My new favorite dessert: Blueberry Roly-Poly
A vintage recipe from a newly dusted off cookbook
A cookbook with a racy title like What Cooks in Suburbia published in 1961, had to be in my collection of 20th century cookbooks.
I’ve collected mid- and early-century cookbooks and pamphlets for a while now. There’s the pure historical interest to see how food and recipes have evolved over time in relation to the socio-economic and political influences. (Honey, talk to me about the military industrial complex and I’ll talk to you for hours about why metal cabinets were so popular in post-World War II kitchens!). But, obviously, I’m also always rifling through old cookbooks looking for new recipes, unexpected takes on classic flavors or interesting techniques that have been lost to time.
And little surprise, Lila Perl jumped right into my heart with this explanation of her cookbook: “'[This book was written]not by the white-coated chemist cooks of some stainless steel test kitchen, not by the foreign-import glamor [sic] chef of New York or San Francisco’s newest and most fashionable dining spot, not by the bar-hopping celebrity or the plane-hopping socialite whose sole culinary activity consists of wheedling recipes from the famed restaurateurs of the world, but by somebody exactly like you!”
Lila Perl would go on to become well-known author, mostly of children’s books, including a series that I read as a kid called “Me and Fat Glenda,” which dealt beautifully with the awkwardness and cruelty that affected teen girls who didn’t match a Barbie doll’s body type. In 1996 she published the book she is probably best known for, Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story, a memoir she wrote with Marion Blumenthal Lazan about Marion’s time in Auschwitz as a child.
In the forward to What Cooks in the Suburbs, New York Times home economist Ruth P. Casa-Emellos, in a very sensible home-economist tone of voice, wrote of the virtues of the book: “It is like discovering hidden treasure to find a sound cookbook and menu guide that discloses the epicurean secrets that transform ordinary dishes and menus into taste delights. Such a homemaker’s prize is What Cooks in Suburbia.”
Casa-Emellos was right. What Cooks in Suburbia hit the jackpot for me in so many ways. Among the ‘epicurean secrets’ are recipes for tropical cake with pineapple custard and a weeknight recipe for “Chinese” meatballs and chicken wing fricassee (quotes mine) that calls for one entire clove of garlic and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Considering that she was cooking in the very early days of widespread general interest in “gourmet” cooking, her use of ingredients such as soy sauce and garlic—even if limited to one sturdy clove—is generous.
So, how to choose which delight to make? With old recipes, no matter how good they sound, the risk is the flavoring may be blander than I’d like (esp in chocolate recipes—we were well before the Death By Chocolate Era) or the ingredients somehow different since the book was published. I opted for the jolly sounding Blueberry Rolypoly.
I couldn’t quite imagine how the Blueberry Roly-Poly would turn out, which is why I tried it over, say, The Treasure Cake or the Marmalade Breakfast Rolls (which I will actually make tomorrow for Husband, who has a passion for orange marmalade that rivals Paddington’s). It seems a rather simple idea, a buttery biscuit dough coiled around fresh blueberries, but it’s transformed by the lemon syrup which soaks into the dough and caramelizes around the edges. It is good warm. It is good cold. It is good stale. It’s good when every time you find yourself near it and you pick at it bit-by-bit. Ask me to come to your house and this is what I will bring. And I will definitely be trying it with fresh peaches as soon as the season kicks off.
Blueberry Roly-Poly may appear a tad fiddly to make, but is actually quite simple. Especially for such exquisite results. These make a great breakfast, brunch or fancy dinner dessert with some ice cream and accompanied by, as Lila Perl encouraged, an iced coffee for a perfect end to a “summer luncheon.”
Fresh Blueberry Roly-Poly
adapted from What Cooks in Suburbia, Lila Perl, Dutton, 1961.
What You’ll Need:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons lemon zest
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) butter, cut into 16 or so pieces
1/2 cup rolled oats**
1/2 to 2/3 cup milk
4 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons sugar
What you’ll do:
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 11 x 7 x 2-inch pan or 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan. Either size will work as the rolls will expand to fill the space, although I prefer the smaller pan.
Combine sugar, water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Bring to a boil and simmer for 3 minutes, remove from heat and set aside. (Simmer: small bubbles appear at the side of the pan)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in the butter, using two knives or a pastry blender until the butter is in pea-size pieces. (You can blend it in with your fingers, especially if they’re icy and sepulchral to the touch. The worry is normal warm human fingers will make the butter too soft. As with most pie crusts and biscuits doughs, you want there to be small, cold shards of butter visible in the dough.)
Add in the oatmeal and 1/2 cup of the milk, stirring until a stiff batter forms. If the batter holds together when you squeeze it, it’s ready, but if it seems too dry, add milk one tablespoon at a time.
Turn the dough out onto a floured pastry board or smooth surface and knead it together very briefly until the dough comes together. Roll out the dough into a 8-inch x 14-inch rectangle.
With the long side facing you, brush the dough with the melted butter. Sprinkle the 2 tablespoons of sugar over the dough. Pour the blueberries onto the dough and spread them evenly, leaving about 1 inch from every side. Roll up the dough like a jelly roll and push any escapee blueberries back in. Moisten the edge of the dough with a bit of water and press gently to seal. Cut the roll into 12 pieces using a serrated knife. Place the pieces cut side down in the prepared pan, spacing them evenly. Spoon the cooled lemon syrup evenly over the slices. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the top is golden brown and there is bubbling blueberry juice at the edges of the pan.
Serve warm with ice cream, whipped cream or both. You can make these earlier in the day and reheat when it’s time to serve them.
**Are the rolled oats necessary? Nope. Don’t go out of your way to buy them if you don’t have them at home.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be diving into this amazing pile of recipe cards—a pile that literally made tears come to my eyes when I opened it and saw the writing and the link to the 19th century. Thank you, to Linda and her friend, who donated these cards to me. I will cherish them.
This substack is a reader-supported publication. If you’re able, paying for a subscription helps pay for groceries for recipe-testing, recipe development, and supports me—a freelance writer. As you know from the WGA writer’s strike happening now, the pay scale for journalists and writers has not kept up with the cost of living. That’s why having a substack newsletter has become such a terrific venue for so many writers. Best of all, however, it puts me, Bosco, Calvin and Clyde in touch with our readers like never before! Thank you. Below is a special subscription offer.
Can’t afford a subscription? Do the next best thing and give free subscriptions to all your friends. The more the merrier!
Tell me! I want to know about the metal cabinets.
Marissa! You know ALL the secrets! You are the Mata Hari of cookies!