A tasty souvenir

We have just returned home from a wonderful vacation to the upper Michigan area and found it to be a fun culinary adventure. For those of you who have visited the Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island area, there are fudge and pastie shops on every street corner. One fudge shop we visited on the island had 50 different flavors. You can sample as many as you want, but pecan and turtle were my favorites.

As for the pasties, they are a meat-filled pie usually with potatoes and turnips or rutabagas. They were served with brown gravy or ketchup most places we visited, but we ate ours plain as we sat on the banks of Lake Huron with the full moon rising up over the small lighthouse in front of us.

I have included recipes for fudge and pasties that I found on postcards at a souvenir shop we went into on Mackinac Island.

I also just had to purchase the official cookbook of Mackinac Island. The book contains several recipes submitted by the Grand Hotel on the island, and I have included them here for you to enjoy. The Grand Hotel truly is grand, with the front porch stretching 627 feet across the entire front; one of the longest porches in the world.

Pasties

For the filling:

2 pounds round steak, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

5 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1 small turnip or rutabaga cut into 1/4-inch cubes

1 to 2 large onions, finely chopped

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

For the dough:

4 cups flour, sifted

2 teaspoons salt

1 to 1 1/2 cups shortening

10 tablespoons ice water

Cut shortening into flour and salt until mixture is coarse. Rub flour together in fingers to produce a coarse crumb. Add water and form into ball. Divide dough into six equal rolled balls. Dust with flour, seal in plastic wrap. Chill for one hour. Mix steak with vegetables, onion, salt and pepper. On a lightly floured surface, roll each dough ball into a 9-inch circle. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups filling to each. Fold pastry over to create half-moon shape pies. Seal the edges and cut small slits in top. Bake on cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes, until golden brown.

Mackinac Island Fudge

All of the fudge shops have huge copper kettles that the fudge is cooked in and then poured out onto large marble slabs to turn and cool. This is a pretty simple recipe for you to start out with if you have never made fudge before.

2 cups sugar

1 cup half and half

2 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans, optional

Combine sugar, half and half, chocolate, corn syrup and salt in a 2 quart saucepan. Stir constantly over medium heat until chocolate is melted and sugar dissolves. Cook until mixture reaches 235 degrees on a candy thermometer. Remove from heat. Add butter and cool mixture to 120 degrees without stirring. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch leaf pan; set aside. Add vanilla to warm mixture and beat until mixture is no longer glossy. Quickly stir in pecans. Spread mixture into pan. Cool until firm. Cut into 1-inch squares. Yields 45 1-by-1-inch squares.

Vienna Coffee Cake

1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons cake flour

2 2/3 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tablespoon melted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Sift the cake flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix well. Beat 1 cup sugar and butter in a mixer bowl until creamy, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs one at a time, beating until light and fluffy after each addition. Add the dry ingredients alternately with the milk, beginning with the dry ingredients. Spoon into a baking pan. Drizzle with the melted butter. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons sugar and the walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Yield 10 servings.

Grand Hotel Fudge Sauce

1/2 cup butter

1 (1-pound) package confectioners' sugar

1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

8 ounces chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine the butter, confectioners' sugar, evaporated milk, chocolate and salt in a double boiler. Cook for 30 minutes, stirring frequently. Let stand until cool. Stir in the vanilla. May substitute 1 1/4 cups cream for the evaporated milk.

Blueberry Cake

A trip to Michigan would not be complete without eating blueberries in something. The blueberry crop is always a favorite of native Michigan residents.

3 cups flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/3 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups blueberries

Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl and mix well. Beat the shortening in a mixer bowl until creamy. Add the flour mixture and milk. Beat for 2 minutes, scraping the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs. Beat for 1 minute. Stir in the blueberries. Spoon into a greased 5-by-9-inch cake pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until the cake tests done. Cool slightly. Slice and serve with Hard Sauce. Yields 12 servings.

Hard Sauce for Blueberry Cake

1 cup butter, softened

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Beat the butter in a mixer bowl at high speed until creamy. Add the salt and confectioners' sugar gradually, beating well after each addition. Beat until of a sauce consistency, scraping the bowl occasionally. Stir in the vanilla. Chill, covered, for 1 hour. May substitute 1 tablespoon cooking sherry or 1 teaspoon rum extract for the vanilla.

I am all out of room, so until next time, happy cooking.

Susan McClanahan is administrator at the Cape Girardeau Senior Center. Send recipes to her at smcclanahan@semissourian.com or by mail at P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo. 63701. Recipes published have not been kitchen-tested by Southeast Missourian staff.