French Cakes at Paris Bakery by Ruth Paget

Paris Bakery Cakes by Ruth Paget 

My family has been going to Paris Bakery in Seaside, California for more than thirty years to buy baguette bread with a five-year hiatus when my husband Laurent and I lived in Stuttgart, Germany. 

What a lot of people do not know is that Paris Bakery can make French, Austrian, and German cakes and pastries with advance notice for parties. They often have snack size versions of pastries available for purchase for tasting as well. 

Some of Paris Bakery’s beautiful and delicious confections include: 

-Diplomat Cake- 

This round cake that is served in wedges is perfect for watching the Diplomat TV series with tea or coffee. It is made with croissant pieces and golden raisins in a Grand Marnier egg custard and topped off with a maraschino cherry and a whipped cream rosette. 

-Fraisiers (Strawberry Cake) or Framboisiers (Raspberry Cake)- 

This yellow layer cake is filled with mousseline cream and strawberries. It is iced with whipped cream and garnished with toasted and sliced almonds. 

-Opera Cake- 

This cake is perfect for theatre nights. It is made with two layers of yellow cake and one chocolate layer flavored with coffee syrup. The alternating layers are filled with mocha buttercream and chocolate ganache. Ganache is creamy, fudgy frosting. 

-Napoleons- 

Mille Feuille dough filled with pastry cream. Mille Feuille means 1,000 layers. 

-St Michel- 

This dessert is made up of one layer of chocolate mousse topped with a layer of Grand Marnier mousse. 

-Linzer Torte- 

This Austrian pastry is filled with jam and has a lattice piecrust topping. 

Two holiday cakes you might want to try are the bûche de Noël (Yule log) and the galette des rois (kings’ cake). The galette des rois is eaten two weeks after Christmas and comes with a crown for the person who finds the fève (porcelain figurine) in their piece of cake. 

These cakes will get you started on a French cake tasting adventure. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Ferdi's New Orleans Fare in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget

Ferdi’s New Orleans Fare in Seaside, California by Ruth Paget 

I used to eat lunch at Ferdi’s, a New Orleans café, in Seaside (California) when I was in graduate school at San José State University in library and information science.  

I would go to Ferdi’s with my up-and-coming filmmaker friend C. We ate Po’Boy Sandwiches with spicy fried fish or oysters on the left side of the restaurant. The right side of the restaurant was a “sit-down” restaurant for dishes like Shrimp Creole. 

We were on the Cajun or country side of the restaurant. We drank icy cold Coca-Colas with our Po’Boy Sandwiches. Baton Rouge, Louisiana is the gastronomic capital of Cajun cooking, which features many deep-fried dishes. 

The gastronomic capital of Creole cuisine is obviously New Orleans, Louisiana. Like the city’s architecture and gardens, the food of New Orleans has both French and Spanish roots. 

New Orleans has several dishes that can be made in large quantities that caterers might be interested in trying. Some of these dishes might even be suitable for freezer storage, which might make New Orleans cringe, but Paul Bocuse in France made a fortune on his frozen food. I found several dishes among the 288 recipes in The New Orleans Cookbook: Creole, Cajun, and Louisiana French Recipes – Past and Present by Rima Collin and Richard Collin that could be adopted for frozen or refrigerator storage such as: 

-baked and breaded oysters – warmed up these would taste good dipped in sriracha mayonnaise for a modern twist 

-Creole shrimp and crab gumbo that is thickened with gummy okra slices. This stew uses a classic Creole flavoring combination of onion, green pepper, and shallots to flavor it that many other Creole dishes also use such as Shrimp Creole. 

-Cajun oyster and sausage gumbo thickened with filé. Filé is a powder made of dried sassafras leaves 

-navy white bean soup seasoned with onions, shallots, and green peppers and pieces of French garlic sausage 

-red bean soup seasoned like the white bean soup 

-spicy red beans and rice 

-white beans, rice, and smoked sausage 

-jambalaya – a rice dish whose Spanish ancestor is paella. Rice is the major cash crop of Louisiana 

-crabmeat au gratin – a baked dish of crab, heavy cream, and cheddar cheese 

-crawfish étoufée –a one dish meal made with crawfish tails, onions, green pepper, celery, and shallots over rice. Crawfish is pronounced “crayfish.” 

-spicy shrimp Creole is called shrimp sauce piquante in the cookbook and is served over rice 

-trout amandine is served with a sauce made of butter, sliced almonds, and lemon juice 

-New Orleans Trout Sauce Normande – made with butter, poaching liquid, and Calvados (apple brandy) 

You can try dishes like these at Ferdi’s in Seaside, California or make them at home using the very useful 288 recipes in The New Orleans Cookbook by Rima Collin and Richard Collin. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Starburst Cookie Recipe by Ruth Paget

Starburst Cookie Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Makes 12 cookies 

Ingredients: 

-1/2 cup softened butter 

-1/4 cup sugar 

-1 tablespoon almond extract 

-2 mashed, hard-boiled egg yolks 

-1 cup flour 

Steps: 

1-Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2-Blend butter, sugar, and almond extract together in a bow. 

3-Add hard-boiled egg yolks to butter mixture and blend thoroughly. 

4-Add flour to egg mixture and blend thoroughly. 

5-Use two spoons to scoop and push cookies onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. 

6-Bake for 8 to 10 minutes. Cool on a rack. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Iowa's Catering Classics by Ruth Paget

Iowa’s Catering Cuisine by Ruth Paget 

Crossing the Mississippi River from Wisconsin to DuBuque (Iowa) is a rather enchanting experience, because the road is elevated downtown and passes through a forest of church spires that are level with the car. Houses along the way are substantial and remind you that the Amish and Mennonites worship at home. 

Immigrants to Iowa have included Germans, Dutch, Czechs, and the Swiss. They have overseen the production of food that feeds the United States and the world with the production of corn, oats, soybeans, hogs, beef cattle, popcorn, poultry, and dairy products according to the Best of the Best from Iowa Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

This cookbook has many traditional recipes that could be catered by personals chefs for extra cash. Some of the farm dishes that I thought would work well for catering include: 

-baked Reuben dip made with Swiss cheese, sauerkraut, sour cream, brown mustard, onions, cream cheese, and corned beef 

-chive and black pepper corn bread 

-Depression-era potato soup made with potatoes, onions, celery, noodles, and evaporated milk 

-Dutch lettuce made with potatoes, hard-boiled eggs, lettuce, chopped onion, and bacon 

-spinach salad with bacon -blue cheese-artichoke salad 

-marinated tomatoes which are chilled 

-marinated green beans which are chilled 

-cabbage and apple slaw with walnuts 

-card club chicken salad made with chicken, macaroni, boiled eggs, carrots, peas, celery, onions, green pepper, and pimientos

-garden club salad made with chicken, water chestnuts, grapes, celery, almonds, sour cream, mayonnaise, curry powder, and pineapple chunks 

-corn cheese casserole 

-sour cream and cheddar supreme potatoes

-baked stuffed tomatoes made with chives, mushrooms, bread crumbs, and Parmesan cheese 

-asparagus the Dutch way made with asparagus, potatoes, smoked ham, eggs, and nutmeg 

-ham, cabbage, and noodle casserole 

Recipes for these classic dishes and 400 more can be found in Best of the Best from Iowa edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

Happy Reading! 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Light Lunch Wisconsin by Ruth Paget

Light Lunch Wisconsin by Ruth Paget

If you ask someone what a light lunch in Wisconsin is they might tell you, “A locally brewed beer and a bretzel” or “a strong black coffee and a pastry.” 

Then, they would wax philosophical and say, “Just appetizers, a casserole, or a spread or dip in small portions, especially in cold weather.”

I agreed with those statements and felt like it snowed nine months of the year when I lived in Wisconsin. Nine months may be too many, but seven months of snow was close to accurate. I do like high-calorie foods like those above in cold weather I have to admit. 

The immigrant groups who have come to Wisconsin have many dishes of German, Polish, Scandinavian, and Irish origin that are great winter fare. There are recipes for of all these immigrant groups in the cookbook The Best of the Best of from Wisconsin Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

Some of my favorite dishes from this cookbook include: 

-creamy horseradish ham roll-ups

-beer spread made with cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, and beer 

-mini Reuben sandwiches made with rye bread, sour cream, corned beef, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese 

-baked cheese wings with Parmesan 

-cheddar jalapeño corn bread 

-cheese drop biscuits 

-Danishes made with jam 

-Norwegian sour cream waffles with apple pecan topping 

-Dusseldorfer sandwiches made with rye bread, tarter sauce, dill pickles, liverwurst slices, and Swiss cheese 

-Wisconsin beer cheese soup made with 5 cups of cheddar cheese

 -Polish noodles with cabbage 

-New Glarus cheese and onion pie from a recreated Swiss village town 

-Lithuanian Kugela made with bacon, onion, potatoes, milk, and eggs 

-Potatoes Romanoff made with cheese, sour cream, onion, and shredded cheese 

-Colcannon, an Irish dish, made with heavy cream, garlic, chopped cabbage, and leeks 

-chicken Calvados made with apple schnapps 

These delicious dishes give a good idea of what you make in severe weather to stay warm. Chefs and people of German and Eastern European heritage might especially enjoy Best of the Best from Wisconsin Cookbook edited by Gwen McKee and Barbara Moseley. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Trips to Clasen's European Bakery by Ruth Paget

Trips to Clasen’s European Bakery by Ruth Paget After breakfast on Saturday mornings in DeForest (Wisconsin), I would take my family on a field trip to the other side of town to Middleton where Clasen’s European Bakery is located. 

Middleton is where my mom grew up. I thought it was most civilized for having an artisanal bakery like the ones we went to when we lived in Paris, France. 

Clasen’s is a family bakery that was set up 50 years ago according to its website by Ralph and Ernst Clasen. Ralph’s daughter Michelle studied pastry in Germany and now keeps the family business going at Clasen’s. 

Wisconsin is home to German jause, light meals or strong coffee with pastries. On Sundays, we ate breakfast and did a jause mid-morning with strong Lavazza espresso made with our stainless steel espresso maker with a milk frother. (The milk frother broke from overuse.) Our Eurocrat jause standard pastry was Clasen’s pecan-cinnamon rolls. 

Other items I would buy as a Sunday dessert included slices of cherry cream cheese coffee cake, Black Forest torte, and German chocolate cake. The vanilla cakes were divine, too.

Clasen’s did some custom baking for me at Easter when I would order a chocolate lamb cake with white buttercream frosting. 

Laurent would wander and choose different kinds of rolls to try. The French have a cheese for every day of the year, and the Germans have a bread for every day of the year. So, Laurent was in a bread candy store. He loved going to Clasen’s 

What is really great about Clasen’s now is that you can order and pay online and get delivery within the continental U.S. 

I have to admit that when I was going to Clasen’s all those many years ago that I had no idea I would live in Germany one day. Supporting Clasen’s European Bakery certainly helped me adjust to life in Germany, because the bread and pastries were the same. 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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Lemonade Pie Recipe by Ruth Paget

Lemonade Pie Recipe by Ruth Paget 

Serves 4 

Ingredients: 

For Crust: 

-3 tablespoons butter 

-1½ cups coconut 

For Filling: 

-1 cup evaporated milk 

-1 (1-ounce) envelope gelatin 

-1/4 cup cold water 

-1/2 cup boiling water 

-2/3 cup sugar 

-6 ounces lemon juice 

Steps: 

1-Melt butter in a 10-inch skillet. Add coconut and stir over medium heat until coconut is golden brown. 

2-Press coconut mixture firmly on the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie pan. Let stand at room temperature until cool. 

3-Chill evaporated milk in an ice tray until almost frozen around the edges. 

4-in a 3-quart bowl, soften the gelatin in cold water. Add boiling water and stil until the gelatin is dissolved. Add sugar and lemon juice and stir. 

5-Chill the mixture until it is thick in the refrigerator, but not set. 

6-Whip evaporated milk until stiff. Mix evaporated milk with the thickened gelatin. 

7-Pour lemon-milk mixture into the coconut shell. 

8-Chill the pie in the refrigerator for about 3 hours. 

Source: Rose Pennington – circa 1950s 

By Ruth Paget, author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France

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