Tag: dessert

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Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

Cinnamon rolls are a good treat any time, but these pumpkin cinnamon rolls seem tailor-made for early Thanksgiving morning. The sweet cream cheese frosting pairs well with the spicy holiday flavors of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and clove, and the addition of whole wheat flour and pumpkin puree allows you to pretend they’re nutritious. Mary Elsen, one of our circulation assistants, brought a pan in recently to share. She says that they don’t raise as high as traditional cinnamon rolls because of the whole wheat flour, but you can make up for their lack of height with extra cream cheese frosting and no one seems to mind.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Icing

By Mary Elsen

Ingredients:

Roll Dough:
1/3 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) active dry yeast
1 tsp. sugar

1/3 cup warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
3/4 cup pumpkin puree, either fresh or canned
1 tablespoon butter
2 1/2 to 3 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Filling:
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 ounces cream cheese
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 1/2 to 3 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Sprinkle yeast and 1 tsp. sugar onto water in a large bowl. After 5 minutes (when mixture is foamy) stir to combine. Heat milk in microwave until bubbly but not boiling over, then add butter and stir until melted. Add the milk-butter mixture, egg, pumpkin puree, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and ginger to the yeast mixture. Mix well. Add the cup of whole wheat flour and 2 cups of the all-purpose flour. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes, adding more flour as necessary, until you have soft dough.

Grease a large bowl with a generous teaspoon of butter. Add the dough and turn it until the entire ball is coated with butter. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm place until doubled, approximately 1 hour.

Combine the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in another bowl, set aside. Transfer the risen dough to a lightly greased work surface, and pat or roll it into an 18″ x 12″ inch rectangle. Spread with the butter/sugar/spice mixture.

Starting from one of the long sides, roll the dough into a log and cut into 12 generous slices. Place in a greased 9″ x 13″ inch baking pan (I prefer to use a metal pan — if you use a glass baking dish, you may need to reduce the oven temperature). Cover with a towel and let rise until almost doubled, about 45 minutes.

Bake in a preheated 375∞F oven. Bake about 20-30 minutes, until the rolls are brown around the edges and beginning to turn golden brown across the center.

While the rolls are baking, prepare the cream cheese frosting. Beat together the cream cheese, butter, vanilla, and lemon juice until well combined. Add the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time, until desired consistency is reached. (I used 3 cups powdered sugar.)

Frost warm rolls with the cream cheese frosting and serve immediately.


Pumpkin Puree From Scratch

by Mary Elsen

When I have the smaller, sweeter pie pumpkins growing in my garden, I like to make pumpkin puree from scratch.

Begin by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Next, line a large (rimmed) baking sheet with heavy-duty aluminum foil, and spray the foil with non-stick cooking spray. (If a rimmed baking sheet is unavailable, I would suggest folding up the edges of the aluminum foil, and crimping the corners, because the pumpkin can release a noticeable amount of liquid while baking, and this is not something you want dripping all over your oven!)

Select a solid-looking pie pumpkin. Knock off the stem, and cut the pumpkin in half. Scoop out the pulp and seeds (save them for roasted pumpkin seeds — they are delicious!) Place each half, cut side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until pumpkin is soft and can be easily pricked with a fork, and begins to collapse (this can take 1 to 2 hours — it just depends on the pumpkin.) Remove the pan from the oven and let everything cool until it can be handled comfortably.

Scrape out the soft pulp and discard the skin. At this point you can pulse the pulp in a food processor if an even puree is desired, or use it as is, if a more rustic texture is preferred. Either way, I always cook the pulp on the stovetop over medium-high for an additional 15 minutes or so, to evaporate away extra liquid and get closer to the consistency of canned pumpkin used in most recipes. During this step, try to use a non-stick pan and stir constantly, to avoid burning! When the pumpkin appears thickened, you are ready to proceed with your recipe.

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Autumn Pumpkin Bundt Cake

By Laura Johnson


Now that the weather has started to turn chilly, I’ve been thinking about the most important meal of the day. No, not breakfast. I’m talking about afternoon coffee. Even those of you who didn’t grow up on the Scandinavian five-meal-a-day plan can appreciate the pleasures of a hot cup of coffee, a nibble of sugary something, and most important of all, a good conversation. This mid-afternoon ritual was always observed at my grandmother’s house, but was especially important on those gray fall and winter days when we needed the extra caffeine, the warmth of the oven and a bit of bustling around the kitchen to perk us up. Each step of the process was its own pleasure, part of a work routine that dated as far back as I could remember: going through the recipe box and discussing the origins and merits of each dessert option, sharing the work of collecting ingredients, mixing and pouring, and waiting patiently as the kitchen filled with the delicious aroma of homemade dessert. Once the cake had cooled off enough to handle a bit of glaze, Grandma would fuss with the coffee pot while I got out the dishes, and we would settle in at the battered old kitchen table together to enjoy the results of our labors.

One of our fall favorites was Autumn Pumpkin Bundt Cake, a moist treat rich with the warming flavors of pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger and clove. Bernie, our publisher, says it might be better than pumpkin pie, but you can judge for yourself.

Autumn Pumpkin Bundt Cake

1 box spice cake mix
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding
1 c pumpkin
1/2 c oil
1/2 c water
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
1/2 c chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 c powdered sugar for glaze

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix cake mix, pudding, pumpkin, salad oil, water, cinnamon, vanilla and eggs in mixer for 5 minutes. Stir in nuts and pour into very well sprayed bundt pan. Bake for 50-55 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before removing from pan. When cake has cooled, mix powdered sugar with 1 tbsp hot water and a drop of vanilla and pour this glaze over cake.

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Pick The Green Tomatoes

By Katie Hunhoff

Exploring our state’s mountains, waters and prairie is fun, but we’ve also found good stories in people’s kitchens. South Dakota Magazine editors have dined on everything from cactus to buffaloberries.

A few years ago, we wrote about green tomatoes and our readers quickly responded with comments and their own recipes. First of all, we heard that green tomatoes — like lutefisk and barbecued goat meat — should always be stored in a dumpster. Others maintained that the only good tomato is a red tomato; they shared a hundred ripening methods involving cardboard boxes, paper bags, mixing with bananas or hanging an entire uprooted vine in the garage.

But the majority of our readers expressed affection for green tomatoes. In fact, a sub-culture of sorts is developing. Longtime Brookings radio host Grant Peterson is a big promoter of frying them in batter. Faith historian Irean Jordan (her father, incidentally, was a famed wolf hunter a century ago) insists that they make the best jelly you’ll ever eat.

In a blind taste test, you’d probably never recognize green tomatoes as being in the tomato family. They are more acidic, firm and tart — calling for completely different recipes than ripe tomatoes. Still, they are nutritionally equal. The green ones have just as many nutrients and beta carotenes as the reds.

Green Tomato Pie

We received this pie recipe from Dolores Feilmeier of rural Yankton:

Pastry for two-crust pie
Six cups sliced green tomatoes
1 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
1⁄4 cup lemon juice

Line nine-inch pie pan with pastry crust. Peel and thinly slice green tomatoes. Combine sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. In another bowl, combine lemon peel (which she seldom uses) and lemon juice. Arrange tomatoes in layers in pie shell, sprinkling each layer with sugar and lemon mixtures. Dot with butter.

For top crust, roll reserved pastry dough on lightly floured surface 1⁄4 inch thick. Cut into strips, 10 x 1⁄2 inch. Arrange in lattice pattern over filling, moisten edges to seal strips.

Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Then reduce oven to 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes until tomatoes are tender and crust is brown.

*Delores says she usually uses a crumb crust on top of the pie. Our food editor used a crumb crust and a refrigerated store crust. She also omitted the nutmeg and cloves and substituted a teaspoon of cinnamon.


Green Tomato Jelly

Irean Jordan of Faith stopped making any other jelly after acquiring this recipe several years ago.”You too will love it,” she wrote.”It’s not green, but a bright sparkling red and the flavor is superb!”

6 cups chopped green tomatoes
5 cups sugar
1 double or 2 small boxes of raspberry Jell-O

Boil tomatoes and sugar for 20 minutes. Turn off burner and add Jell-O. Stir until dissolved. Pour into sterilized jars and enjoy!

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Sage Cake

By Laura Johnson


Every year I plant a little sage in my garden. Every year I wonder why. I only know one thing to do with it — make sage cake. It’s a simple butter cake with a bit of herbal decoration. It scares some people — they look up at me fearfully, wondering what sort of weed I have placed on top of their dessert in lieu of frosting — but most enjoy its simple flavor and pleasant texture.

From Baking With Julia by Dorie Greenspan and Julia Child.

1 2/3 c all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt, preferably kosher or fine sea salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 c sour cream or creme fraiche
1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs, at room temperature
Sage leaves, washed and dried

Preheat oven to 350∞. Brush the inside of a 12-inch round cake pan with a light coating of melted butter, dust with flour, and tap out the excess. Whisk or stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together just to blend; reserve. In a separate bowl, stir the vanilla into the sour cream and set aside until needed.

Put butter and granulated sugar into a mixing bowl and beat on medium-high speed until the mixture is smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. The butter and sugar must be beaten until they are light, fluffy, and pale, so don’t rush it — the process can take 3 to 4 minutes with a heavy-duty mixer and 6 to 8 minutes with a hand-held mixer. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs one at a time, beating well after every addition.

Working with a rubber spatula, carefully fold in the dry ingredients and the sour cream alternately — 3 additions of dry ingredients, 2 of sour cream. You’ll end up with a thick batter.

Arrange sage leaves on the bottom of cake pan and carefully spoon in the batter. Smooth the top with your spatula. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. As soon as the cake is removed from the oven, turn it out of the pan onto a rack.

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Our Zucchini Cook-off

By Katie Hunhoff


Zucchini overwhelmed the little garden in the backyard of our South Dakota Magazine headquarters in downtown Yankton in 2010. We stopped watering it as soon as we realized what was happening, but still the zucchini proliferated. Despite the lack of respect or water — and being rudely tread upon as we tended to the tomatoes and onions — the zucchini continued to grow.

We gave it to the neighbors until they would no longer answer their doorbells. All of our staff and their extended families were compelled to take a cube or two every day. As one reader commented on our website (where we’d advertised free garden produce), two never-watered zucchini plants will suffice for a family of 15. And we had four plants. Four well-tended plants.

Zucchini soon piled up on office tables, inboxes and file cabinets. I had been eating zucchini at every meal for over a month when our editor suggested a zucchini cook-off to use up some of the reserves.

There was just one rule for the contest. Anyone could enter but you must get your zucchini from the magazine garden. First prize? You guessed it: a summer supply of zucchini.

The contest was first met with some grumbling. Several staffers claimed to dislike zucchini, most of all Roger, our humor columnist. He is not a fussy eater, but never takes a bite of food at the office in the summer months without asking if zucchini is involved. Roger had a bad experience with zucchini bread some time ago and still hasn’t forgotten.

Zucchini recipes can be hit-or-miss. The high water content (about 95 percent) can potentially result in a mushy mess. So expectations were low, to say the least, on the day of the zucchini cook-off.

All six entries smelled good and looked tasty. More importantly, they were declared delicious by one and all. Mock its reproduction capacity if you must, but zucchini’s flavor enhances everything from pasta dishes to chocolate cake, plus it adds Vitamin A, Vitamin C and potassium and is high in fiber.

Plucking the flowers from a zucchini plant will slow growth, but I’d consider curbing our zucchini production this year to be wasteful — especially with so many good recipes to make. The flowers themselves are an expensive delicacy in some cultures. But if you do harvest the flowers, you’ll still have plenty of zucchini for the little known”Sneak Some Zucchini Onto Your Neighbor’s Porch Night” holiday. Yes, this is an actual observance, held on August 8. If only we’d known about that last summer.

Every one of the zucchini dishes submitted by staff and friends was a hit, so we declared them all winners. Trying to award a”first” seemed irrelevant when everybody was enjoying seconds. Here are some of the recipes.


Zucchini Brownies

Submitted by John Andrews, Departments Editor

1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
6 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 cup margarine
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch baking pan. In a large bowl, mix the oil, sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, 1/2 cup cocoa, baking soda and salt; stir into the sugar mixture. Fold in the zucchini and walnuts. Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes in the preheated oven, until brownies spring back when gently touched.

To make the frosting, melt together the 6 tablespoons of cocoa and margarine; set aside to cool. In a medium bowl, blend together the confectioners’ sugar, milk and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Stir in the cocoa mixture. Spread over cooled brownies before cutting into squares.


Zucchini Cake

Submitted by Ruth Steil, Business Manager

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini

Mix all ingredients together. Bake in greased 9×13 inch pan at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then frost with your favorite cream cheese frosting.


Zucchini Chili

Submitted by Jana Lane, Circulation Manager

27 oz can chili beans in sauce
15 oz can black beans drained
16 oz can kidney beans drained
1 lb burger cooked and drained
2 cups grated zucchini
1 quart canned tomatoes with juice or 28 oz. can
1 cups canned tomato juice
2 bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chili powder
2 1/2 tablespoons cumin
2 1/2 tablespoons dried cilantro
2 teaspoons paprika

Add all ingredients to a 6-quart Dutch oven and cook over medium heat for 40-45 minutes.


Lemon Zucchini Cookies

Submitted by Andrea Maibaum, Production Manager

3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon lemon extract or 1 teaspoon lemon rind
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded unpeeled zucchini
1 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg and lemon extract. Stir in sifted dry ingredients. Mix in zucchini and nuts. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. Let cool and glaze. Makes 30.


Zucchini Bread

Submitted by Michelle Andrews

1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup salad oil
2 cup zucchini, peeled and grated
3 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup nuts

Combine sugars, eggs and oil. Beat well. Add zucchini and vanilla. Sift and measure flour. Sift with salt, baking soda, cinnamon and baking powder. Stir into creamed mixture. Blend well. Add nuts. Pour into two greased and lightly floured large tin loaf pans. Bake at 325 degrees for one hour and 15 minutes.


Italian Zucchini Pie

Submitted by Katie Hunhoff, Managing Editor

2 tablespoons butter
4 cups thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup chopped onions
2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
2 eggs, well beaten
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (8 oz)
1 can (8 oz) crescent dinner rolls
2 teaspoons mustard

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In 12-inch skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat. Add zucchini and onions; cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until tender. Stir in parsley flakes, salt, pepper, garlic powder, basil and oregano. In large bowl, mix eggs and cheese. Add cooked vegetable mixture; stir gently to mix.

Separate dough into 8 triangles. Place in ungreased 10 inch glass pie plate, 12×8 inch (2-quart) glass baking dish or 11-inch quiche pan; press over bottom and up sides to form crust. Firmly press perforations to seal. Spread crust with mustard. Pour egg mixture evenly into crust-lined pie plate. Bake 18 to 22 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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Bernie’s Favorite Dessert

By Katie Hunhoff

The Hunhoffs have been gathering for a Fourth of July picnic for over 20 years. Culinary-wise, it’s the highlight of the summer. Two long picnic tables are full of delicious summer salads and desserts. The main course is hotdogs from Steiner’s Locker in Yankton (which is also located just a couple of doors down from our magazine office and my house — so I like to say I live in the meatpacking district).

Some new foods crop up each summer at the picnic. This year, for example, my cousin Matt’s girlfriend, Kelsey, brought homemade candy corn in red, white and blue instead of orange, yellow and white. Kelsey actually has her own blog, Kelso’s Candy Dish, where she posts about her candy-making experiments.

And each year at the picnic I’ve also come to expect some old favorites, including Emma Lou’s rhubarb dessert. There would be a lot of disappointed people at the picnic if she missed bringing it one year. Here’s the official picnic invite we got this year from my dad:

Subject: Fourth of July Picnic

Hi Everybody,

Remember, we’re meeting at noon at the usual picnic shelter in Gavins Point for our annual Fourth of July Hunhoff picnic. Mark says we should just do what we always do, which means I will eat five hot dogs and try to hide Lou’s rhubarb dessert from you. See you on Monday at the lake.

He did try to hide it, but we were watching. Everybody had a chance to enjoy the dessert, and now you can do the same because Lou gave us the recipe.

Rhubarb Torte

2 cups flour
1 cup butter (Lou uses Blue Bonnet ole)
4 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Crumble together and pat into 9×13 cake pan. Bake in 325 degree oven for 25 to 30 minutes or until it starts to brown.

Filling:
6 egg yolks (save whites for meringue)
2 cups sugar
2/3 cup sour cream (Lou has always made with carnation milk)
4 tablespoons flour
4.5 cups rhubarb

Beat egg yolks with hand beater. Add sugar. Then add milk and flour. Pour over rhubarb and cook oat medium-high heat on your stovetop until it becomes thick. Lou said this happens pretty fast, and to stir constantly. Be careful because it will burn. Pour hot into the hot crust.

Top with meringue made with the 6 egg whites, 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar, pinch of salt, and one cup of sugar. Beat these ingredients until stiff peaks form. Put meringue on filling and brown until quite dry in a 350 degree oven.

The torte can be refrigerated overnight, which Lour does if she’s taking it somewhere the next day. You an also use powdered sugar instead of regular sugar in the meringue and Lou says it won’t “weep” as much.

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Strawberry Crisp

By Katie Hunhoff

We have a small strawberry patch behind the South Dakota Magazine office and it seems it is at its peak right now.

Have you ever had a taste-test between a store-bought and home-grown strawberry? The difference is almost unbelievable. The store-bought is almost devoid of taste when compared to a freshly picked berry. I’d recommend making this crisp with strawberries from a farmer’s market, or if you are lucky, from your backyard.

This recipe is a mix-and-match of various recipes I found on the web. Enjoy!

Strawberry Crisp

3 cups strawberries, tops off and halved
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup dry oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 stick butter (cut into pieces)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinamon
1/2 cup pecans

Directions:

1. Mix strawberries with lemon juice and sugar. Set aside.

2. Butter an 8×8 baking dish. Heat oven to 325 degrees

3. Make topping: mixflour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt. Add butter pieces and use fingers to mix.

4. Place strawberry mixture in prepared 8×8 dish and cover with topping. Bake for 45 – 50 minutes until topping is crispy and strawberries are bubbling.

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Pieville, South Dakota

By Ruth Steil

Dr. Seuss has Whoville. Casey has Mudville. And Peever had Pieville, thanks to Char’s Cafe. Char Jarman and her husband, Allen, opened the place in 1977 with the help of their 13-year-old twins, the youngest of eight. “They finished growing up at the cafe and helping and hating every minute,” Char said with a chuckle when we visited her two years ago.

Char baked a few fresh pies every day, but she outdid herself on Wednesdays when a dozen or more would go in the oven. Somehow, it became a habit for her and the community. “I never did anything to promote it,” she said, with a bit of wonderment. “It just happened.” After South Dakota Magazine featured Pie Day, the weekly tradition grew even more.

The last time we were there on a Wednesday, the pie menu (nothing but a handwritten scrap of paper) listed apple, blueberry, sour cream raisin, pecan, pumpkin, coconut cream and cherry. “In the winter we’ll only use seven or eight pies,” she said. “But in the summer we’ll need 16 because the cafe will fill up in the afternoon.”

For a town of 235, that’s a lot of fruit and sugar. Many customers had a slice with their lunch and took one or two more “to go.”

Char wouldn’t divulge her piecrust recipe. She said it wasn’t a secret, but she didn’t want anyone to say it didn’t turn out for them. “I just make it the way I make it,” she said. “I use all-purpose shortening, flour and water.”

For more than 30 years, she and Allen served three meals a day to friends and neighbors. At the break of day, Char started the pies and the daily specials. Allen peeled carrots and potatoes. Char called it “chopping and dropping,” a term she picked up from her favorite TV chef, Rachel Ray.

Char Jarman and Char Almanza, in Char’s Cafe at Peever, South Dakota.

Over 40 people worked for the Jarmans through the years, and Char remembered them all. She made a list of their names for the cafe’s 30th anniversary in 2008. Ellie Landmark had been a cook and waitress for 28 years.

Char’s is a long, narrow cafe in the style of old-time main street businesses. The building dates to 1902, and as with all old buildings, it needs constant attention. “If it wasn’t for my husband, there wouldn’t be a Char’s Cafe,” she said.

The cafe’s bright, over-stuffed green booths provided homey seating for coffee drinkers and diners. A high, pressed-tin ceiling harkens back to the building’s early days.

Several shelves of groceries — cans, boxes and jars — line the cafe’s north wall, behind a long wood bar. The Jarmans stocked stocking groceries when the town’s store closed. Old photographs of Peever hang on the cafe’s south wall. They show farmers stacking hay and threshing, and a scene from a local fire.

Char’s Cafe was as much a fixture of the little Roberts County community as the town water tower. So you can imagine the townspeople’s distress when the cafe succumed to fire in 2011. Thankfully, we still have Char’s mouthwatering recipe for Sour Cream Raisin Pie.

Char Jarman’s Sour Cream Raisin Pie

Ingredients:
1 cup raisins
2 1/2 cups cultured buttermilk
3 egg yolks, reserving whites for meringue
3/4 cup sugar, for filling
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons flour
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons butter (heaping)
1/3 cup sugar, for meringue
Baked pie shell

Cover raisins with water and simmer in a heavy saucepan until water is almost boiled down and raisins are tender. Mix buttermilk, egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour and salt with wire whip in separate bowl, then add to raisins. Continue to cook and stir with wooden spoon until well thickened. Add butter. pour into pie shell.

Whip egg whites until fluffy then add sugar. Finish beating until stiff peaks form. Arrange on top of pie, touching edges of crust all around. Bake until golden brown in a 350 degree oven.

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Improving with Age

Hill City’s heralded winemakers trace their heritage to 19th Century Mobridge

By Katie Hunhoff

Prairie Berry Winery relocated from Mobridge to Hill City in 2004. Larger tanks let Sandi Vojta experiment with wines and begin the fusion label, which blends two fermentations into another style of wine.

Sandi Vojta became a fifth-generation winemaker at the age of four when she experimented with yeast and fermentation. Her dad would take her out to pick chokecherries for wine, tying a piece of twine with a pail attached around her waist so she could pick berries with both hands.”But my favorite part was, and still is, getting the fermentations started; getting the first smell of the fruit’s potential.”

“It has been a way of life. It’s just who I am,” she says. Neither she nor her father has copied a recipe for the family wines.”Instead, we used a taste of the wine that he grew up with. When he made his wine he was trying to replicate that taste, so that is what I tried to do with my wine,” she says.

The winery won a double gold medal at the 2011 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for its Brianna wine in the white hybrid category. The Brianna grapes are grown at Lewis and Clark Vineyard in Yankton. Their wines have been winning awards at prestigious wine shows for years.”It’s awesome because people are paying attention to the state of South Dakota, and it’s great for our entire state’s wine industry,” Sandi says.

Prairie Berry currently makes about 30 varieties of wine — including the popular, funky Red Ass Rhubarb. The Hill City winemakers are branching out into new tastes, including a fermentation made from West River prickly pear to be released this fall. Vojta has a flavor vision of what she wants to accomplish with each new wine.”Sometimes I feel like I nail it the first time around. For others, I feel like I’m just getting closer to the vision with each release. I’m always trying to make things better. I’m never content.”

Perfect Pairings

Sandi Vojta’s parents taught her how to make wine and how to cook.”We grew up eating a lot of chili, and mom often followed it with steamed apple dumplings,” she says. This dumpling recipe is her mom’s, and the chili is”pretty close to what she used to make.” Vojta chose these recipes as perfect pairings for her Buffaloberry Fusion, Gold Digger and Crab Apple wines.

White Bean Chili

Pair Vojta’s chili with Prairie Berry’s Buffaloberry Fusion wine.

Serves 2 – 4
Paired with Prairie Berry’s Buffaloberry Fusion wine

1/4 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup no-salt added crushed tomatoes (not drained)
4 tablespoons canned chopped green salsa
1 cup water
1 cup canned Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
Juice from 1/2 lime

SautÈ onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, and cumin in oil over medium heat for 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, green salsa, water and beans, and bring to boil. (If desired, add 2 ounces cooked ground turkey or diced chicken breast.) Simmer 10 minutes, and serve with lime juice on top.

Steamed Apple Dumpling

Try Prairie Berry’s Gold Digger or Crab Apple wine with these apple dumplings.

Serves 6 – 8
Paired with Prairie Berry’s Gold Digger or Crab Apple wine

2 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening
3/4 cup milk
1 quart boiling sweetened apple sauce

Bring the applesauce to a boil in a non-stick Dutch oven. Sift together the dry ingredients, rub in the shortening with fingertips keeping the mixture coarse. Moisten with the milk, mix, turn onto a floured board and pat to one-half inch thickness. Shape with a biscuit cutter and place in the boiling apple sauce.

Cover tightly and boil 20 minutes. Additional sugar and cinnamon may be added to the boiling applesauce if desired.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story is revised from the May/June 2011 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order this back issue or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.

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Apple Pie: It’s in the Bag

Neither our editors nor Mrs. Overby are responsible for oven fires, but a brown paper bag truly adds something to a pie.

By Ruth Steil

Ruth Overby has been baking pies in a bag for years. “That way your pie won’t brown unevenly,” she says. “So often they will brown only on the edges or on top, but not underneath.”

Ruth Overby’s two daughters deserve some of the credit for her pie baking skills.”When my girls started 4-H, they entered a category for pies,” she says.”I really figured out what a good pie was with them.” Each sister made a pie every day to prepare for Spink County’s Achievement Days; the Overby family even ate pie for breakfast. All of their practicing paid off; both qualified for the State Fair in Huron.

Ruth and her husband, Glenn, will celebrate 63 years of marriage in September. They still live on the family farm near Mellette. Her daughters outgrew 4-H pie contests long ago, but Ruth still enters competitions. She placed first among 31 pies at Crisco’s American Pie Celebration at the South Dakota State Fair in 1991 with her”Apple Pie in a Bag.” Asked how she created it, she says,”I wanted a classy name for my pie so I tried a pie in a bag and loved it.” Ruth Overby has been baking pies in a bag for years now.”That way your pie won’t brown unevenly,” she says.”So often they will brown only on the edges or on top, but not underneath.”

Huron celebrates”Pie in the Park” in August. The event includes a pie contest with first through fifth place. One year, Ruth entered two pies, rhubarb with blueberries and an apple. The crowd waited a long time for the judges’ decision because they couldn’t decide between the top pies. Finally they announced that Ruth Overby was the second place winner. And then they announced that the first place prize”goes to … Ruth Overby.”

“A good pie is not a soggy crust — it’s a flaky crust, a good filling and an attractive appearance,” Ruth says. There are several things she does to ensure a”good pie.” All of the crust ingredients should be cold, so she stores her shortening and flour in the refrigerator. A”good pie” can’t be hurried, either.”You have to rest the dough before rolling because that makes the gluten work,” Ruth says. She also swears by a rolling pin sock and a pastry cloth. And, just before popping the pie in the oven, Ruth cuts apples or hearts from the leftover dough to decorate the top of the crust.”It’s my signature,” she says.

Apple Pie in a Bag

“A good pie is not a soggy crust — it’s a flaky crust, a good filling and an attractive appearance,” Ruth says.

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter flavor Crisco
1/2 cup cold 7-Up
2 tablespoons cream or
milk

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup and 1 teaspoon
granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
6 med. (2 lbs.) firm
apples peeled and sliced (6 cups)
3 level tablespoons
minute tapioca or flour
1 tablespoon cold butter
cut into small pieces

In medium bowl mix flour and salt for crust. Cut in Crisco using a pastry blender. Slowly add 7-Up, tossing with fork until dough forms ball. Mold into two balls. Let dough rest for 10 minutes in refrigerator. Flour rolling surface and rolling pin.

Roll one ball of dough into circle. Place in 9″ pie pan and trim edge. Combine brown sugar, white sugar and tapioca or flour with nutmeg and cinnamon. Toss this mixture lightly with sliced apples. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon sugar on bottom crust to prevent it from getting soggy. Add filling. Dot with butter.

Moisten edge of bottom crust with cream or milk. Roll top crust. Lift onto pie, seal edge and decorate (optional). Slit top crust to allow steam to escape. Place pie in large brown paper bag.

Bake in pre-heated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until crust is lightly brown and apples are tender.

More Tips From Ruth:

  • The print on the bag should go on the bottom. If the bag isn’t big enough, staple it or fold it over a couple of times.
  • Turn the oven on at 400 degrees, but don’t put the pie in the oven until the element is no longer red.
  • While baking, the pie won’t have a typical pie smell; it will smell more like hot paper.
  • The bottom of the bag will quite often be scorched, but that doesn’t matter.
  • After removing the pie from the oven, slit the bag to see if it’s brown and bubbly, and then stick it with a fork to see if the apples are done.

EDITOR’S NOTE — This story is revised from the July/Aug 2009 issue of South Dakota Magazine. To order this back issue or to subscribe, call 800-456-5117.