Pereira Special

This was Grandma’s tour de force dessert. She was so proud of it she entered it in the Pillsbury bake-off one year. This recipe compares Norma’s transcription to the two times Grandma showed me the recipe here in Tucson.

Tucson 1986	Tucson 1987	Norma’s version
2 c. unsalted nuts, like pecans	16 oz. unsalted nuts, like pecans	2 c. grated unsalted cashews
1/3 lb. butter, melted	1/8 c. butter, melted (??)	1 stick butter, melted
½ c. cocoa	3 cubes Baker’s unsweetened cholocate	1 bar Baker’s German sweet chocolate
n/a	n/a	1 pkg. Baker’s unsweetened chocolate, melted, or 1 square Baker’s bittersweet chocolate, melted
¾ c. sugar	2/3 c. sugar	¼ c. sugar
2 tsp. vanilla	2 tsp. vanilla	1 tsp. vanilla or 1 pkg. vanilla sugar
¼ c. Cointreau	3/8 c. Cointreau	1 Tbsp. Grand Marnier

1. Do not preheat the oven.
2. When Grandma’s Yeast Dough has rested enough, flour a large surface and roll out dough until it is 1/8″ thick.
3. Pour some of the melted butter in a pot and add the chocolate to melt over gentle heat.
4. Add the sugar and nuts. Mix, and add the vanilla and Grand Marnier or Cointreau. Stir until you get a smooth consistency adding more nuts or chocolate as needed. Taste to make sure it is sweet enough.
5. Spread the chocolate mixture up to ¼” of the edge and roll it up carefully, smoothing the seams when you are done. Twist, patching where it leaks.
6. Put into cold oven and bake at 200° for 5 min, then at 300° until brown.
7. Glaze it.

Glaze:
2 Tbsp. butter
2 heaping Tbsp. apricot preserves or honey

Bring to a boil, stirring, then brush over Pereira Special.