The Los Angeles Times Food Section
...
…
I have read The Los Angeles Times Food Section for as long as I can remember. We are pretty darn fortunate here in LA to have a fully functioning test kitchen staffed by skilled and knowledgeable food writers, and I am pleased to share with you the occasional recipe and article. My first recipe comes from the archives of the Times; it ran well over twenty years ago. Those of you who attended Los Angeles City Schools for Junior or Senior High School will recognize the Sweet Rolls that the doyennes of the cafeteria sold at Nutrition. For those of you who did not attend LA Unified, let me explain. Nutrition was a daily break between morning classes. It lasted about twenty minutes and the cafeteria was open with a limited number of offerings. My friends and I cared about only one, the Sweet Rolls. Big, and warm with a soft brown sugar and cinnamon filling, we devoured them. At nineteen cents each, they were a steal. When the bell rang we hurried from second period to the cafeteria and jumped in line to claim our Sweet Roll right from the oven. We had it down to a science, and over the years we figured out that the number of rolls we could consume and really enjoy was two. One left you wanting more. Three was too many, four was surely overkill (and that was years before the word was coined), but two, ah two, that was the optimum number. Yes, two sweet rolls, a quantity a girl could savor. With thanks to the Los Angeles Times Food Section and the cafeteria workers at Paul Revere Junior High and Palisades High School, here is the City Schools Sweet Roll recipe. Make them. Enjoy them. And call an old friend and share some stories and laughs.
You may find the original recipe at:
LA Times – Food Section Archives
…
City Schools Sweet Rolls
I have made a few changes and updated the Times recipe. The original recipe called for compressed cake yeast which can be hard to find nowadays. I have substituted the more readily available instant yeast. My favorite brand of instant yeast is SAF.
makes 16
28 grams SAF Instant Yeast
2 cups lukewarm milk
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
½ cup shortening
1 egg
1 cup cake flour
5 cups bread flour
1 ½ teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/4 cup unsalted butter, very soft
Cake Crumb Filling (see below)
Powdered Sugar Glaze (see below)
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium bowl combine flours, nutmeg and yeast. Set aside.
3. Fit standing mixer with the paddle and combine sugar, salt, shortening and egg in mixing bowl. Mix 1 minute at low speed.
4. Add milk and mix 1 minute. Add flour mixture and mix one to two minutes. Scrape sides of bowl and change to dough hook. Mix until all ingredients are well combined and smooth, three to four minutes. The dough will appear smooth and will begin to pull away from the sides of the bowl.
5. Turn dough out onto lightly floured board and roll dough to a 20″ X 14″ rectangle. Spread softened butter onto dough and sprinkle with Cake Crumb Filling. Roll up jellyroll fashion starting with the long edge. Press seam closed. Trim edges neatly. Slice into 16 slices. Place cut side down on non-stick or greased baking sheets, cut side down, and pat down gently. Cover with a towel and let rise 20 minutes.
6. Bake at 400 degrees 14 minutes. Remove to racks and when partially cool, brush with Powdered Sugar Glaze.
…
Cake Crumb Filling
1 cup plain cake crumbs
½ cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Combine cake crumbs, brown sugar and cinnamon and toss with a fork to mix.
…
Powdered Sugar Glaze
2 cups sifted powdered sugar
scant 1/4 cup hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla
Whisk hot water and vanilla into powdered sugar and combine until smooth.
Love LA City Schools Coffee Cake? Click here for the recipe.
Friday, June 25th 2010 at 2:32 pm |
Great article!
Monday, July 14th 2014 at 5:52 am |
I used to work in that cafeteria just to get out of class earlier than others.Rotated between the candy store or kitchen.I loved watching them bake the rolls.thanks for sharing the memories again.
Wednesday, July 16th 2014 at 8:18 am |
Hi John,
We sure were lucky – the best of all possible worlds. I used to work in the library! I’m glad this one brought back fond memories. Alla prossima!
Friday, June 25th 2010 at 3:13 pm |
Great first blog post, Adri! At Culver City schools, they offered breakfast every morning for the earlybirds, and Thursday was always cinnamon roll day. That was my second favorite, my fave was Wednesday – coffee cake day! They served a nice, warm, fluffy cake with a half inch think topping of brown sugar.
Friday, June 25th 2010 at 3:51 pm |
What a wonderful memory! Growing up in a different school district, I feel so deprived! It’s interesting that cake flour is used as well. If I substitute butter for the shortening, do you think the recipe would come out okay? I can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing the memory, and the recipe, Adri!
Friday, June 25th 2010 at 4:13 pm |
I forgot to mention, your rolls are GORGEOUS! They are the most perfect sweet rolls I’ve ever seen. I’m looking forward to more entries!
Monday, August 26th 2013 at 9:27 pm |
Hi. Love these columns. Do you have access to the Helms Bakery recipes? I have several but the one I really want to find eludes me. It is for the applesauce cake. This cake was a single layer in a 8×8 paper and foil pan. It had the consistency of a very moist branuffin and was dark brown and spicy. No frosting but I do think it had raisins in it. If you have this vintage recipe please make it available if at all possible. Thank you.
Monday, August 26th 2013 at 9:59 pm |
Hi Marilyn,
No I do not have it, but I will certainly do some research and see what I can find. So many of the foods we ate at school were really tasty. I will let you know what I find. Thank you so much for visiting my site.
Sunday, December 7th 2014 at 8:21 am |
Is it possible to get the old recipe for the LA Unified Schools “Cheese Enchilada” recipe? Your food section published it many years ago but I lost the recipe. The enchiladas were served at Paul Revere Jr High in the 1960. I would REALLY appreciate it if you could find that recipe again..they are really delicious!! Thank you!
Sunday, December 7th 2014 at 8:41 am |
Hi Vicky,
I have emailed the recipe from the LA Times archives to you. I hope it is what you were looking for. Thank you for stopping by.
Thursday, May 7th 2015 at 7:31 am |
Do you by any chance have the Recipe for the Coffee Cake served at Nutrition? I attended Susan Miller Dorsey High School and this Coffee Cake was one of a kind! The Best! Thank you for the great article!
Sunday, May 10th 2015 at 6:11 am |
Hi Eric,
Oh yes, I’ve got it from the Cafeteria Handbook. Check out my article called “Los Angeles City Schools Coffee Cake.” Thanks for stopping by!
Sunday, January 29th 2017 at 11:01 am |
Could you please email me the lausd cheese enchilada recipe also? Thank you so much!
Monday, February 27th 2017 at 7:32 am |
Hi Isaac,
I do not have that recipe. Try doing a Google search. You may have some success there.
Tuesday, June 6th 2017 at 11:42 pm |
I went to Mulholland Jr High in the late 70’s. Nutrition was the highlight of each day. The sweet rolls were baked in large 1″ deep baking sheets/pans, cut into large rectangles and sold for about 19 cents each. Could this be the same recipe, just not rolled like a jelly roll.
Thursday, June 15th 2017 at 7:08 am |
Benvenuta Jodi,
Indeed it is the same recipe. My favorite, and at 19 cents, they were a bargain. These rolls are fashioned in the jelly roll manner. The dough is rolled out into a rectangle, spread with filling, rolled up, and then cut. Thanks for stopping by, and thanks for your comment. Enjoy!
Sunday, June 11th 2017 at 9:38 am |
Will you please email the LAUSD “Cheese Enchilada” recipe to me from the L.A. Times archives . Thank you
Thursday, June 15th 2017 at 7:09 am |
Greetings, Sheila,
I do not have that recipe. Perhaps a Google search will yield results. I’m sorry I can not be of assistance.