How you doin’? Growing up in Southern California I remember the blue-windmill designed buildings that were known as Van de Kamp's Holland Dutch Bakeries. Van de Kamp’s was founded in 1915 as a Los Angeles potato chip stand by Theodore J. Van de Kamp and Lawrence L. Frank, all recent transplants from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The first stand was operated from a mere eight foot frontage at 236 ½ South Spring Street next to the Saddle Rock Café—the very heart of Los Angeles at the time.
 
They expanded the business to baked goods and by the mid-1950s had evolved into a regional bakery/restaurant chain. At the company’s height, 320 Van de Kamp’s Holland Dutch Bakeries dotted the West Coast from California to Washington selling some of the most innovative and delicious baked goods. There were several “signature” foods that I still long for today—Van de Kamp’s Chocolate Cake and Sugar Crisps.
 
In 1930 the company built a large bakery and administrative offices to support its  growth in Glassell Park, Los Angeles. The Van de Kamp Bakery Building was designed by New York architect J. Edwin Hopkins. The company's trademark blue windmills featured on their bakery store signs and atop their chain of famous restaurants that were known throughout the region. Its slogan was to capitalize on the association with Dutch cleanliness and freshness: "Made Clean, Kept Clean, Sold Clean."
 
One of my Van de Kamp favorites was their Dutch Apple Slab… the easiest Dutch Apple pie-like dessert ever made. This is THE traditional “Dutch Treat” for birthdays or holidays. Preparation is very quick and you really can't go wrong! Add a cup of rum-soaked raisins to apples if desired.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Bake time:  45 to 50 minutes
Yield: 12 to 16 servings (1-9-inch springform pan)
 
Ingredients
1 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons cinnamon, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups cake flour
8 large tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰F.
2. Lightly spray a 9-inch springform pan.
3. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, egg, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, vanilla and flour. Stir with spoon for a few moments until mixture hangs together. Then use hands to form dough.
4. Pinch and pat a little more than 1/2 of the dough on the bottom and sides of the prepared springform pan.
5. Place the apples on the dough and dust them with 1 teaspoon cinnamon.
6. Crumble the rest of the dough over top of apples until they are covered evenly.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown.

ChefSecret:  If desired, sprinkle a 1/4 cup of granulated sugar over the top of the dough to create a crunchy, sugary top crust.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “While many of us are staying around the house to be safe, every time you talk to your wife your mind should remember that this conversation will be recorded for training and quality purposes.”

Long ago in a faraway place… I worked with the Frank and Van de Kamp families as the Design and Marketing Director at Lawry’s Foods just up the street from the Fletcher Street Van de Kamp’s Bakery. I got access to some of the best baking recipes and this is one of them.
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Baking #Dessert #ApplePie #DutchApplePie #VandeKamps #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                            ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020

How you doin’? At our fine chocolate company, Choclatique, we were always looking for great hot chocolate recipes like the kind we found in Barcelona. On visiting the local cooking school there, the student chefs were just learning how to make the iconic Barcelona Hot Chocolate—not hot cocoa. Barcelona Hot Chocolate is a warm steamy beverage and a rich decadent dessert at the same time. It is thick and creamy and loaded with real chocolate—not flavored with cocoa powder chalkiness.
 
To the many people they get their lackluster hot cocoa fix by ripping open an envelope of powder and pouring it into a cup of hot water, I'm here to tell you that real men and women don’t drink that kind of beverage once they’ve tasted the real thing (recipe below); and it's just as easy to make as the “quick” stuff. Barcelona Hot Chocolate is rich, thick, and velvety smooth and is made by using just a few simple ingredients that make all the difference. If the weather outside is frightful, warm up with a cozy cup of REAL homemade hot chocolate.
 
What's the difference Between Hot Chocolate and Hot Cocoa? While the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a real difference, and it turns out it's right there in the name. Hot chocolate is made with whole chocolate (chocolate liquor and cocoa butter and sometimes a little cocoa powder) and hot cocoa is made from just cocoa powder. Therefore hot chocolate tends to have a thicker consistency than hot cocoa.
 
Don’t use the cheap stuff. For the richest hot chocolate, use the highest quality chocolate: dark chocolate that is at least 64 percent or higher. In terms of dairy, real hot chocolate recipes call for thicker forms of dairy such as half-and-half, heavy cream, whole milk or a mixture of each. A good dairy-free alternative for hot chocolate is coconut or almond milk.
 
Prep time:  10 minutes
Cook time:  10 minutes
Yield:  2 servings
 
Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup half and half or whipping cream
1-1/2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 ounces dark chocolate, finely chopped (64% or higher)
1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
1 pinch ground cinnamon
Toppings (your choice)
 
Directions

1. Heat the milk, half and half or cream in a saucepan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes.
2. Add the brown sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Stir in the dark chocolate until it’s completely melted. About 2 to 3 minutes.
4. Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in the additional cream and cinnamon.
5. Top with whipped cream, marshmallows, crushed peppermint, or any other topping of your choice.

ChefSecret:  During these difficult times, small pleasures matter.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “My mom always told me I wouldn’t accomplish anything by lying in bed all day. But look at me now, ma! I’m saving the world!”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Beverage #HappyHour #Breakfast #HotChocolate #Barcelona #SpanishHotChocolate #Churros #MerryChristmas #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                          ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020

How you doin’? I thought I had covered most of the basics about baking muffins in Cooking Lesson #106 and then Joan surprised me with this simple yet delicious basic muffin recipe.
 
Did you know that muffins became most popular in England during the 19th century, when muffin men traversed the town streets at teatime, ringing their bells and yelling, Muffins to eat! Kind of like the Good Humor Man of their time.
 
Do not confuse quick-bread batter muffins (American Muffins) with English Muffins. Samuel Bath Thomas emigrated from Plymouth, England, to New York City in 1875. By 1880, he had opened his own bakery at 163 Ninth Avenue. Using his mother's recipe, he began making 'English' muffins, selling them from the bakery direct to hotels and grocery stores. Thus the brand you see in the store today, Thomas’s. But I digress.
 
What’s the difference between a muffin and a cupcake? American muffins’ outer texture is bit than cupcakes. They are denser and feel more like munching into bread with fillings like nuts or fruits in them. Muffins, in general, are meant to be savory foods in contrast to the sweet taste and softer texture of cupcakes. Freshly baked muffins are coveted for their tops while cupcakes feature that sweet, sugary frosting.
 
The muffin top is the crisp upper part of the muffin, which has developed a "browned  crust that's slightly singed around the edges". In 2018, McDonald's restaurant announced they were planning to sell muffin tops as part of its McCafé breakfast menu. Let me refer you to the “Muffin Top” episode on Seinfeld (Air date: May 8, 1997) where Elaine opens a muffin top only bakery… but what to do with all the muffin bottoms?
 
Using Joan’s basic recipe, you can make all kinds of muffins with fruit including blueberries, cherries, peaches and more. You can also add nuts to both the batter and the topping.  If you want to have a platter full of warm, delicious muffins in under 30 minutes try this recipe.
 
Prep time:  5 minutes
Cook time:  20 to 25 minutes
Yield:  10 muffins
 
Ingredients
For the muffin batter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup unsalted butter melted
1 large egg, room temperature and beaten
1/2 cup milk warm or room temperature
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
 
For the Topping
1/3 cup granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2-1/2 tablespoons butter melted
 
Directions
To make the muffins

1. Preheat an oven to 350°F.
2. Put paper muffin cups into a muffin pan and spray with food release.
3. Whisk together the sugar, salt, flour, and baking powder.
4. Add the melted butter, beaten egg, milk, and vanilla extract; hand-stir until combined but still a little lumpy. (DON'T over mix).
5. Scoop the batter into the muffin cups.
6. Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes or until edges golden are golden brown.

To make the topping

1. Whisk together the 1/3 cup of sugar with the cinnamon in a bowl. Place remaining 1/3 stick of melted butter in separate bowl small bowl or ramekin.
2. When the muffins have cooled a little, dip the warm muffin tops in the melted butter, then dip them generously in cinnamon-sugar.

ChefSecret:  Do not over mix the batter or you will have tough, not tender, muffins.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “What types of jokes are allowed during quarantine? Inside jokes!”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Baking #Dessert #Breakfast #Muffins #CinnamonSugarMuffins #FrenchBreakfastMuffins #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                          ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020

How you doin’? The thing I love about doing basic baking research in the test kitchen is sometimes you end up with something totally different and much better than you thought you would. I started out to make the world’s best Mexican cheesecake and wound up with a beautiful Cheese Danish. Sometimes stuff just happens—wonderful stuff!
 
A little bit about Danish pastry… Danish pastry, sometimes shortened to just Danish (as in “Yo Marge, gimme a Cheese Danish”), is a multi-layered, laminated sweet pastry in the Viennoiserie tradition. The word Viennoiserie–is French for all things from Vienna–and describes a whole wonderful category of pastries that includes croissants, pain au chocolat and brioche. These bakery goods, traditionally associated with France, tend to bridge the gap between boulangerie (breads) and patisserie (pastry), at least that’s what they told us in baking school. Like other Viennoiserie pastries, such as croissants, it is a variant of puff pastry made of laminated dough that creates a layered texture (at least 68 buttery layers to be technically correct).
 
The concept of Danish Pastry, as noted, was not originally Danish but rather Austrian (probably from Vienna). The recipes were brought to Denmark in 1850 by Austrian strike-breaker bakers. You see, all the bakers went on strike and left Copenhageners swinging in the breeze without their morning pastries. Let me tell you from experience, you shouldn’t leave good Danes without their morning coffee and pastry. Viennoiserie-style Danish has since developed into a Danish specialty.
 
Danish pastries were brought to the United States by immigrants, where they were and often still are made with a fruit or cream cheese filling. In fact, you can take my recipe below and add a 1/2 cup of fruit pie filling and get a twofer—fruit & cheese. Danish pastry is now popular around the world. Some of the best I’ve ever tasted were in old Saigon and Hong Kong.
 
Cheese Danish Pastry Slab is the perfect morning starter or evening dessert during normal times and especially great during these rather difficult times. It is quick and easy to make, smells amazing while baking and tastes wonderful! It will last, covered at room temperature, for about 4 days... unless you finish it first.
 
Prep time:  15 minutes
Bake time:  45 to 55 minutes
Cool time:  2 hours
Yield:  1 9 x 13-inch slab cheesecake, 12 servings
 
Ingredients
2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar, divided
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 sheets (1 package) frozen puff pastry dough, defrosted  (I prefer Pepperidge Farms)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/4 cup honey, warmed
 
Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350⁰F.
2. Prepare a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
3. Using an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese with 1 cup of the sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl until smooth.
4. Carefully unroll the puff pastry dough; use a rolling pin to shape each piece into 9 x 13-inch rectangles.
5. Layer one sheet of puff pastry dough into the bottom of the baking dish.
6. Evenly spread the cream cheese mixture into the baking dish.
7. Cover with the remaining piece of puff pastry dough.
8. Stir together the remaining 3/4 cup of sugar, cinnamon, and butter.
9. Using a tablespoon or scoop dot the mixture over the top of the top layer of puff pastry.
10. Bake in the preheated oven until the puff pastry dough has puffed and turned golden brown, about 45 to 55 minutes. Check it to make sure is firm to the touch.
11. Remove from the oven and drizzle with warm honey.
12. Cool completely for 2 hours in the pan before cutting into 12 squares.

ChefSecrets: 

• I love working with puff pastry dough. Remember to defrost the dough before trying to roll it out. Do not over roll it as it will not puff as much as you might want.
• How do you get all the honey out the measuring cup? First, spray a glass measuring cup with a little food release, like Pam, and then the honey will easily glide out the cup.
  

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “I was just reminiscing the other day; I was on the floor trying to fix a pesky old washing machine and asked my gal to bring me a screwdriver. She asked, flat head, Philips or vodka? That’s when I knew for sure she was the one.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
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Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America. Thanks for reading.

#Baking #Dessert #CheeseDanish #PepperidgeFarms #Breakfast #PuffPastry #HolidayRecipes #Holidays2020 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                             ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020

How you doin’? It’s time to start the count down for Christmas with this classic holiday drink and get everyone in the holiday spirit. Get ready for the holiday season the right way and update your beverage menu with this festive cocktail–Santa Hat Martini.

Combining tart cranberries, sweet vanilla, and the tropical flavor of coconut, makes this one of Santa's favorite cocktail! Lay back, and pretend you're soaking up the sun instead of shoveling the snow.
 
Prep time: 5 minutes
Yields:  1 cocktail
 
Ingredients
1/2 ounce coconut syrup, Torani, plus extra for garnishing
Confectioner’s sugar
Grated coconut
4 ounces cranberry juice
2 ounces coconut rum
1 ounce vanilla vodka
 
Directions

1. Rim a martini glass with the extra coconut syrup, powdered sugar, and grated coconut.
2. In a cocktail shaker with ice, shake the cranberry juice, coconut rum, vanilla vodka and 1/2 oz. of coconut syrup.
3. Strain and pour into the rimmed glass and serve.

ChefSecret:  Torani is a San Francisco company. They specialize in flavored syrups ranging from the Classic Vanilla to Toasted Sesame. The company was founded in 1925 in San Francisco's North Beach by Rinaldo and Ezilda Torre, who immigrated from Italy. The couple coined the “world's first flavored latte” and brought popularity to the classic Italian soda to North Beach in SFO.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day:  “How times have changed—Pretty wild how we used to eat birthday cake after someone blew all over it. Those were the good old days.”
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Do you have a question or comment?  Do you want to share a favorite recipe or pictures with our readers?  Send your thoughts to ed@perspectives-la.com.  All recipes and cooking tips are posted on our website https://www.perspectives-la.com/covid-19-survival-guide.
-------------------------------------------
Here is wishing you the very best for the upcoming holidays. To you and everyone dear to you, be strong, be positive, stay well, stay safe and be kind welcoming in the holiday season. If you have a little extra in your pockets to share with others at this difficult time, please consider donating to Feeding America.

#Cocktail #HappyHour #Martini #SantaHatMartini #HolidayRecipes #NationalBrownieDay #Holidays2020 #QuarantineKitchen #Covid19 #FeedingAmerica #PerspectivesTheConsultingGroup 

                                            ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2020