we are on a roll - caramel that is

I’ve heard it told that North Dakota does caramel rolls like no other state. We want to think so.

My recent post on rolls had many shares and yums and requests for the recipe. It’s common practice to share recipes. However, be warned that many of my recipes are for large batches indicative of the large families that needed to be fed by German-Russian mothers.

Speaking of mothers. I miss mine. One day I was fortunate enough to pull this recipe out of her recipe box. I plan to write my memoirs through her recipe box. It told my brother, Curt, that I don’t recall her ever talking about this recipe or sharing it. I guess later in life when one pays attention to such things, she was past doing everything by hand and began using Rhodes frozen bread dough for her rolls.

That was a mistake. In my mind anyway. This dough is soft and sweet and tender to the touch and the tummy. The finished rolls are delightful covered with creamy caramel – which I will share the recipe for that, and it’s not the one on the card.

It’s spring, and that means cleaning out the house. Oh wait, the housework remains, I’m cleaning out the freezer. There was an icy tub of vanilla ice cream with just enough left for two batches of rolls. Yep. That is correct. That Saturday I made my caramel with ice cream rather than real cream. When baking becomes art in your house you always improvise.

So, as promised here is the roll dough recipe passed along from someone to my mother, Lorraine Kaseman, to me. I hope to scan and share all her recipes with the next generation or two. Provided I can find the time.

ROLLS
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
¾ cup Crisco

Beat Together

Add 1.5 cups hot milk
And 1 cup water
Dissolved [sic] 3 yeast in ½ cup water.
1 teasp. Salt
About 8.5-9 cups flour Nutmeg (don’t ask I don't understand this additional word)

Filling:
1 cup brown sugar
¾ cup vanilla ice cream
½ cup butter

I doubled the caramel recipe, ran short and made an additional batch.

Bake these in 350° oven till browned on top. Be warned; if you stuff the pans with rolls, the caramel may run over in the oven.

I apologize to anyone who got caramel rolls that tasted like smoke last summer at the farmers market.

Thanks for reading my blog. Remember to listen to Prairie Public Radio Main Street Eats with Root Seller Sue every Thursday. Main Street begins at 3 p.m.

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