email this pageGreg Patent was looking for bakers, but not just any bakers. He wanted to find home cooks preparing recipes that reflect and preserve their heritage—dishes such as Strufoli from Italy, Crumpets from South African and Pumpkin Empanadas from Mexico.
When he found them, he baked with them. Baking is in the blood of this award-winning cookbook author. At the age of 19, Patent was one of the first males ever to win the Pillsbury Bake-off with his Apricot Dessert Bars. In 2002, he won the prestigious James Beard award for his book, Baking in America, in which he painstakingly traced the origins and evolution of classic baked goods such as Boston Cream Pie and Parker House Rolls. In his latest book, A Baker’s Odyssey, he turned his attention to America’s immigrants and the recipes handed down through the ages. His odyssey lasted three years and took him to the home kitchens of more than five dozen cooks.
One baker was Cindy Klotz, who learned to bake Rugalach by her Russian grandmother’s side. Another was Betty Groff, a 10th-generation Pennsylvania Dutch descendant, restaurateur and cookbook author. The child of a Russian father and an Iraqi mother, Patent moved with his family from Shanghai, where his parents met and married, to San Francisco in 1950. An immigrant himself, he shares his own favorite recipes he learned from his mother and grandmothers. Counting his own ethnic background, Patent uncovers the baking secrets of more than 30 cultures—from Austria, Norway and Italy to Mexico, India and Nigeria and presents the best of each culture’s baking heritage.
Pennsylvania Dutch Crumb Cake
This is a classic crumb cake, or streuselkuchen, with a lot of streusel.
Ingredients
Cooking spray
4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Topping and Cake:
6 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Powdered sugar (optional)
2. To prepare crumb base, stir together flour and salt. Add butter and cut into flour with a pastry blender or two knives until the consistency of medium-fine meal. Add granulated sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon; stir well.
3. To prepare topping, transfer 4 cups crumb base to a medium bowl. Add melted butter; stir only until blended. Fluff mixture with fingers to make coarse, buttery crumbs.
4. Add ginger, nutmeg, cloves and baking soda to remaining crumb base; stir well. Add buttermilk, egg and vanilla; beat to make a smooth, thick batter.
5. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over batter.
6. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until topping is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.
7. Dust top of cake with powdered sugar, if using. Serve warm or at room temperature. Serves 12.
Recipe adapted with permission from Greg Patent’s A Baker’s Odyssey (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007).
"The Fabulous Baker Boy," November 2008.
Rugelach
Ingredients
1 cup (8 ounces) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 2⁄3 cups all-purpose flour
Filling:
2⁄3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1⁄3 cups finely chopped walnuts
4 tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg yolk, beaten with 1 teaspoon milk
2. Scrape dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Turn to coat with flour and divide into thirds. Shape each portion into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat oven to 350F. Line two large baking sheets with parchment.
4. To prepare filling, combine sugar, cinnamon and walnuts.
5. Roll one portion of dough on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle. Brush with one-third of the butter and sprinkle with one-third of the walnut mixture. Cover with wax paper and press filling into dough. Remove wax paper. Cut into 12 wedges. Roll each wedge from its wide edge, and set rolls point side down on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Repeat with remaining dough, butter and filling.
6. Brush rolls lightly with egg yolk mixture. Bake about 30 minutes, until pastries are golden brown. Rotate baking sheets top to bottom and front to back during baking to ensure even browning. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Makes 36.
Recipe adapted with permission from Greg Patent’s A Baker’s Odyssey (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007).
"The Fabulous Baker Boy," November 2008.
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