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Sweeter sales

The smell of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies wafts through the halls of Building 4 of Spokane Falls Community College two times a week, luring students and faculty with its irresistibility. “It’s a great marketing tool,” said Valorie Marschall, campus adviser to the Delta Epsilon Chi club, which holds bake sales Monday and Wednesday mornings on campus.

For others, the yummy ethnic goodies they can get only a few places or a few times a year are what brings them back time and again. At the Greek Dinner Festival at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church last weekend, people lined up early as they have every year for decades, to stock up on popular pastries and treats, such as diples and baklava.

Shoppers at the Spokane Farmers’ Market know that in addition to their fresh produce, they can head home with freshly baked Swedish breads, or just grab a bag of cookies for munching on while browsing the market. The women from the First Covenant Church have baked their favorite recipes and sold them at the market since it opened in the church parking lot several years ago.

These are just a few examples of local bake sales, tried-and-true fund-raisers for many organizations. Starting Sunday, individuals and groups around the country are invited to join the Great American Bake Sale, a national effort to raise money to help hunger-relief organizations. While the majority of the money generated by this months-long bake sale effort stays in the community in which it was raised and goes to summer and after school meals for kids, this year about 25 percent of funds raised will go to special hurricane relief efforts. (For more information, go to www.greatamericanbakesale.org.)

If you’re thinking of holding a bake sale, it’s a good idea to check with your local health department to find out if you need a permit and if there are restrictions on what you can sell.

Bake sales continue to be popular because they offer people a taste of something they’re not likely to get at home said Irene Supica, one of the many women who work for months turning more than 750 pounds of flour and equal or more parts butter into delectable Greek pastries.

“It’s very time consuming to make these pastries,” Supica said. “These are not drop cookies. These are cookies that you have to roll and shape; there are so many steps nobody would do it in their home. They don’t have time.”

Which is why the sale draws customers who buy more than $100 of goodies to freeze for holiday gatherings or sending to relatives, Supica said, adding that the pastry sale accounts for about 25 percent of the money raised from the annual Greek Dinner.

Frances Pierce, chair of the First Covenant Church who oversees the bake sale, agreed that selling treats people would have a hard time finding other places has led to the sale’s longevity. The Swedish coffee bread is the top seller, but many others including the rye bread, rhubarb bread and the super soft chocolate chip cookies are also popular sellers, Pierce said.

Even simple sales, such as the one at Spokane Falls Community College, which now can only sell commercially-made products, even classic American favorites draw a steady stream of customers.

Getting an oven in which club members can bake fresh cookies from commercial dough was a coup, Marschall said. That fresh-from- the-oven taste will beat shelf-stable goodies any day. Other items club members sell include snack bags of pretzels and licorice dipped in chocolate. If they can find prepackaged crisp rice treats in large, economical sizes, they’ll sell those, too, Marschall said.

If you’re thinking of having a bake sale, whether a one-time event or an annual fund-raiser, veterans offer this bit of advice: Be organized.

“Have a plan,” Supica said. “You have to think through every detail. Where will you put the stuff when you make it? How will you store it? What order will it be made in?

“It’s fun and everything, but you still want to be organized.”

Something to think about: Tying a bake sale to a particular season or holiday can help you focus on special treats. For example, with fall upon us and Halloween coming up, a bake sale might include pumpkin-flavored treats or ghoulishly fun treats.

A good resource for any bake sale is the Nestle Web site ( www.verybestbaking.com). You have to register (it’s free) for this service, but once you do you’ll find an online bake-sale planner including printouts for promoting your sale, dozens of recipes to make and assorted tips.

Swedish Coffee Bread

From the Covenant Women of the First Covenant Church, Spokane.

This recipe makes about 10 braided loaves. This recipe and many more are part of the “Bit of Sweden” cookbook published by the church. The cookbook, including many Swedish specialties, is available for $4.95 by calling 747-2818.

5 cups skim milk

4 packages yeast

¾ cup warm water

16 to 17 cups flour

1 cup butter

3 cups sugar

½ cup margarine

5 eggs

3 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon crushed cardamom seeds

Soften yeast in warm water; add to warmed milk. Gradually add 8 cups flour, using mixer as long as possible. Cover and let rise until light, about 1 hour. Cream butter and sugar, add margarine and beat until fluffy. Add eggs, salt and cardamom. Continue beating until light. Add this mixture to the risen sponge and add the remaining flour. Knead on a board until smooth. Let rise in a large buttered bowl until double in size. Turn out onto floured board. Knead down and let rest about 10 minutes.

Shape dough into about 10 braided loaves. Let rise until doubled in size. Brush tops with butter and sugar mixed with a little powdered cardamom, or brush with slightly beaten egg and 1 teaspoon water and sprinkle with sugar and chopped nuts.

Bake loaves at 375 degrees for 10 minutes, then 350 degrees for 25 minutes more.

Yield: 10 loaves

Approximate nutrition per serving (based on 8 servings per loaf): 161 calories, 4 grams fat (1.8 grams saturated, 22 percent fat calories), 3.6 grams protein, 27.5 grams carbohdyrate, 20 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 137 milligrams sodium.

Diples

From “Greek Feast –Santa Barbara Style.” This recipe is a scaled down version of the diples recipe women at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church in Spokane use for their annual pastry sale. Bake-sale president Irene Supica said she hunted through several cookbooks for a smaller-size recipe that is the same as the one she uses. This one comes from a cookbook compiled by the Santa Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in California.

6 eggs

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups flour

Cinnamon

Ground walnuts

Vegetable oil for frying

For the syrup:

4 cups honey

1 cup water

Beat eggs slightly, add salt and beat again. Using your hands, add flour, knead in enough flour to make a smooth consistency that does not stick to your hands. Continue kneading until dough is very smooth.

Take half the dough (keeping the remaining dough covered to keep from drying out) and roll out on floured board. Cut into strips about 2-by-4 inches. Using a pasta machine (see note), roll through the widest setting, then through middle setting, and finally through the narrowest opening. Cut into 8-inch strips, and keep covered.

In electric skillet, have enough oil to cover about 2 ½ -inch depth. Heat to 375 degrees. Stretch strip of dough slightly and drop into hot oil. Using two forks, turn dough over and roll quickly in jelly-roll fashion into the oil before it becomes crisp. Fry until lightly brown. Drain in colander, on absorbent towels. To make syrup, boil honey and water for 5 minutes.When diples are cool, dip in warm honey syrup and drain in colander. Place on platter and sprinkle with cinnamon and ground walnuts.

Note: Dough may be cut into 2-inch strips and shaped into bows or knots and fried until crispy. Diples can be stored in a covered container for several weeks then dipped in warm syrup before serving.

Yield: About 75 diples

Approximate nutrition per diples: Unable to calculate due to recipe variables.

Classic Brownies

From “America’s Test Kitchen Live 2005, Bake Sale Favorites.”

Note from the cookbook editors; What we learned: Use unsweetened chocolate – and a lot of it – for a potent chocolate punch. Cake flour and a little baking powder give the brownies a nice chew. Melt the butter, rather than creaming it, for a dense texture.

1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped medium, optional

1 ¼ cups (5 ounces) plain cake flour

½ teaspoon salt

¾ teaspoon baking powder

6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped fine

12 tablespoons (1½ sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 6 (1-inch) pieces

2 ¼ cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Adjust and oven rack to the middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 13-by-9-inch baking pan with two pieces of foil (crossed perpendicularly), letting the foil hang over the edges of the pan. Spray the foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

If using nuts, spread the nuts evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven until fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Set aside to cool.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together until combined; set aside.

Melt the chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of almost-simmering water; stirring occasionally until smooth. (Alternatively, in a microwave, heat the butter and chocolate in a large microwave-safe bowl on high for 45 seconds, then stir and heat for 30 seconds more. Stir again and, if necessary, repeat in 15-second increments; do not let the chocolate burn.) When the chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove the bowl from the saucepan and gradually whisk in the sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in the vanilla. Add the flour mixture in 3 additions, folding with a rubber spatula until the batter is completely smooth and homogeneous.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan; using a spatula to spread the batter into the corners and smooth the surface. Sprinkle the toasted nuts (if using) evenly over the batter. Bake until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted in the center of the brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on a wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove the brownies from the pan by lifting them out using the foil overhangs. Cut brownies into 2-inch squares and serve. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Yield: 24 brownies

Approximate nutrition per brownie: 232 calories, 13.9 grams fat (6.4 grams saturated, 54 percent fat calories), 2.8 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrate, 51 milligrams cholesterol, 1.6 grams dietary fiber, 76 milligrams sodium.

Iced Pumpkin Cookies

From www.verybestbaking.com

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

2 cups vegetable shortening

2 cups granulated sugar

1 (15-ounce) can pure pumpkin

2 large eggs

4 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided

2 cups raisins

1 cup nuts, chopped

Frosting:

2/3 cup butter, softened

3 teaspoons rum extract

4 cups powdered sugar

½ cup evaporated milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice in medium bowl. Beat shortening and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl for 30 seconds. Add pumpkin, eggs and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; beat until blended. Gradually add flour mixture into pumpkin mixture at low speed until combined. Stir in raisins and nuts. Drop by rounded teaspoons onto ungreased baking sheets.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

To make frosting: beat butter, rum extract and remaining vanilla extract in medium mixer bowl until creamy. Gradually beat in powdered sugar and evaporated milk until smooth. Spread each cookie with frosting.

Yield: 5 dozen cookies

Approximate nutrition per cookie: 198 calories, 10.4 grams fat (3.2 grams saturated, 47 percent fat calories), 2 grams protein, 25 grams carbohydrate, 13 milligrams cholesterol, less than 1 gram dietary fiber, 103 milligrams sodium.