After my blog last week my husband and son went out and picked some apples from North Georgia. They brought home several varieties and we turned them into a delicious apple crisp (my apple crisp recipe that isn't even an apple crisp!). I was enjoying it hot and bubbling out of the oven, and thinking about how much I love fall desserts, and that I was looking forward to Thanksgiving dinner with all the yummy desserts. THEN I thought, hey! A few years ago I did a series on Christmas cookies, why the heck not do a series on Thanksgiving desserts. Buckle up people, we're talking about that nutty favorite: Pecan Pie!

I love pecans. LOVE THEM. My father-in-law has several pecan trees in his yard. So we have an endless supply of fresh pecans. Yay! I love eating pie, but I am not a pie baker (LOVE me some cakes, and I can bake cakes like nobody's business). Nope, I tried making apple pie once, and it was a disaster. I also cannot make mashed potatoes, but otherwise I'm a fairly good cook. But, I digress. Back to pecan pie. I have not even attempted to make pecan pie. Let's take a look at the history of pecan pie, and figure out how it made its way to our Thanksgiving dessert tables. 

Many people know that our current traditional Thanksgiving meal doesn't resemble the first Thanksgiving meal back in 1621, so it should come as no surprise to find out that pecan pie was NOT on the menu 397 years ago. When did pecan pie burst onto the scene? Well, it's really not clear based on historical evidence. If we start with the humble pecan.

If we step out of the kitchen and into the field, we find out that archaeologist had discovered that Native Americans were using pecans 8,000 years ago. Even the word pecan is of Native American origin (thank you to the Algonquin tribe for the name!). If pecans have been used for this incredible length of time, then surely pecan pie must have a long and storied history, right? That would be a hard- nope. 

The first solid evidence for the existence of pecan pie is fairly recent in the history of food. In 1886, February 6th to be exact, Harper's Bazaar, printed the earliest known reference to pecan pie:

"Is not only delicious, but is capable of being made a 'real state pie,' as an enthusiastic admirer said. The pecans must be very carefully hulled, and the meat thoroughly freed from any bark or husk. When ready, throw the nuts into boiling milk, and let them boil while you are preparing a rich custard. Have your pie plates lined with a good pastry, and when the custard is ready, strain the milk from the nuts and add them to the custard. A meringue may be added, if liked, but very careful baking is necessary."
---"Pecan Pie," Harper's Bazaar, February 6, 1886 (p. 95) 

Not quite a fully formed recipe, but there it is! While there is no hard evidence for pecan pie earlier than this, there are claims that pecan based desserts and candies were created by the French after the settled the area around New Orleans, Louisiana (early in the 1700s). While the French settlers may have invented the sweet pecan dessert, there is just no proof. It seems that most modern food historians believe that pecan pie is a 20th century invention, and that it is deeply entrenched in southern traditional cooking. After some recipes published in the late 1800s, the next boom for pecan pie was in the 1940s when recipes appeared in Fannie Farmer and The Joy of Cooking. 

Many people associate pecan pie with the Karo Corn Syrup brand. It is true that Karo really popularized the pecan pie as we know it today (as well as many of its variants), and it claims that pecan pie was a discovery of a new use for corn syrup in 1930. However, the recipes for pecan pie before this do not include corn syrup! So there are plenty of recipes for pecan pie without the corn syrup. In fact, I thought it would fun to share one of these recipes! 

I was hoping to find a fully fleshed out older recipe with actual amounts AND cooking temperature or time. I was able to find plenty of modern recipes, but I was really hoping to find something from the days BEFORE corn syrup. I did hit on a significant clue; the 1929 Congressional Cookbook allegedly includes a recipe for pecan pie using pecans, eggs, sugar, and milk -no syrup. Unfortunately, I could not find the full recipe online, nor a copy of the book. Sad day. 

The best I could find from the pre-corn syrup days is from one of my favorite sources- The Food Timeline. This fantastic website shared a recipe from 1898. It was originally printed in Ladies Home Journal, but was found reprinted in the Goshen Daily Democrat, on November 26, 1898 (fun fact, I looked it up, this was two days after Thanksgiving that year!). Without further ado, here is the recipe (without out a cooking temperature I'm afraid). 

"Texas Pecan Pie.
One cup of sugar, one cup of sweet milk, half a cup of pecan kernels chopped fine, three eggs and a tablespoonful of flour. When cooked, spread the well-beaten whites of two eggs on top, brown, sprinkle a few of the chopped kernels over. These quantities will make one pie.--Ladies' Home Journal." --Goshen Daily Democrat, [IN] November 26, 1898 (p. 6)

I have to admit, I am very intrigued by the idea of a meringue on the top of pecan pie! But wait, I have more to offer you! Many of you know that Scott has a fantastic cookbook (Lunch is Ready!), and he offers three different pecan pie recipes, including one without corn syrup! YUP! 

Creamy Pecan Pie

This is a variation on the southern classic. This version is not as sweet as a traditional pecan pie, but is just as good...only different!

1 (3 oz.) box cook-&-serve vanilla Jell-O Pudding (not instant!)

1 cup light corn syrup

3/4 cup low-fat evaporated milk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 cup pecans, chopped

1 (9 inch) prepared pie shell, unbaked

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the pudding mix, corn syrup, milk and egg, stirring well after each addition. Stir in pecans. Pour into prepared pie shell and bake for approximately 40 minutes or until top is slightly cracked and a thin knife inserted in center comes out clean. Remove to a wire rack and allow to cool and then refrigerate for at least 3 hours until chilled. Recipe from: Atlanta Journal-Constitution Newspaper Food Section

I hope you give Scott's delicious recipe for yourself! Personally, I have never NOT liked anything Scott has made, so I know you will love this recipe too! Where do you fall on the pecan pie? Like it? Love it? Pass? Next week will I will be sharing another yummy Thanksgiving dessert recipe! 

There are still seats available in these great classes this summer at ISAC! Click the links below to register now. 

English Over-Piped Elegant Wedding Cake with Ceri Griffiths, 11/7-8

Unicorn Bliss Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/18

Art Deco Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/19

Bohemian Love Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/19

 Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with your Amazon order! If for any reason this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns, before leaving feedback or a review, by emailing us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com. We would be grateful if you would leave us a positive feedback and review of your Renshaw Fondant. Leaving feedback seems like such a little thing, but it has great impact on our business and we would greatly appreciate your time in leaving it.

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

I love the fall. I love fall desserts. I have a recipe for a baked apple dessert, I call it an apple crisp. Every time I make it my husband calls it apple cobbler. Is he right, or am I right? Or are we both wrong... could it be a crumble? And what in the heck is a buckle? I had never even heard of a buckle before researching for this blog, so I am including it! Do you know the differences? I sure didn't, so let's get started learning about yummy desserts.

Let's start with the buckle, since it was my first time even hearing about it. So, from what I have gathered it seems that a buckle dessert is a cakey dessert, similar to a coffee cake, made with fruit and a streusel topping. The reason it is called a buckle is due to the way the cake bakes up; while the batter rises, the heavy streusel topping causes the surface of the cake to buckle! Well, that's awfully straight forward, isn't it? Turns out, I have eaten a buckle. Yup, I didn't even realize, because I called it a blueberry coffeecake. If you want to make a delicious fall fruit buckle, try adding fresh apples and caramel to your buckle! 

Next up, let's talk cobbler. Is my apple dessert a cobbler? This dessert can trace its origins back to the middle of the 1800s. Pies were already a popular dessert, but with the American westward expansion, many pie recipes needed to be modified to be easily baked in Dutch oven pots. Instead of traditional pie crusts, often rough biscuits were baked on top of the fruit, which formed a thick syrup. Many people assume that this dessert is called cobbler because the topping (which can be biscuit dough, batter, or dumplings) resembles the cobblestones people find on an old road. This does seem pretty likely. However, there is also a type of traditional English bread called cob bread. This bread is small and round, it may have been similar to the look of the biscuit on top of the baked cobbler? My husband grew up eating cobbler, and his favorite was a combo of blueberry and peach. Here's a laugh for you, he blended the names of the fruit and called it "bleach" cobbler. Taste great, sounds horrifying! Go get yourselves some fall apples and bake yourself up a cobbler!

Which desserts are left to discuss? Crisps and crumbles. These two are not so easily distinguished. Both are baked fruit desserts with streusel toppings, nuts are optional on both crisps and crumbles. Unlike buckles there is no batter and it is not cakey, unlike cobblers, there is no dropped biscuits, dough, or batter on top. If we take a closer look at the streusel ingredients we will find the difference. In a crisp, the streusel topping contains oats; as the crisp bakes in the oven the oats crisp up. A crumble simple leaves out the oats. As this is a very minor difference, it does seem that the terms crisp and crumble can be interchangeable. In fact, a quick google search showed me that even a big famous television channel that takes about cooking a lot has an apple crumble recipe that contains oats. Interestingly, I had a more difficult time finding a crisp recipe not including oats. In fact, I had to search the phrase, "no-oat crisp recipe," to have any luck. So, while the terms crisp and crumble may be interchangeable, it seems to be one way. Crisps with oats are always called crisps, but crumbles (traditionally made without oats), may include oats. 

Well, now that we have that all cleared up (and I didn't even mention Clafoutis!), is my apple crisp an apple crisp after all? Here is my recipe, I have been using for over 8 years, and it was given to me by a friend:

For the filling:
2-1/2 lb. apples (about 6 medium), peeled, quartered, cored, and sliced to yield about 6 cups
2 to 3 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 Tbs. all-purpose flour

For the crisp topping:
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 Tbs. brown sugar
2 Tbs. granulated sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped nuts (I like pecans)
4 oz. (8 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled

Heat the oven to 350°F.

To make the filling:

In a 9-inch pie pan that’s 2 inches deep (or a similar baking pan), toss the apples with the sugar to taste, cinnamon, and flour.

To make the topping:

In a medium bowl, mix together all the topping ingredients with your fingers or a pastry cutter until small pebbly pieces of butter are distributed throughout the mixture. Sprinkle the entire mixture over the apples. Bake until the topping is golden and the fruit is bubbling and tender, about 1 hour and 15 min. for a large crisp and 1 hour for individual crisps. Cool slightly before serving.

Notice anything missing from the ingredient list? Oats... My crisp isn't even a crisp! I have always called it a crisp, because that is how my friend titled the recipe when she emailed it to me years ago. I didn't look at my recipe until after I researched all the types of dessert. After my google search showed me that crisp recipes nearly always include oats, I was pretty confident mine included oats as well. I was pretty surprised when I opened my recipe (I haven't made it since last fall), and scanned the ingredient list and saw oats were missing! It appears I have two options, start calling my dessert by its real name, Apple CRUMBLE, or just add some oats.

Actually, I searched my entire recipe cache and I did find an apple crisp recipe (as yet untried) that did have oats on the ingredient list. Perhaps I will bake both for an epic apple crumble v. apple crisp bake-off! What is your favorite fruit dessert to make in the fall?

There are still seats available in these great classes this summer at ISAC! Click the links below to register now. 

English Over-Piped Elegant Wedding Cake with Ceri Griffiths, 11/7-8

Unicorn Bliss Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/18

Art Deco Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/19

Bohemian Love Cookie Collection with Sandra Beltran; 11/19

 Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with your Amazon order! If for any reason this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns, before leaving feedback or a review, by emailing us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com. We would be grateful if you would leave us a positive feedback and review of your Renshaw Fondant. Leaving feedback seems like such a little thing, but it has great impact on our business and we would greatly appreciate your time in leaving it.

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

Photo: roadsidepictures. www.flickr.com/photos/roadsidepictures/

The title of this blog either made you roll your eyes or got your mouth watering. I happen to like pumpkin spice. I do, I admit it freely. However, I am not on the pumpkin spice crazy train. I like things that actually HAVE pumpkin spice in it. Not a bazillion random food goods that are really just pumpkin flavored. Since it is now October, and officially fall (although here in Atlanta today, we will have a high of 89 degree!), I thought we could take a peek into the history of the infamous pumpkin spice blend!

Can you name the spices that make up pumpkin spice? I'll give you a hint, there are five different spices... Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Thanks to the ever informative Food Timeline website, I found a reference to a "Pumpion Pie," recipe from the cookbook, The Accomplisht Cook. This cookbook was published in 1685, and while not exactly like pumpkin pie as we know it today, the recipe does call for cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves (and also pepper!)- three out of the five spices we use today. Oh, and fun fact, the name pumpkin is derived from the French word pompion, which itself is derived from the Greek word pepon (it means melon!). 

Another cookbook, American Cookery, from 1796 (and that I have referenced here on this blog before) has a recipe for Pompkin that includes ginger, allspice, nutmeg. No cinnamon or cloves, but getting closer! So, what REALLY unified these spices into the seasonal powerhouse that dominates our lives every autumn? Well, in the 1950s, McCormick & Company started bundling common spices, and voila! When combining cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and ginger, they labeled it Pumpkin Pie Spice. Of course, these tasty spices complement a number of cool weather foods, and was never used exclusively for pumpkin pies. In 2003, Starbucks introduced the Pumpkin Spice Latte. It was not a new creation, many small coffeehouses had been roasted pumpkin spice coffee beans since the mid-1990s. Of course, Starbucks is no small coffeehouse- with the Pumpkin Spice Latte (affectionately known as the PSL) a star was born. 

Fun fact- the PSL, and in fact MOST pumpkin spice flavored foods DO NOT contain any pumpkin! Nope. The PSL original recipe did not contain pumpkin (it did contain an artificial coloring that contains low levels of a possible carcinogen- yuck!). It was not until 2015, a full 12 years after its introduction, that Starbucks added a small amount of pumpkin (oh, and they removed the artificial coloring- yay!).

In 10 years, from 2003 through 2013, Starbucks sold over 200 million PSLs. Holy moly. But even more unbelievable is that PSLs generate at least $80,000,000 a year. AT LEAST 80 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR. With seasonal revenues that high, it really shouldn't be surprising on how many food products have jumped on the pumpkin pie spice bandwagon. In fact, as of 2016, pumpkin spice consumables (candles, foods, yogurt, cereal, beer, vodka, beard oil... I could go on and on. And yes, that last list item said beard oil. Pumpkin Spice Beard Oil) generates roughly $500 million dollars a year. 

Whether you love or hate the PSL trend, there is no denying the comforting, loving, belly-warming feeling you get from a slice of pumpkin pie. And, if we are being honest, those feelings are thanks to the spices that go into the pie- pumpkin itself is very bland in flavor on its own. Those spices, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves are delicious together. They do make a good team. No matter if you LOVE all things pumpkin spice, or you are a tried and true traditionalist, pumpkin spice has been a part of our fall season for much longer than the current trend. 

So, share your favorite use of pumpkin spice! Mine? I have a pumpkin spice blondie recipe that I love- and for the record, yes it does contain actual pumpkins! I have to admit, the thought of those blondies has made my mouth water... time to break out my pumpkin spice! OH OH OH! How about I share the basic recipe for pumpkin spice so you can make your own?! 

Pumpkin Spice Recipe

3Tbs Ground Cinnamon

2tsp Ground Ginger

1tsp Ground Nutmeg

1tsp Ground Allspice

1/2tsp Ground Cloves

Mix all ingredients together and store in an airtight container in a cool, dry, dark place. 

Easy peasy, right? Of course, any of these ingredient amounts can be adjusted to taste. Some recipes call for 4Tbs of cinnamon, in others the amounts of allspice and cloves is bumped up to 1 1/2 tsp each. Others may have 2tsp of nutmeg. Experiment and find the blend that works for you! Happy Fall y'all!

There are still seats available in these great classes this summer at ISAC! Click the links below to register now. 

Renshaw Academy Master Certification Class with Chef Nicholas Lodge, 10/13-10/22

English Over-Piped Elegant Wedding Cake with Ceri Griffiths, 11/7-8

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie 

Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with your Amazon order! If for any reason this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns, before leaving feedback or a review, by emailing us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com. We would be grateful if you would leave us a positive feedback and review of your Renshaw Fondant. Leaving feedback seems like such a little thing, but it has great impact on our business and we would greatly appreciate your time in leaving it.

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple years, it's impossible to escape the allure of rose gold. This warm hue has become omnipresent in tech gadgets, makeup, clothing, jewelry, and even cakes. Rose gold even inspired the 2016 Pantone Color of the Year 2016- Rose Quartz! Makeup artists and fashion designers claim that the warm shimmery rose gold is universally flattering on all skin tones, one claimed it will add radiance to your skin! Um, yes please! Who couldn't look more radiant? This color is literally everywhere. I recently visited Walt Disney World Resort, and you can find rose gold shirts, sparkly backpacks, jewelry, and even rose gold Minnie Mouse ears!  Ya know what? I am totally in love with rose gold. Growing up my grandmother had beautiful rose gold jewelry, and as a little girl I loved it because it looked pink! So seeing that rose gold have become so pervasive makes me giddy. While I love it, I was not the driving force behind this week's post. My illustrious co-conspirator, I mean co-worker, Molly mentioned that given its popularity, we should spotlight the color with a blog post. Done and done! 

Have you heard there is a big wedding this weekend? Like a royally big wedding. Ha, you see what I did there?! All joking aside, Prince Harry (grandson of Queen Elizabeth II) is marrying Miss Meghan Markle (an American!). In Britain, fruitcake is the traditional choice for wedding cake flavors. In fact, When Prince William and Catherine Middleton married, they had an eight-tiered fruitcake with sugar flowers and royal icing. Harry and Meghan are breaking with traditional, and have opted for a sponge cake with fresh flowers and buttercream... and flavored with elderflower and lemon. When I was engaged and visiting bakeries for taste testing, I did not come across a single elderflower and lemon flavored cake. I thought it might be fun to discuss these flavors in today's blog, and in honor of the royal couple and wedding cakes everywhere!

Right before our Spring Open House last month ISAC was excited to announce the publication of the 25th Anniversary Edition of Lunch is Ready, Scott's amazing cookbook! If you have had the pleasure of meeting me during one of our fabulous classes, you will know that cookie time is my favorite part of the day. It should be no surprise that my favorite part of Scott's cookbook is his cookie recipe section. After speaking to copious amounts of students, I know that many of them enjoy cookie time as much as I do. In fact, during a recent class I engaged a student in a friendly debate over which of Scott's cookies was the best. It didn't help that I couldn't even decide on my own favorite (butterscotch, lemon, ginger, pineapple... I still can't decide!). 

I am in a particularly giving mood today, so when Molly suggested sharing a recipe from the 25th Anniversary of Lunch is Ready, I readily agreed. So my friends, thank Molly when you see her- today I am sharing Scott's Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies AND I am giving away a free copy of Lunch is Ready!

Today we are going to talk about what you can do with rolled fondant. And I'm not talking about covering you cake! Chef Nicholas has two techniques to change things up with rolled fondant that students just go bananas over when they learn them for the first time: modified rolled fondant and softened rolled fondant.

Fruitcake. If you are an American, you are probably rolling your eyes. If you are from nearly anywhere else, your mouth may be watering from memories of delicious holiday treat or dense and sweet wedding cake. Fruitcake is a very popular dessert throughout the world, but here in the old United States of America, the humble fruitcake has a laughable reputation. Johnny Carson joked that there was only one single fruitcake in the whole entire world, and people just keep passing that one cake around as a gift. In Manitou Springs, Colorado there is a yearly fruitcake toss (the record for distance, 1420 feet, was set in 2007 by a group of Boeing engineers). In American English slang, a fruitcake is a person who is strange or even crazy. Well, I think it's high time to restore good old fruitcake's reputation with help from Chef Nicholas and his family recipe!

Chef Nicholas' homemade family fruitcake! Photo: S. Ewing

Traditional Christmas Pudding

It had been my intention to continue discussing holiday treats all December long. After reading my blog last week about the Bûche de Noël, Scott suggested sharing the history of the English Steamed Plum Pudding. While I loved the idea (I'm always open to suggestions), this American girl has never even HAD Plum Pudding! Luckily for me, Scott knew much about the history and traditions behind this beloved dessert from his own personal research.

That leads me to introduce my very special guest blogger today- Scott Ewing! Not only will Scott share the history of Plum Pudding, he will be sharing his personal recipe as well!

Nicholas Lodge's Gumpaste Recipe!

It's long overdue, but Chef Nicholas' gumpaste recipe is finally here on our website! 

Lauren Kitchens = Cake Coolness

Ok, Lauren Kitchens is not my best friend (yet). I may or may not have only met her this week, but let me tell you something- she is awesome. She's friendly, down to earth, HILARIOUS, and she makes the coolest freaking cakes!  This week, Lauren graced ISAC with her cake making super-powers. She joined forces with our resident super hero, Chef Nicholas, to teach students how to make a Modern Marie Antoinette cake, and yesterday she taught 13 lucky students how to make a Yoda cake! I was able to sit in on both classes, and seriously... they were so much fun! I'm actually pretty jealous I didn't actually get to MAKE either the Marie Antoinette or Yoda cakes. Sad day. However, I got to hang out with Lauren, her assistant Jessie, and all of the amazing students in both of the classes, so I'm still counting it as a win! If you would like to see some of the process shots from the Modern Marie Antoinette and Yoda classes, please check out our facebook page: www.facebook.com/ChefNicholasLodge

A Day in the Life:

Cake Decorating Student

I know I mention it each week, but we really do have a huge, loyal, and enthusiatic fan base here at Nicholas Lodge's International Sugar Art Collection (ISAC). There are people we see all the time in our retail gallery, customers who regularly call in their orders because they love talking to our wonderful customer service specialists (Yay- Molly, Gretchen, Anne, and Molly. Yes we DO have two Mollys!), our facebook page is very active with an innumerable amount of positive and happy comments from our fans, and of course- the students in our cake decorating classes.