I always looked forward to my mother-in-law Solie Johnson’s visits to Chicago, usually in early February for our daughter Sophia’s birthday. Solie would arrive with a suitcase laden with Weldon’s favorite cookies and lefse, a Norwegian potato flatbread. Her presence was a blessing. It meant that for the time of her visit, Weldon and I would be relieved from nightly meal preparation after a long day’s work. Solie would take over the kitchen. She would prepare dinner and always a sweet treat — Sophia’s birthday cake, cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies and Norwegian specialties: pepparkaker, fattigman and hjortetakk.* One day she served a plate of sparkly sugar-coated twists, a cross between a Danish pastry and a cookie that she called Sugar Crisps. They were a big hit. She made numerous batches on that trip but with her departure, the recipe was forgotten as our lives returned to our hectic school and work routine.
The recipe for these Sugar Crisps was lost for many years. I’d forgotten about this delicious pastry until one day when I was seeking inspiration in the hundreds of recipe cards and cookbooks I inherited from Solie, I discovered this recipe tucked between the pages of a well-worn cookbook.
Solie loved food and was an inveterate collector of recipes. She took great pleasure in experimenting with new recipes or new preparations of classics. Her extensive recipe collection was her personal resource in those pre-internet days. She stored several hundred 3 by 5 handwritten note cards in a long wooden box. These, for the most part, are in shorthand, merely a list of ingredients with scant instructions. Solie didn’t need details. She was an experienced cook and knew the steps for putting ingredients together. The recipes in the wooden box were systematically categorized and organized by topic — breads, casseroles, cookies, etc. Family recipes were segregated from those of friends. The source of each recipe was noted on most cards.
The pages of Solie’s cookbooks were well-used, food-stained and covered with more notes and more recipes or improvements to classics! Additionally, many recipes, some handwritten and some mimeographed** on slips of paper, were tucked into cookbooks.
Solie’s recipe collection is a retrospective of mid-century American and Norwegian traditional cooking. As I leaf through this trove of recipes, I am transported to Solie’s Tacoma kitchen in the 1950s, envisioning Solie bent over the stove, preparing family favorites. As I reread Solie’s handwritten recipe notes now, I wish I could hear her story about how a particular recipe ended up in her collection.
A little family history — Solie was born into a family of Norwegian immigrants in Tacoma, Washington in 1911. Her parents Johanna Gurina Bengtsen and Martin Tayet were proud of their Norwegian heritage. They socialized with other Norwegian immigrants and participated in ethnic events at their 12th street church. Otherwise, their lives were family oriented.
Establishing a foothold in the US was a concerted family effort. Martin worked as a cabinetmaker while Johanna kept house. In those days before time-saving household machines that we now take for granted, all household tasks and cooking were done by hand and took time. Thus, providing for and raising three children and keeping house was a fulltime job for Johanna and Martin.
At the time the Tayets were active in their church, other Norwegian immigrants joined the Sons of Norway and later Daughters of Norway, whose mission was to preserve and promote Norwegian traditions and culture for the next generation. Although family members recall that the Tayet elders and children attended ethnic Norwegian events, no one remembers that any Tayet family member belonged to either of these organizations in those early days.
Solie learned Norwegian recipes from her mother Johanna. But she honed upper-class cooking skills in the household of a Tacoma lumber magnate’s family in the 1930s where she first cooked under head cook Hilda Evans and later took over the kitchen. Solie started her recipe connection with her Mom’s and Hilda’s recipes and continued throughout her life collecting recipes from co-workers and friends.
After she married Walter Johnson in 1939, Solie focused on raising two sons Weldon and Rolf and later, nephew Rodney Tayet, and feeding the extended Tayet and Johnson clans and friends on Sundays and holidays. Only after her sons went off to college in the late 1950s, did Solie have time to join the Daughters of Norway Tacoma Embla Lodge #2, then a social organization for women of Norwegian ancestry. The Lodge offered various cooking classes as well as cultural programs and organized an annual Norwegian Festival at a local university.
Solie told me years later that she looked forward to meeting days, especially cooking demonstration days. Since Solie did not drive, she would take the bus to the Daughters of Norway meeting in plenty of time to visit with friends and see several recipes prepared. She would return from these outings with recipes in hand to try at home. On occasion, she demonstrated a recipe as well.
I can’t tell if these Starlight Sugar Crisps were demonstrated at a Daughters of Norway meeting. Solie received the recipe from Florence Lind, wife of a Washington State patrolman, who boarded with the Johnson family at their home in Bremerton, Washington during WWII. Solie’s friendship with Florence continued for decades. They would reconnect every few years to catch up on their respective life’s events, attend cooking demonstrations together and exchange recipes. Florence probably prepared the mimeographed recipe handout for a demonstration of these Sugar Crisps.
As is true with many old recipes, some adaptation was necessary to incorporate more contemporary cooking practices and current health concerns. I increased the butter in this recipe by an additional ½ cup as a substitute for Crisco, a ½ cup of which is called for in the original recipe. Crisco vegetable shortening was routinely used for baking flaky pies and puff pastry in home kitchens in the 1950s. At the time, vegetable shortening was promoted as a better and healthier alternative to lard. No one knew then about harmful trans-fats. *** Now, pure leaf lard is considered the better alternative. In case you prefer to try the original recipe, reduce the butter by half before using the proportions provided for Crisco or lard.
With the elimination of Crisco and increase of butter, I also switched to an 82% European-style butter to retain flakiness. High butterfat butter produces a flakier dough which works best for the laminated dough used in this recipe. U.S. butter, by law, must contain a minimum of 80% butterfat; U.S. manufacturers also churn 82%- 85% (European-style) butter which is sold in numerous stores and online. **** Butter with 80% butterfat is excellent for baking but contains more liquids which reduce flakiness.
I was thrilled to find the Starlight Sugar Crisp recipe but apprehensive about baking this pastry, afraid that after many decades of remembering it fondly it would not live up to my nostalgic recollection. But there was no need to fear. Tasting these glittery and crunchy pastries was like welcoming a long-lost friend. Comforting and delightful!!! These Starlight Sugar Crisps are wonderful with a cup of coffee or tea for a traditional Scandinavian winter pick-me-up and make an excellent sweet treat at the end of a holiday brunch.
Starlight Sugar Crisps, adapted from Florence Lind
For dough:
1 package (2¼ teaspoons; 7 g) dry yeast
½ cup lukewarm water (110˚F; 40˚C)
3½ cups ( 448 g) all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons salt
1 cup ( 225 g) butter, 82%butter fat if possible, called European-style in US***
(Optional ½ cup ( 95 g) Crisco OR ½ (103 g)cup minus 1 tablespoon lard, if using either, reduce butter to ½ cup)
2 eggs, beaten
½ cup (120 g) sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For sugar filling:
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1½ cups (300 g) sugar, large-crystal if possible
In a small bowl, pour yeast into warm water and set aside to activate for 10 minutes.
Sift together flour and salt. Cut in butter (or shortening or lard) until a crumbly, coarse sand texture is achieved.
Blend eggs, sour cream and vanilla together with yeast and add to the flour mixture. Mix until combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.
When ready to bake, prepare filling by mixing sugar with 2 teaspoons of vanilla until combined. (This isn’t easy, but it can be done by stirring and kneading the sugar.)
Pre-heat oven to 375˚F (190˚C).
Remove dough from refrigerator and keep at room temperature for about 15 minutes so it is still cold but flexible enough to roll out.
Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture on a lightly floured work surface. Using half of the dough at a time, with a floured rolling pin, roll out dough to a 16-inch x by 8-inch (40 cm x 20 cm) on the sugar-coated surface. (This dough is quite soft. Light flouring is needed to keep dough from sticking to work surface.)
Sprinkle surface of dough with an additional 1 tablespoon of vanilla sugar and fold one end of the dough to the center. Then fold the opposite end over to make three layers. Turn dough ¼ way around and repeat rolling, sugaring with vanilla sugar and folding twice more. Finally, roll out dough to ½ inch (1.27 cm) thickness. Cut into 4 inch x 1 inch (10 cm x 2.5 cm) strips. Twist and place an inch apart on an ungreased sheet pan.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, rotating pans every 10 minutes.
Makes about 60.
*Recipes for pepparkaker, fattigman and hjortetakk are found in the November 2015 post at http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/solies-norwegian-christmas-cookies/.
** Mimeography was a text copying process used before photocopying was invented.
*** Crisco is now made in an almost trans fat-free version which I have not tried.
**** Domestic high butterfat butter is available at Costco, Whole Foods and on Amazon under the brand names Vermont Creamery and Organic Valley; imported butters are available under the brand names Plugra, Kellygold and Lurpak.
One year ago: ttp://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/rediscovering-holiday-walnut-cookies/
Two years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/discovering-perus-foodways-part-one/
Three years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/a-chocolate-indulgence-steamed-chocolate-pudding/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/dark-ale-braised-beef-short-ribs-carbonnade-a-la-flamande/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/exploring-the-foodways-of-dubai-part-1/
Four years ago: http://www.kitchenepiphanies.com/exploring-the-foodways-of-dubai-part-2-2/