flour)
- egg (For the half batch you will not need it all)
- oil to oil the rising bowl
HOW TO MAKE LION HOUSE ROLLS
The dough itself was very easy to make, especially if you have a stand mixer. I do (thanks so much Jen, my friend in Milton, Ont. and her pups too.) You can of course do it by hand, but it will take a lot more effort in mixing and kneading.
You want to begin by proofing your yeast. This is easily done by sprinkling it over the milk and water. If your milk and water are warm, the yeast will start to activate and bubble. You know then that it is good and you can continue.
You then need to stir the sugar, salt, butter, egg and some of the flour into the mix, mixing it all in well at first on low and then on medium for a couple minutes. Then you add the remaining flour in increments, mixing it well in and kneading on medium for a few minutes each time.
The dough is ready when you have a soft, non-sticky, evenly textured dough which pulls away from the sides of the pan.
Tip it into an oiled bowl, turning it to coat the dough in some oil, cover with cling film and leave to rise until doubled in size.
HOW TO SHAPE LION HOUSE ROLLS
1. Knock the dough down and then roll the dough out to make a long horizontal shape, similar to the picture above.
2. Divide the dough in half horizontally.
Make vertical cuts down the dough from one end to the other. This should make about 12 individual strips of dough that are 2 to 2 1/2 inches wide.
3. Shape each roll individually by taking the dough strip with both hands and rolling it up like a cinnamon or jelly roll.
4. Place the dough rolls, seam side down, onto a buttered baking sheet, leaving plenty of space in between for them to rise.
Once your shaped rolls have risen to twice the size they are ready to bake. Pop them into a preheated oven and bake for the required time.
They are done with they are golden brown all over, tops and bottoms, and they sound hollow when you pick one up and tap it on the bottom. These are very soft rolls, which is all a part of their charm.
CAN YOU FREEZE THE SHAPED ROLLS BEFORE BAKING?
YES, you can absolutely freeze the shaped rolls prior to baking for future use. This makes them the perfect roll to make ahead for the holidays and your holiday meals!
Simply double the amount of yeast when making the dough. After the first rise, shape rolls but do not allow them to rise again.
Place the rolls on a baking sheet and immediately place them into the freezer. When the rolls have frozen solid, remove from the pan and place them into a zip lock baggie, squeezing out any excess air.
They may then be frozen for up to 3 weeks without baking.
When you are ready to bake the rolls, place the frozen rolls onto greased or parchment lined baking sheet (s), all facing in the same direction.
Cover lightly with some plastic cling film and leave to thaw and rise until doubled in size. This will take 4 to 5 hours.
Bake as per the recipe. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
Once baked, these rolls will keep at room temperature in an airtight container or storage bag for two to three days.
You may also freeze the baked rolls. To freeze, wrap them individually with foil and place into an airtight zip-lock bag in the freezer.
They are best if reheated and eaten within about a month.
When you are ready to re-heat the rolls, simply pop them (still in the foil) into a 350*F/180*F/gas mark 4 oven for about 15 minutes, undoing the foil for the last five minutes to crisp up the tops.
Brush with melted butter to serve. Delicious!
As you can see these rolls have a beautiful texture. Light as air and oh-so-fluffy! They are quite simply my favorite dinner roll.
I guarantee that if you make them, they will become your favorite rolls also! Absolutely!! These truly are the BEST!
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Lion House Rolls (Half Batch)
Yield: 12 rolls
Prep time: 20 MinCook time: 15 Mininactive time: 1 H & 44 MTotal time: 2 H & 19 M
These are undoubtedly the lightest, fluffiest, tastiest rolls you could ever want to eat. Very easy to make as well. If you are looking for a great holiday roll, look no further!
Ingredients
- 2/3 cup (160ml) warm water
- 1/3 cup (80ml) milk
- 1 TBS dry yeast
- 2 TBS sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 TBS butter, softened
- 1 1/2 TBS beaten egg
- 2 1/2 to 3 cups (350g - 420g) bread or all purpose flour (note in the UK, only use strong flour as plain flour will not have sufficient gluten in it to create rolls successfully)
You will also need (optional):
- melted butter for spreading on the dough and on the finished rolls
Instructions
- Combine the milk and water in the bowl of a stand mixer Sprinkle the yeast over top, stir and then let stand for five minutes, or until the yeast has started to proof.
- Add the sugar, salt, egg, butter and 1 to 1 1/2 cups (140g to 210 g) of the flour. Mix on low with a dough hook to combine and then increase speed to medium and mix for 2 minutes.
- Add 1 more cup (140g) of the flour and mix on low until everything is more or less mixed and then increase the speed to medium again and mix for a further 2 minutes. Add the remaining 1/4 cup (35g) of flour and mix until the dough is soft and beginning to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Scrape the bowl every so often. The dough should not be sticky or wet. It should be soft. If it is stick mix in a bit more flour.
- Oil a largish bowl. Tip in the bread dough, turning to coat the dough in the oil. Cover the bowl tightly with some plastic wrap, and then set aside to rise in a warm place until double in size. (about 1 hour.)
- Have ready a large baking tray which you have buttered.
- Knock down the dough and tip out onto a lightly floured countertop. Roll out to a largish rectangle about 12 by 14 inches in size. Brush with melted butter if desired and then cut into 12 evenly sized rectangles.
- Roll each rectangle up into a roll and place onto the baking sheet with the tail end down on the sheet (see photo).
- Cover lightly and leave to rise in a warm place until the rolls have doubled in size (about 45 minutes.)
- Preheat the oven to 350*F/ 180*C/ gas mark 4.
- Bake the rolls in the preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown on the tops and bottoms. (They will sound hollow when tapped on the underside if done.) Brush with melted butter. (optional)
- Serve warm or at room temperature.
I am a huge lover of Vintage Recipes. I think that there is a lot of value in these things. These are the kinds of recipes which our grandmother's and great-grandmother's would have cooked.
Simple recipes, composed of simple ingredients, put together in very simple ways. Back in the days where things like raisins were considered a luxury item.
We are so spoilt these days. We virtually have a world full of ingredients at our fingertips, and beck and call.
When I was a child, my mother used to bake us a cake every Christmas which we loved called War Cake. You can find that recipe here.
It makes a lovely moist raisin cake. This was a cake we always looked forward to enjoying every year. It was not Christmas without it!
I stumbled onto this Poor Man's Cake on the Old Farmer's Almanac a week or so ago and it reminded me very much of my mother's War Cake. I was keen to try it out. As I said, I love anything Vintage, both in the home and in cooking.
I didn't want a huge 9 by 13 inch cake however, with there only being one of me in the house and not having a lot of company these days. I decided to cut the recipe in half with excellent results.
This is a fabulous cake. Stuffed with plenty of raisins, nicely spiced and perfect for enjoying alongside of hot cups of tea, herbal or otherwise.
This is a Depression Era cake, brought forth by need during the Great Depression of the 1930's when things that cooks normally baked with were scarce. Things like milk, butter, eggs.
Indeed there is no need for any of those things in this cake. It is a milk, egg and butter-free cake. You would think it would be dry, but it really isn't!
WHAT YOU NEED TO MAKE POOR MAN'S CAKE
Most of these ingredients can be found right in your larder, or pantry, whatever you call it. You can also add walnuts if you have them. They will only add to the deliciousness of the cake. Toast them first.
- brown sugar
- hot water
- all purpose flour
- raisins
- salt
- shortening
- baking soda
- ground cinnamon
- ground cloves
I strongly suspect the recipe is even older than the depression. It sounds very much like the cake which was mentioned in a book I loved as a child. The Five Little Peppers and How They Grew, by Margaret Sidney.
Written in 1881 it was a book about the Pepper Family. They were very poor. Mrs Pepper was a widow and worked all day to support her family. The oldest daughter Polly and her brother Ben, being largely left in charge of their younger siblings.
I remember reading about Polly baking a cake for their mother's birthday and it sounded very much like this one, filled with raisins and flavored with cinnamon.
It was a very humble cake and ended up more burnt than anything else, but to my child's mind's eye it did sound delicious, and they decorated it with a paper ruffle and a candle.
That whole book made me grateful more than anything else for being able to live in a time and a home where what we had was plenty in comparison to what those poor children had.
HOW TO MAKE POOR MAN'S CAKE
This is a very simple cake to make. You need to begin by boiling some raisins in a quantity of water. This helps to really plump the raisins up and makes for a lovely moist cake.
You will be adding the brown sugar, spices and the shortening to the water in which the raisins are boiled. I used dark raisins.
You then need to let the raisin mixture cool down until it is lukewarm. You don't want to be mixing the flour into it when it is hot.
I strongly suspect that this would make a tough cake. The brown sugar also adds to the moisture. Most cakes that contain brown sugar are nice and moist.
Once the raisin mixture has cooled down you can stir in the flour and baking soda. In those days they always dissolved the baking soda in a bit of hot water.
The primary reason for doing this was so that the soda was more evenly distributed in the mixture. There is nothing so nasty as getting a mouthful of bicarbonate of soda. YUCK!
It doesn't take very long to bake. My mom's war cake takes a lot longer, but then again, it is a much larger, deeper cake.
You do need to let it cool in the pan. This also adds to the moistness of the cake. As you can see it doesn't rise very tall, which means it is a somewhat dense cake, but trust me when I tell you that you won't mind in the least.
I remember mom's War Cake with special fondness. She went to a great effort every year to get these large sticky seeded raisins. I have not seen those in years.
I am not sure why, but they had to be those particular raisins. Perhaps because that is what they had always used in this cake.
I strongly suspect this cake was baked mostly during the holidays and was meant to replace fruit cake, which would have required many more ingredients, and perhaps not fit within the budget of many people, especially during the Great Depression.
Although I would think that coming up with 1 whole cup of brown sugar would have been a bit of a struggle also. That's why I don't think it is a War time cake.
During the War years nobody would have wanted to waste a whole cup of their sugar ration in one cake, unless it was a very special occasion indeed.
I know in England after the War, when Queen Elizabeth was getting married, people were sending in their ration cards to help to accumulate all of the ingredients for her wedding cake. Things were still being strictly rationed then and were for quite some time after.
Anyways, this is a lovely simple cake. Moist and dense. Nicely filled with plenty of raisins and just enough spice.
It went down really lovely with a hot cup of mandarin orange and spice herbal tea. Yes, I did dunk. Doesn't everyone?
Poor Man's Cake (aka War Cake)
Yield: 1 (8-inch) layer cakes
Prep time: 30 MinCook time: 30 MinTotal time: 1 Hour
A deliciously moist fruited cake from the days of rationing when eggs and butter were in short supply.
Ingredients
- 1 cup (200g) brown sugar, packed
- 1 cup (240ml) hot water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 TBS vegetable shortening
- 1 1/2 cups (230g) raisins
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1 1/2 cups (210g) plain all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda dissolved in 1 teaspoon hot water
To finish: (pick one, all optional)
- vanilla butter cream
- cream cheese frosting
- icing sugar to dust
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350*f/180*C/ gas mark 4. Grease an 8-inch round baking pan.
- Combine brown sugar, hot water, salt, shortening, raisins, and spices in a saucepan. Bring to the boil, then remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Stir in the flour and dissolved baking powder. Mix well together and then pour into the prepared pan.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan.
- Frost, if desired with either a vanilla buttercream or a cream cheese frosting. We like it plain, as is, dusted (or not) with icing sugar, along side hot cups of tea.
Perfect Creamy Mashed Potatoes. Is there anything more glorious on the holiday table than a nice big bowl of creamy mashed potatoes? Probably not a lot in any case!
When I was growing up the holiday meal meant one thing, aside from the turkey, and that was mashed potatoes. Fluffy, light and buttery, soft and indulgent.
In the UK you are more likely to find crisp Roast Potatoes on the holiday table, but here in North America, it almost always will be mashed. And why not? They go with just about anything.
A lot of people might feel that making mashed potatoes is a bit of a daunting task and even be afraid that that bowl of hot perfect creamy mashed potatoes will elude them. I am going to try to dispel all the mystery this morning surrounding mashed potatoes, with all of my hints and tips in an effort to help you make the best mashed potatoes ever this holiday season, and indeed any season or time of the week or year!
WHAT KIND OF POTATO DO YOU NEED TO MAKE PERFECT CREAMY MASHED POTATOES
The first thing you want to bear in mind when planning on making mashed potatoes is that you use the right potato for the job. Choosing the right potato can make a huge difference when it comes to mashed potatoes.
You want a nice floury potato, one with a high starch, low water content. That rules out new potatoes. You want an old potato for mashed potatoes.
Ideally in North America that would be either a Russet or a Yukon Gold potato. In the UK, you will want a Maris Piper or a King Edward.
WHAT IS THE RIGHT TOOL TO USE TO MAKE MASHED POTATOESYou also need the right tool to use for mashing them. Some people prefer a ricer (which is the tool on the left) whilst others are happy to use a dedicated potato masher (the tool on the right).
Still yet, others like to mash their potatoes using an electric hand whisk.
If you want perfectly smooth, lump free potatoes, use a potato ricer. If you are not bothered by a few lumps, then use a potato masher or the electric hand whisk. All of these tools do an excellent job.
First you will need to peel and wash your potatoes. Cut them into evenly sized chunks. Evenly sized chunks will cook in the same amount of time as each other.
Place the potatoes into a saucepan of cold, lightly salted water and bring them to the boil. Once they come to the boil, reduce to a quick simmer, cover and cook, until just tender. A fork should pierce them easily.
Drain the potatoes at once. Return the drained potatoes to the saucepan and shake them a bit over the residual heat of the burner. Leave to dry, shaking them every 30 seconds or so.
Once your potatoes are fairly dry, put them through a potato ricer if you have one, or mash well with a potato masher.
You want to have ready some cream into which you have melted a good knob of butter. Continue to mash the potatoes adding the cream and butter mixture slowly until you have the consistency you want.
Season to taste with some salt, pepper and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional). If your mash is too stiff, you can stir in a bit more warm milk.
CAN YOU MAKE MASHED POTATOES AHEAD?
Yes, absolutely! You can can make mashed potatoes ahead of time and even freeze them if you need to. The tip for doing this successfully is to make sure that you don't skimp on any of the butter or cream. It is the butter and cream which help the potatoes reheat well.
One of my favorite ways to reheat mashed potatoes is to just put them in the microwave (covered) for a couple minutes on high, giving them a good stir before serving.
You can also put them into a slow cooker on low for a couple of hours, or reheat them in a covered casserole dish in the oven or over low heat in the top of a double boiler on the stovetop. Just stir occasionally, adding more butter and seasoning if needed to serve. To freeze mashed potatoes, line a casserole dish with some plastic cling film. Put in the mashed potatoes, cover, cool completely and then place into the freezer until frozen solid.
Remove from the freezer, remove from the dish. Triple wrap in more cling film, pop into a large zip lock baggie, and return to the freezer. You can keep them frozen for up to two weeks this way.
This is ideal for holiday meals when we are all stressed to the max and are wanting ways to utilize our time more efficiently. The more we can do ahead of time the better!You can re-warm the frozen mashed potatoes either from the frozen state or thaw them out first. Either way, unwrap them and pop the frozen block back into the initial casserole that you froze them in. (I like to butter it first.)
Place, covered into the refrigerator to thaw the night before, or cook directly from frozen, remembering that it will take considerably longer to reheat from the frozen state, so add an additional 25 minutes or so to the cook time, and give them a good stir halfway through.
Reheat, covered, in a moderate oven, until they are completely heated through. If you think they are a bit watery, just stir in some more butter and cream, but not too much because you don't want them to be too loose.
There are many ways you can dress up mashed potatoes as well if you don't want to keep them plain. You can stir in cheese and allow it to melt. You can also stir in chopped chives or spring onions (scallions.)Mom always added a tiny bit of finely minced or grated cooking onion and we loved it.
Some people like to add a bit of sour cream which gives them a lovely tang, and other people like to use buttermilk instead of cream. People who are watching their weight might use only milk and eschew the cream altogether.
Personally, its the holidays and so I say bring on the cream! And the butter! But then, I am a bit of a glutton!
Today I serve them with a grilled smoked pork chop and a variety of vegetables for a simple supper. For the holidays of course you will be serving them with either a roast turkey or ham, beef, etc.
These are the best mashed potatoes and delicious served with a pat of butter melting on top, or with a slight hollow in the middle designed to cup some of your delicious gravy.
Enjoy! Enjoy! Enjoy!!
Perfect Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Yield: 2
Prep time: 10 MinCook time: 25 MinTotal time: 35 Min
There is nothing so wonderful as a nice bowl of hot fluffy mashed potatoes sitting on the table to go with whatever.
Ingredients
- 3/4 pound (340g)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 2 TBS heavy cream
- 1 TBS butter
- 1 TBS milk (or as needed)
- salt and black pepper
Instructions
- Peel the potatoes, rinse and cut into large chunks. Place into a saucepan and cover with lightly salted cold water. Bring to the boil over high heat.
- Reduce to a quick simmer and cook, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, until fork tender.
- Warm the cream and butter together in the microwave while the potatoes are cooking, just until the butter melts.
- When the potatoes are done, drain them really well and then return to the saucepan. Shake the saucepan over the residual heat of the burner to dry them out really well. Pour the cream and butter over the potatoes.
- Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes, adding only as much milk as needed to give you the proper consistency. You want light and fluffy. Do not over-mash or you risk them having a glue-like texture. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.
- Serve hot.
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