Friday, March 23, 2012

Kauffman's Famous Nut Bread

A friend of mine brought her 90-something mother by not long ago to let me know she is enjoying my book "Dainty Dining," which her daughter is reading to her chapter by chapter. Talk about a heartwarming moment! I asked my friend's mother the name of a few department stores where she remembers dining, and she mentioned Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh, Pa. Naturally, that sent me on a quest to see if I could find some Kaufmann's recipes.

As luck would have it, I came across a copy of the book "See What's Cooking at Kaufmann's." Among the recipes in the book was one for "Our Famous Nut Bread," so naturally I had to try this "famous" food for myself.

The recipe was easy to make, and after I refrigerated it overnight it sliced just beautifully!

The cookbook also said Kaufmann's recommends using this bread to make tea sandwiches, so I did that as well and greatly enjoyed the nutty bread served with an olive and cream cheese filling. In case you'd like to try this yourself, here's the recipe as I made it.

Kaufmann's Famous Nut Bread

2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1-1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped
1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and coat a 9 x 5 x 4-inch glass loaf pan with cooking spray. (The Kaufmann's cookbook says to preheat to 350 if using a metal pan.) Sift flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Using electric mixer, blend butter and sugar. Add eggs and beat for about 2 minutes. Add pecans and mix well, then add milk and mix again. Add dry ingredients and mix on medium speed of mixer, just until combined. Bake for 1 hour, then let stand in pan for 5 minutes. Remove from pan and cool completely on wire rack. Wrap unused bread tightly in plastic wrap or foil and refrigerate.

Note: "See What's Cooking with Kaufmann's" said this bread is "delicious served as finger sandwiches with a cream cheese and olive filling." I made such a filling by combining 4 ounces cream cheese and 20 olives in the food processor and pulsing until blended well.

17 comments:

  1. Oh what a wonderful story to hear about one of the fans of your book!

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  2. I WILL HAVE to try this -- I adore this type of tea sandwich!

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  3. Loved your post today, Angela! Your department store quest shows no signs of slowing down, and that's a very good thing! Love the history and memories department stores evoke, and the memorabilia [cookbooks, dishware, etc.] keep them "alive" even though most are long gone.

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  4. Another great story! Another great find! Another great recipe! Another great tea sandwich!

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  5. I am definitely going to try this -- and the olive/cream cheese spread sounds delicious, too! :)

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  6. What a delightful story.
    The bread looks awesome.

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  7. Love nut bread for tea sandwiches. How nice to get to chat with this 90 year old that loves your book.

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  8. Hello Angela, love the recipe! Thanks for including the postcard, it's beautiful. Your research makes these treasured stores 'seem alive!'
    Thank you for sharing and for all your hard work - have a great day,
    Joanie

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  9. How fun to hear about some of those department store tearooms from your friends mom.

    The Kaufmann's nut bread sounds delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

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  10. I used to go to Kauffman's when I was a little girl, when living in PA. I need to try this recipe as it sounds and looks delicious. I'm your newest follower!!

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  11. I'm going to try this!** Thank you very much

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  12. Oh my gosh! I loved the nut bread and olive spread sandwiches! THANK YOU SO MUCH for sharing this recipe from my Tic Toc Room memories!!

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  13. This was always, ALWAYS my favorite lunch at Kaufmann's. Nothing quite like it!

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  14. I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 1970s and this was my favorite treat from the Tic Toc Shop! Thank you so much for bringing it back into my life

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