Loft's Butter Crunch

Which was better, Loft’s Butter Crunch or Loft’s Parleys?

For you young ones, those are the two iconic candies once sold by Loft’s, a candy company that went out of business in 1990. I’ve been in mourning ever since.

Their Butter Crunch was always my favorite. My brother insisted that the better choice was the Parley, a giant milk chocolate cigar looking thing with soft nougaty stuff inside.

Parleys were okay but Loft’s Butter Crunch was incomparable. The toffee was thick and brittle. It snapped when you broke it. The chocolate layer wasn’t overly thick so it didn’t detract from the candy part. And the nuts on the outside were tiny and soft, a sensational contrast to the velvety-tender chocolate and the crunchy center.

As well balanced as a dinner straight out of the government’s food pyramid.

I have tried for years to find a Butter Crunch as good as Loft’s, to no avail. There are fancier ones, made with single-estate chocolate or 70% cocoa chocolate. Some really expensive stuff and others from mass producers. Nothing comes close. I will grant you that Loft’s probably didn’t use great chocolate. It wasn’t your most upscale store. It sold modestly priced candies.

It’s just that their Butter Crunch was the best I ever ate.

When I was pregnant with my older daughter I refrained from sweets, to keep my weight at a decent level. But right after she was born I polished off the 2 boxes of Loft’s Butter Crunch that someone brought to me as a gift.

I’ve been experimenting making my own version lately. I made the ones in the photo yesterday to bring as a dinner gift this evening. These are good, so I’m posting the recipe. If you make them with milk chocolate and in a smaller cake pan (8”x8”) they’ll taste like Loft’s. Otherwise use dark chocolate of your choosing and use the larger pan — most people like the crunch part thinner than I do.

Butter Crunch

1 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 tablespoons water

9 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped (1-1/2 cups chocolate chips)

3/4 cup chopped lightly toasted almonds

Lightly butter a 9”x13” sheet cake pan. Place the butter, sugar, salt, corn syrup and water into a deep saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the mixture starts to bubble. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is golden brown (about 7-8 minutes) or until a candy thermometer reads 280 degrees. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan and spread it out evenly. Immediately sprinkle the chocolate on top. Let it melt briefly, then use a spatula or the back of a large spoon to spread the chocolate evenly over the candy. Keep spreading until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Sprinkle the nuts on top and press them in lightly. Let cool until the chocolate is firm and set, about 2 hours. Break into pieces. Makes about 1-1/4 pounds

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

Today is National Chocolate Cake Day. And also a snow day for a lot of us (we got at least another 14-inch dump of snow over the night and into the morning). I have to say, I resent a nighttime snow fall because I like watching the flakes come down. It’s so soft and quiet and makes me feel cozy and safe inside. When I woke up this morning it was all over, but for the plowing.

But I digress. It is National Chocolate Cake Day. A good day all around to make a dark, luscious, tender cake to enjoy while also maybe taking a snow day. It’s a good dessert for Valentine’s Day too. Or anytime really.

Here’s a cake I’ve been making ever since I was 12 years old, when I baked this for my own Bat Mitzvah celebration. I’ve tried dozens of different chocolate cake recipes over the years and haven’t found one I like better. And it’s easy to make too.

So, until I find a better cake, here’s my recipe for:

One Bowl Chocolate Cake with Fudge Frosting

• 2 cups cake flour

• 1-1/2 cups sugar

• 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1-1/2 cups buttermilk

• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening

• 2 large eggs

• 1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 2 9-inch cake pans. Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt together into the bowl of an electric mixer (or large bowl for use with a hand mixer). Add the buttermilk and shortening and beat the ingredients at medium speed for about 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Add the eggs and vanilla extract and beat the ingredients for another 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Let the cake layers cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then invert onto a cake rack to cool completely. Frost the layer and outside of the cake with the fudge frosting. Refrigerate leftovers.

Makes one 9-inch cake

Fudge Frosting

• 12 ounces semisweet chocolate

• 1 cup dairy sour cream

• pinch of salt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the chocolate in the top part of a double boiler set over barely simmering water. When the chocolate has melted, remove the top pan from the bottom part of the double boiler. Add the sour cream, salt and vanilla extract to the chocolate and beat the ingredients vigorously with a whisk to blend them completely into a smooth frosting. Let cool for a few minutes, until it has a spreading consistency. Use between layers and for outside of the cake.

Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

I usually hate when there’s a month (or more) long approach to a holiday. Like seeing Hallowe’en paraphernalia right after Labor Day.

But it’s been so cold and snowy where I live that the Valentine’s Day heart things and the boxes of chocolates and a host of articles I’ve been noticing for the past week actually cheer me, even though the holiday is nearly 3 weeks away. Valentine’s Day means February is half over and we’ll be almost through this winter.

But Valentine’s Day is also a little sad for me because it’s one of the days I miss my Dad the most. He always sent me Valentines. Sometimes it was one of those cartoon cards children buy in packs to give to their classmates. But I could always count on getting a card from him. I miss them. And him.

His cooking? Well, not so much. He made fabulous pancakes and waffles, hot chocolate and a few other things. But entrees were not his forte. Once, when my Mom was sick he attempted meatballs in tomato sauce. He took plain meat, shaped them into mountain peaks and spread tomato paste on top. Then he broiled them. Ohmyohmyohmy were they bad. I don’t remember too many meals from when I was a kid but that one is vivid.

So, in honor of my Dad, with visions of Valentine’s Day and springtime and warm weather ahead, I give you my recipe for Meatballs in Tomato sauce the way Dad never made them.

Meatballs in Marinara Sauce 

• 3 tablespoons olive oil

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 4 medium cloves garlic, chopped

• 2 28-ounce cans Italian style tomatoes, chopped, with liquid

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

• 1/2 pound ground turkey

• 1/2 pound ground veal

• 1/2 pound ground beef

• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 2 large eggs

• 3 frozen hamburger buns, grated

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over low-medium heat. Add the onion and cook stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes, or until softened. Add the garlic and cook briefly. Add the tomatoes, 2 tablespoons of the basil and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the ingredients to a simmer and cook the sauce for 30 minutes. While the sauce is cooking, place the turkey, veal and beef in a large bowl and mix gently to combine them. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons basil, the parsley, eggs and the grated buns. Mix ingredients and shape into 12 meatballs. Place the meatballs on a baking sheet and roast for about 15 minutes, turning them occasionally to brown on all sides. Place the meatballs into the cooked sauce. Cook for another 30 minutes.

Makes 4 servings