Cookin' with Wood

Flinch

I had this stuff once when I was a kid, and I remember loving it so much that it was the first recipe I ever asked anyone else for. Unfortunately, I was never able to ask the person who made it, and all my information was second-hand. I've made it three times now, and here's how I just did it, along with what I remember from the first two times. Every web search I did for anything that even resembles this stuff came up empty.

My first problem was how to make the white icing that goes on the outside. Although it's just like white icing, it has to be stiffer, so that changes the way you have to make it. Very subtle differences. Very big difference in the way it turns out. There are just a few ingredients, but it's not easy to make. The steps themselves are somewhat easy, but there's a lot of time in between the steps. Waiting for the next step is the easy part, because you can do whatever you want while you're waiting. You'll even have time to sleep during this recipe!

Dump the sugar into the large bowl, and add the butter. Make sure the butter is at room temperature. Maybe I should've mentioned that earlier. Add the vanilla extract. Now here's where it gets tricky. My mom told me to add a miniscule amount of milk, but I couldn't even get the stuff to mix up until I had three Tablespoons in there. The key is to add just enough milk so that the mixture is no longer powder, but something that resembles icing. Of course, you'll use the hand-held mixer to do all of the work for you here.  Here's the problem: at that texture, it's almost impossible to roll out for our purpose. It'll have to be refrigerated overnight, uncovered, so that it dries out a bit. Go ahead, take a nap.

The next day, dump the icing onto the kitchen table, and roll into a ball. Using the rolling pin, roll it out into as much of a rectangle shape as you can. Reform the eges with your fingers, roll it as flat and even as you can. You can throw a little flour on the table or spread a thin layer of shortening on it so that the icing doesn't stick to the table. I learned that the hard way. That, and letting the icing refrigerate over night to harden. Both of those steps will make this much easier. I remember the refrigeration part from the last time I made it, which was at least ten years ago.

Once you have your icing rolled out, use a soft spatula to evenly spread peanut butter all over it. Make sure you go all the way to the edges of the icing with the peanut butter. Make the layer of peanut butter as thick or thinner than the icing.

Now comes the fun part: Carefully peel one end of the icing up from the table, and begin the arduous task of rolling the entire thing up like an old carpet. This won't be easy. I used a hard plastic spatula that I got wet to help me peel the icing from the table. I had to re-wet it many times until I was finished, but that seemed to help. The more of it you roll up, the heavier it gets, so it tends to become more difficult to work with. Just hang in there, and you'll eventually get the thing rolled up. Take your time, and repair any holes you make in it. It may look ugly right now, especially if this is the first time you tried it. Regardless, it'll still taste awsome.

Once you get it rolled up, use a spatula (or two) to put the roll on the large plate, and refrigerate again for at least an hour. Prior to serving, slice into 1/4 inch segments. Trust me, even if it comes out ugly, it'll taste heavenly. I shared these with the kids who live next door, and when they brought my plate back, I felt guilty for not giving them more, but hey, I haven't had any in over ten years!

Bob is the author of "Don't Fry Bacon with Your Shirt Off!  A Single Man's Guide to the Kitchen" a PublishAmerica book.