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Mystery of the Branch Ranch Cake Deepens

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By JEFF HOUCK | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 11, 2009

Oh, dear. Looks like we've been pinned in a Red Velvet Showdown.

In January, we included a request by reader Sandra Wright Pierce for a red velvet cake recipe like the one served at Plant City's Branch Ranch Dining Room, which closed in 2006.

We put Pierce in touch with Tammy (Monroe) Greenlee of Riverview, who wrote to say that while she worked as a waitress at Branch Ranch, she baked red velvet cakes using a recipe passed down by her great-aunt.

Greenlee said she gave the recipe to a bartender, not knowing it would become the "dessert of the Branch Ranch."

Not long after, we were contacted by a woman named Maria Lungo, who said that the cake featured on the Branch Ranch billboard along I-4 was her creation, not Greenlee's.

"I and I alone baked for the Branch Ranch," Lungo said. "Going through my desk drawer, I found one of my business cards when I was bartending. My boss had them made up for me. The printer had one put in plastic and made a key chain for me. So there you have proof that I not only baked the cakes, but I was the bartender."

Lungo says she doesn't know Greenlee, but the recipe used by the restaurant was her own.

That being said, neither woman would share their respective recipes.

Stay tuned.

MORE MINCE PIE

A few weeks back, we ran a request by Mary Staib of Brooksville for a mince pie recipe. Dale Hanson of Hudson shared a recipe passed to him by his grandmother Lura "Bonnie" Vredenburg.

Miki Elior, who was born and raised in Tampa but lives in Jerusalem now, saw the recipe and said she was compelled to comment.

"I am a confirmed carnivore, so my comment is not based on a prejudice against the incredible amount of meat in this particular recipe," Elior wrote.

"Consider for a moment, though, such a dinner when mincemeat pie is usually served: roast turkey and or ham, traditionally. Maybe goose, lots of stuffing mashed potatoes alongside a slab of orange-cement — sorry — pumpkin pie. This recipe becomes a good, extremely heavy tool to push all the rest through your digestive system. The suet is also ritually prohibited to many people and, while adding some taste, is a sure artery plugger."

Elior suggests an alternative recipe. It runs below.

Longtime RL&F contributor Joan M. Holshue of Apollo Beach sent a mince pie version as well.

LEFTOVER REQUESTS

Catherine Honschar wants a recipe for chocolate kok, a Greek chocolate sponge cake with chocolate mousse covered in a chocolate cream and chocolate sprinkles.

B. Dyer of Pasco County wants the cornbread made by Remington's Steakhouse.

Looking for a recipe? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601 or e-mail jhouck@tampatrib.com.

Keyword: Recipes, for more recipes and to check out our archive.

MINCE PIE

2 cups chopped apple

1 tablespoon dark brown sugar

2 teaspoons white sugar

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tablespoon cinnamon

1/2 freshly grated nutmeg ball

3/4 cup raisins

3/4 cup dates

3/4 cup dried apricots

3/4 cup dried figs

3/4 cup prunes

2-3 tablespoons of creme de cassis or a sweet wine

1 pie crust (top and bottom)

1-2 tablespoons flour

Mix the apple, sugars, lemon, cinnamon and nutmeg, and set aside covered for one hour.

Chop raisins, dates, apricots, figs and prunes and mix with the apples and the accumulated juices and add creme de cassis or sweet wine. Let sit for one hour.

Make your favorite pie dough, enough for the pan and to cover. Mix flour with the fruit and spread evenly into the pie pan. Dot the mixture with butter, cover with top crust and bake in preheated medium-heat oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

MINCE PIE

1 20-ounce jar ready-to-use mincemeat

1 large cooking apple, cored and diced.

1 4-ounce bag walnuts (1 cup), coarsely broken

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup brandy or rum (optional)

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Pastry for 9-inch 2-crust pie or 1 10- to 11-ounce package piecrust mix

Hard sauce (recipe below) or sliced sharp cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl, stir mincemeat, apple, walnuts, brown sugar, brandy and lemon juice until well mixed.

Prepare pastry and line a 9-inch pie plate as directed for 2-crust pie

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spoon undrained mincemeat mixture into pie crust. Prepare top crust.

Bake pie 30 to 40 minutes until golden. Cool pie on wire rack 1 hour, serve warm topped with hard sauce or cheddar cheese or cool completely to serve later.

HARD SAUCE

1/2 cup soft butter

1 1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract OR 2 tablespoons rum or brandy

Cream butter with confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla extract or rum or brandy.

Makes 8 servings.

Looking for a recipe? Write to Jeff Houck, The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa, FL 33601 or e-mail jhouck@tampatrib.com.

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