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Potempa: Mint Festival mocha recipe winner shares Carol Lawrence and coffee nostalgia nod

A melding of the blended flavors of refreshing mint and rich mocha took home June 2022 honors as the winning recipe for the Cooking with Mint Contest last month at our town’s 45th annual Mint Festival in North Judson.

During my judging duties and my commentary to the audience seated to observe the proceedings, I explained that not only does the taste of a recipe influence ranking, so can the memories associated with tastes and aromas, as they lend qualities to sway opinion.

Molly Baker — note that last name — baked up the 2022 winning recipe in the youth category by submitting a decadent and delicious Mocha Mint Chocolate Cake. Alison Fields (just like mint fields) was crowned winner of the adult division for her recipe for Mint Oreo Cheesecake Bars. Congrats to this year’s winning duo, both hailing from Knox.

My own first recollection of the flavor of mocha, which is a chocolatey coffee combination, is from the television commercials of 1976 to 1980 featuring Broadway legend Carol Lawrence, who is about to celebrate her 90th birthday in September. Lawrence served as the brand spokesperson for General Foods International Coffees, a popular instant coffee billed as a special and luxurious alternative to the everyday heavy and bitter brews of yesteryear.

Lawrence is originally from Melrose Park, Illinois, and is probably best known for her role on Broadway as Maria in “West Side Story.” Her career includes many other memorable Broadway roles, including “Kiss of the Spider Woman” and she has starred in national tours of “Funny Girl,” “The Unsinkable Molly Brown,” “The Sound Of Music,” “Sweet Charity,” “No, No, Nanette,” “Woman Of The Year,” “Sugar Babies,” and as the title character in “Auntie Mame.” In May 2001, I interviewed her with her talented son Michael Goulet, from her earlier marriage to the late Robert Goulet, when mother and son were in Merrillville to headline with our own Northwest Indiana Symphony at Star Plaza Theatre for a special Mother’s Day concert.

She only smiled and nodded when I reminded her about her TV commercial tenure as famous name who introduced these gourmet instant coffees to consumers two decades earlier, and described this career footnote simply as “just an employment opportunity of that era.”

General Foods International Coffees, which is now owned under the Maxwell House brand, still exist, but only a few instant coffee varieties are now sold. General Foods International was established as an independent brand in the early 1970s, but now, is a subdivision of the Kraft Foods Corporation since the company was purchased in 1990. When first launched, it starred Lawrence in both magazine advertisements and TV commercials promoting the brand from 1975 to 1980. Lawrence often made references in the TV commercials that she had “just returned from Europe,” and this line of instant coffees “reminded her of her recent international travels.”

I still recall our neighbor down the road Harriet Morningstar — whose family raised horses and collies at their farm — serving these flavored instant coffees to my mom during an afternoon visit.

For the decade of the 1980s, a revised sales campaign shifted the focus from luxury and pushed an emphasis about “everyday celebrations.” Lawrence was replaced with a series of new TV commercials and print advertisements using the coffee jingle theme: “Celebrate the Moments of Your Life” and showcasing snuggling couples, candles, snowfall and fireplaces as part of the distinct advertising and highlighting a romantic toasting “clinking” of cups or mugs to market the tiny metal tins of instant coffee. At the height of the product’s popularity, available varieties included Café Suisse Mocha, Café Vienna, French Vanilla Café, Double Dutch Chocolate, Orange Cappuccino, Café Amaretto, Café Francais and Irish Mocha Mint. During the summer of 2010, this product line was rebranded as Maxwell House International Cafés.

The winning recipe for young Molly’s Mocha Mint Chocolate Sheet Cake includes instant coffee granules amidst the batter ingredients, and the flavorful result is perfection.

Columnist Philip Potempa has published four cookbooks and is the director of marketing at Theatre at the Center. He can be reached at pmpotempa@comhs.org or mail your questions: From the Farm, P.O. Box 68, San Pierre, IN 46374.

Molly’s Mocha Mint Chocolate Sheet Cake

Makes 16 serving slices

Cake:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups granulated sugar

1/3 cup cocoa

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon instant coffee granules

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 cup half and half

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Mint creme filling:

1 1/3 cup white chocolate chips

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 teaspoon mint extract

Chocolate glaze:

1 cup melted butter

1/4 cup cocoa

6 tablespoons half and half

1/4 teaspoon mint extract

5 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 15-inch-by-10.5 inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray.

2. To make cake batter, in a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, salt and instant coffee. Whisk in butter, half and half, eggs and extract.

3. Pour batter into prepared baking pan and bake for 22-25 minute or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow cake to cool completely.

4. To prepare minty creme filling, combine all ingredients in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on high for two minutes. Stir to assure mixture is smooth and white chocolate has melted. Pour filling over cake and allow filling to set and firm slightly before next step. Filling layer should be “dry to the touch.”

5. For chocolate glaze, mix all ingredients together and whisk until smooth, using a double boiler pot if necessary. Pour over mint layer of cake and spread evenly. Allow cake to set at least one hour before servings.