Go back in time with the Brass sisters
BY JANE AMMESON
Times Correspondent | Tuesday, November 18, 2008 |
Calling themselves culinary sleuths, Marilyn and Sheila Brass frequently hit 20 garage sales or more on Saturday mornings in their quest for old recipes, old cookbooks and antique kitchen equipment.
Turning their hobby into two cookbooks, they wrote "Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters: More Than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered from Family Cookbooks, Original Journals, Scraps of Paper and Grandmother's Kitchen," a James Beard Award Finalist and the just released "Heirloom Cooking With the Brass Sisters: Recipes You Remember and Love," both published by Black Dog & Leventhal. They're both great cookbook, easy to read with fun descriptions of where the recipes originated and the photos make you want to start cooking.
But talking to the Brass sisters, which I did by phone, is equally enchanting. Enthusiastic, one of their best finds came from a garbage dump -- an old handwritten cookbook that one of their followers found in a trash heap in Maine.
"It had a recipe for the best banana cream pie we've ever had," Marilyn said.
Resurrecting old recipes isn't easy.
Sometimes they're hard to read.
Oven temperatures are often left out as women using wood burning stoves just kind of knew from experience what the right temperature was for baking a cake or a pie.
Each small town along a river usually had its own flour mill, so flour was different from place to place.
"We tested each recipe many times," Sheila said. "Some we tested 10 times."
The sisters, who live and work in Boston, date many of their recipes including Grandma Hails' Buns, which dates back to the 1880s and the 1894 recipe for Mrs. Hodges' Savory Sweet Potato Puff.
They also included many of their family recipes including one for their mother's blintzes; another for their Aunt Ida's poppy seed cookies.
"Aunt Ida died when she was 93 and we bought these to the Shiva," Marilyn said. "That was our tribute to her."
The Brass sisters, who are known as the Queens of Comfort Food, will be signing copies of their book at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19 at Costco, 1901 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook, Ill.
For more information about the sisters and their books, visit
thebrasssisters.com
Mrs. Fleisher's Almond Cake
Vegetable spray (for the pan)
Flour (for the pan)
1-1/2 cups whole almonds
1 cup sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Pinch of ground clovers
* Set the oven at 350 degrees.
* Coat a 9-inch spring form pan with vegetable spray.
* Line the bottom with a parchment paper round cut to fit it.
* Spray again, then dust with flour, tapping out the excess.
* In a food processor, combine the almonds and 1/2 cup of the sugar.
* Work the mixture until it is fine.
* In an electric mixer, beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry.
* Transfer them to a bowl.
* In the mixer, fitted with a paddle attachment if you have one, combine the egg yolks and remaining 1/2 cup sugar.
* Beat at medium speed for 5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
* Beat in lemon rind, cloves, and almond mixture.
* Add 1/4 of the whites and fold them into the almond batter to lighten it.
* Gently fold in the remaining whites.
* Transfer the batter to the pan and smooth the top.
* Bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
* Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes.
* Run a knife gently around the edge of the cake.
* Unlock the spring and lift off the ring.
* Let the cake cool for 30 minutes.
* Invert the cake onto another rack, peel off paper, and set right side up.
* Leave to cool completely.
Filling and Glaze
3/4 cup apricot preserves or jam
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup water Four ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
* In a saucepan over low heat, warm the jam.
* Strain it, using a spoon to press the jam through; set aside.
* In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar and water.
* Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.
* Add the chocolate and stir until the chocolate melts.
* Return the saucepan to medium heat.
* Continue stirring for 3 minutes or until the mixture returns to a boil, thickens, and turns shiny.
* Cool for 10 minutes.
* The glaze will thicken as it sits.
* With a serrated knife, cut the cake into 2 horizontal layers.
* Set the bottom layer on a cake plate.
* Place four strips of wax or parchment paper under edges of the cake.
* Use a metal spatula to spread the jam on the bottom cake layer.
* Set the top layer on right side up.
* Pour the chocolate glaze over the cake, letting it run down the sides.
* If the sides are not adequately covered, spread glaze with a metal spatula.
* Let the glaze set, then transfer the cake, uncovered, to the refrigerator.
* About 15 minutes before serving, carefully pull strips of wax paper from bottom of cake.
SOURCE: "Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters"
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A book signing with The Brass Sisters
When: 3:30 p.m. Nov. 19
Where: Costco, 1901 W. 22nd St., Oak Brook, Ill.
Cost: Free
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