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Photograph by Skye Dunlap
Gertrude Schweitzerhof's recipe for Salted Peanut Chews was one of 10 recipes from the past 50 years that Pillsbury chose to induct in its recipe Hall of Fame.
Pillsbury chooses local's recipe for Hall of Fame
By Joann Liao
Some work in laboratories with test tubes. Gertrude Schweitzerhof does her experimenting in the kitchen, and with tastier results.
Schweitzerhof, whose Salted Peanut Chews recipe has recently been inducted into the Pillsbury Hall of Fame, credits her winning combination of ingredients to much "experimenting, labor and expense." A winning recipe takes a lot of work, according to Schweitzerhof. "You have to develop a thought about what you want, and you work with it from there. You keep experimenting; it's trial and error," she said.
Salted Peanut Chews was the same recipe that had been a finalist in the 29th Pillsbury Bake-off in 1980. The recipes of all the finalists are then printed in Pillsbury's cookbook.
The snacks are a mouth-watering example of Schweitzerhof's experimentation. They are made up of one-part peanut candy and one-part cookie bar. "The candy wouldn't stick to the cookie, and I thought 'What in the world could I do?' " Schweitzerhof said. "I tried melting chocolate chips but that didn't work. Then I tried marshmallows. Marshmallows was the secret to getting it to stick."
Though Schweitzerhof has been a finalist in several baking contests, including three Pillsbury Bake-offs and one sponsored by Betty Crocker, she described her recent induction into the Hall of Fame as "really, really very exciting."
The Hall of Fame was established this year in honor of the 50th anniversary of Pillsbury Bake-offs. Pillsbury inducted just 10 recipes out of 50 years' worth of bake-offs. Judges based the choices on their popularity with consumers. Schweitzerhof and the other 9 inductees and their families received an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. from May 23 to 25. Each inductee also received a Waterford crystal bowl on a stand with the name of his or her recipe engraved inside.
Schweitzerhof, who has lived in Cupertino for the last 37 years, entered her first baking contest in 1954, with a recipe she called Coconut Straw Hats. "My mother encouraged me to enter. She said, 'You're such a good cook, why don't you enter something?' " Schweitzerhof said. Her mother asked her if she had ever thought of putting half a marshmallow on a cookie. Schweitzerhof experimented with marshmallows, caramel and sprinkled coconut, baking her way to a finalist spot in her first Pillsbury Bake-off.
Now that Schweitzerhof has been a three-time finalist in the Pillsbury Bake-offs, she is no longer eligible to enter. However, she intends to encourage other people to enter, and to give them whatever help she can. She is also busy promoting her first book. Titled the California Down-to-Earth Cookbook, it is a collection of Schweitzerhof's own recipes, including the ones she entered in the bake-offs. She has already participated in six book signings, including one on June 17 at Cupertino Natural Foods on De Anza Boulevard.
"Baking is my first love, but I also enjoy creative cooking," Schweitzerhof said. "I like to cook from scratch. I've got it down to a science. I can do a four-course meal in an hour."
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Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
