Ring-A-Lings ~ The 1955 Grand Prize Winner

The Pillsbury Bake-Off started in 1949 as a celebration of the 80th birthday of the Pillsbury Company. It was a wildly popular yearly event that was perfect for the time of prosperity that followed the war years.  Most women were stay at home wives and mothers and the country was quickly becoming obsessed with home decorating and developing cooking skills.  Ring-A-Lings won the 1955 Grand Prize of $25,000, a huge sum in those days.  The winning recipe was submitted by Bertha Jorgensen, who just happed to live in Portland, Oregon.  Yup, right here in River City.  The recipe was published in our local paper and my mother baked these all the time.  I found the recipe in the back of her file, I guess it worked its way to the back over time, and I just had to make them again.  The dough is flavored with orange peel and the sugary, nutty filling swirls through the pastry so each bite is a combination of light dough, toasted nuts and a citrusy sweet glaze.

Ring-A-Lings...The 1955 Pillsbury Grand Prize Winning Recipe

Dough:

4 to 4-1/2 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons grated orange peel

2 packages active dry yeast

1 cup milk

1/3 cup butter

2 eggs

Filling:

1 cup powdered sugar

1/3 cup butter, softened

1 cup nuts, ground  (I used hazelnuts, but pecans or walnuts would be delicious too)

Glaze:

3 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup orange juice

Lightly spoon flour into a measuring cup; level off.  In a large bowl combine 2 cups of the flour, 1/3 cup sugar, salt, orange peel and yeast; mix well.

In a small saucepan, heat milk and 1/3 cup butter until very warm (120 to 130 degrees F).  Add warm liquid and eggs to flour mixture; blend at low speed until moistened.  Beat 3 minutes at medium speed.  Stir in remaining 2 to 2-1/2 cups flour to form a stiff dough.  Place dough in a greased bowl; cover loosely with plastic wrap and a cloth towel.  Let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, 40-50 minutes.

In a small bowl blend powdered sugar and 1/3 cup butter until smooth.  Stir in nuts; set aside.  In a second small bowl blend glaze ingredients; cover and set aside.

Line 2 large cookie sheets with parchment.  Stir down dough to remove all air bubbles.  On a floured surface, roll dough to a 22x12 inch rectangle.  Spread the filling mixture lengthwise over half of the dough.  Fold dough over the filling.  Cut crosswise into 1-inch strips; twist each strip 4 to 5 times.  To shape rolls, hold folded end of the strip down on a cookie sheet to form center; coil strip around center.  tuck loose end under.  Repeat with the remaining twisted strips.  Cover and let rise in a warm place until light and doubled in size, about 30-40 minutes.

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Uncover dough.  Bake 9 to 12 minutes or until light golden brown.  Brush tops of rolls with glaze.  Bake an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown.  Immediately remove rolls from the cookie sheets and cool on wire racks.

A few years ago I bought a box of old Pillsbury Bake-Off Cookbooks on e-bay for several dollars because I remember my mother using them as a source of many of her recipes.  Back then cookbook selection was limited, there were very few food magazines, no cooking shows on TV, and, of course, no food blogs or Google to help us find anything we could possibly imagine related to food. 

The oldest Bake-Off book I received was from 1951, and many of the recipes look like they have possibilities.  The one that really caught my eye was the $3,000 winner for Hot Ziggities.  I've already posted about this recipe so click here if you would like to see it.  This one really made me chuckle.  We have come a long, long way.

We all are invited to participate in this week's Foodie Friday celebration at Designs by Gollum.  Michael is the "hostess with the mostess" so please drop by to check out this week's participants. You're gonna love it!