Official Kids Mag

36 • Off icialKidsMag.com • NOVEMBER 2019 By Renee Durham Official Kids Mag Chef Brigham Cook from Cooks Culinary had another great class at the Jones Center teaching kids about International desserts. Official Kids Mag was in the kitchen while the kids made Canadian Maple Toffee for Canada and Texas State Fair Award-Winning Chocolate Pecan Pie for the United States. Official Kids Mag learned a lot, just like the kids. These culinary students made BOTH of these international treats in less than two hours, baking included. What a whirlwind of fun. Texas State Fair Award-Winning Chocolate Pecan Pie Pie Pastry • 1 cup flour • 3 tablespoons butter • Dash of salt • 4 tablespoons of ice water Put the flour, butter and salt in the food chopper, and hit the button few times to cut in the butter and mix it with the flour. Add the ice water and mix. Turn it out on a floured surface. Knead the dough a few times, then roll out to fit pie plate. Pecan Pie Filling • 3 eggs • ½ c white sugar • ½ c brown sugar • ½ c corn syrup • 2 tablespoons melted butter • 2 cups pecans • 1 cup dark chocolate chips Put pecans and chocolate chips in pie pastry. Mix the eggs, sugars, melted butter and corn syrup well with a spoon and pour over pecans and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour or until the center is solid. GREAT DESSERT TREATS! Fun Facts about Pecans • Pecans are native to North America, which is why it makes sense that the pecan pie was created here as well. There are some who believe that the pecan pie originated in New Orleans after it was settled by the French, although that doesn't seem to be the most accepted accreditation. • Early pecan recipes first appeared in Texas cookbooks in the 1870s and 1880s. The first recipe that resembled a pecan pie was published in St. Louis in 1898. • In the 1920's was when pecan pie became popular in households due to recipe being printed on the bottle of corn syrup, and the recipe is still on the bottle today. • Did you know "Pecan" is from an Algonquian word variously referring to pecans, walnuts and hickory nuts. • The pecan (Carya illinoinensis) is a species of hickory native to northern Mexico and the southern United States in the region of the Mississippi River. • The tree is cultivated for its seed in the southern United States, primarily in Georgia, and in Mexico, which produces nearly half of the world total. Canadian Maple Toffee Now, about that Maple Toffee. This candy is made by pouring boiling maple syrup on snow and quickly twisting a wooden stick in the syrup before it sets. There wasn't any snow in Arkansas yet this year, so Chef Cook got creative and showed the kids how to make snow with a food chopper and ice cubes. The snow was put on a cookie sheet and stuck in the freezer for later. The candy is made from boiling maple syrup. A special candy thermometer is used to bring the syrup to the right temperature. Then the syrup is splashed over snow and sticks are used to wrap the toffee onto the stick. You have to be fast to get the toffee before it cools down. Some important facts about boiling sugar or syrup: You will need your adult if you do this. Hot syrup can cause serious burns.

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